(Quang Ngai Newspaper) - Nuoc Mu Hamlet above, Son Bua Commune (Son Tay) is located precariously on the slope of a mountain, hidden in the deep green of the mountains and forests. It seems close, but getting there is also very difficult. For a long time, only Son Bua Commune officials and teachers have regularly come here.
Following the cadre of Son Bua commune, I came to the above Nuoc Mu hamlet. I asked the cadre of Son Bua commune: Why is it called "Nuoc Mu"? He said half-jokingly, half-seriously: Probably because the forest is deep and foggy all year round, so it is called Nuoc Mu hamlet. This place is "deep in the mountains", making it difficult to travel and do business, and hindering children's education, so for many years the commune has encouraged people to move to a new place. However, there is still a small hamlet that people have not left, that is the above Nuoc Mu hamlet.
Uphill to Nuoc Mu
Sitting on a dilapidated motorbike, the cadre of Son Bua commune told me I was lucky, because a few years ago, to get to Nuoc Mu, I had to walk from the People's Committee of Son Bua commune. Back then, following a steep, rocky trail about 3km long, crossing a suspension bridge made of bamboo trees dangling over the stream, I reached the lower Nuoc Mu hamlet. Those who still had the strength could continue climbing the slope for about 1km more to reach the upper Nuoc Mu hamlet.
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| Stilt houses in Nuoc Mu hamlet below, Son Bua commune (Son Tay). Photo: Pham Anh |
This time, thanks to Dak Ba Hydropower Plant, a 3km concrete road to the lower Nuoc Mu hamlet has been built. The old suspension bridge has also been replaced by a reinforced concrete dam. The lower Nuoc Mu hamlet is now much more convenient, and poetic on the banks of the clear blue hydropower lake. We trekked up to the upper Nuoc Mu. Looking at the precarious road as if going up to... the blue sky, I suddenly remembered the words: "Many people come here, but when they see the slope, they give up."
“There are leeches along the way,” the cadre of Son Bua commune warned, and we both set off. After more than an hour of walking through the forest, by noon, the fog had cleared up in Nuoc Mu. It was truly impressive to see the vast, lush green bamboo forest here. Stepping out of the trail from the cave made of green trees, we saw a dazzling green space covered in golden sunlight. The air was cool and fresh, and we took a breath of relief. Looking out into the distance were abandoned terraced fields, with a stream of water flowing from the Nuoc No stream, making a gurgling sound. In the distance, there were a few stilt houses on a hillside, sparse and desolate.
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| Mr. Dinh Van Vinh lost his ability to work due to a traffic accident, so his family's life depends on his wife's income from working for hire. Photo: Pham Anh |
The stilt house of Mr. Dinh Van Vinh (39 years old) is on the west side of the hill. There is nothing valuable in the house. Mr. Vinh sits by the fire, holding his 1-year-old child, next to his 2-year-old daughter. The eyes of the man under 40 years old are hazy, not because of alcohol but because of a traffic accident 1 year ago, on an afternoon when he was hired to exploit acacia on the other side of the mountain. For the whole year, Mr. Vinh has been sitting at home, waiting for his wife, Ms. Dinh Thi Suong (37 years old), to come home from work. The couple has 1 daughter who is married, 2 children are studying in the commune center. Mr. Vinh confided that here, they go to the forest, go to the fields to make a living, exploit acacia and cassava for hire, earning more than 120,000 VND per day. "Do you grow rice?", I asked. Mr. Vinh said, very little, the whole hectare of terraced fields is Mr. Dua's field. "Why don't you go down there to build a house, where business is more convenient?" - I asked. Mr. Vinh said, "down the mountain" he doesn't know what to do, there are no fields or fields to work on down there.
Thus, hunger and poverty continue to haunt the households here. “Here, every week, there are small traders standing at the bottom of the slope, and anyone who wants to buy or exchange food has to climb down,” said the commune official.
Mr. Dua's field
We passed by Mr. Dua's stilt house, a veteran who is the most prestigious and best businessman here. He lay on a hammock, next to the fire, talking intermittently. "My old ears can't hear clearly, my eyes are a bit dim," said Mr. Dua. A moment later, Mr. Dua's daughter-in-law, Ms. Dinh Thi Tho (24 years old), came into the house to receive the guests. Talking about life in Nuoc Mu, Ms. Tho said that life was miserable in a hundred ways. Her mother-in-law fell and broke her leg while picking vegetables, and had to ask someone to carry her in a hammock to the hospital. Her father-in-law suffered a stroke, and every now and then he got seriously ill, and had to use a hammock to carry him. "It's bearable in the dry season, but in the rainy season the road is slippery, and going down the slope is extremely miserable. My husband and I built a house in the center of the commune, and we kept telling him to come down but he wouldn't come down. He said he was protecting his ancestors' land here, and wasn't used to living in the noise down there," said Ms. Tho.
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| The above Nuoc Mu Hamlet has only a few stilt houses. Photo: Pham Anh |
Ms. Tho added that the terraced rice field of about 1 hectare on the road that you see belongs to my father-in-law. When he was young, he worked hard to create dozens of terraced fields.
To reclaim land for rice cultivation, perhaps Mr. Dua and his wife sweat more than the Nuoc No stream. This stream only flows during the rainy season, the pre-summer season, while Mr. Dua's sweat flows all year round. Therefore, during the lean season, no one else goes hungry, except Mr. Dua's family. "This field has been given a red book to Mr. Dua," said the commune official.
In addition to the fields, Mr. Dua also raises dozens of buffaloes and cows in the forest, and a flock of chickens and ducks in Nuoc Mu hamlet. He can do everything, except "going down the mountain" he cannot do. Ms. Tho said that when he was still healthy, every time he went down to the commune, to another village, even to the lower Nuoc Mu hamlet, Mr. Dua would rush back and forth. Because he missed the village, missed the misty Nuoc Mu, missed the babbling Nuoc No stream, and missed the fields and rice fields he had worked so hard to build. "For the past two years, my father has been sick, so the rice fields have been abandoned," Ms. Tho said, looking at the terraced fields covered with weeds.
Mobilizing people to "go down the mountain" Due to the isolated terrain, nestled in the mountains and forests, the lives of people in Nuoc Mu hamlet above have encountered many difficulties. In recent years, the local government has mobilized the Ca Dong people to gradually relocate to new residences near the commune center. Previously, Nuoc Mu hamlet above had about 20 households that were mobilized to gradually move to lower residences. Four years ago, Nuoc Mu hamlet above had 12 houses with 40 people. When people refused to "go down the mountain", the local government considered bringing electricity to Nuoc Mu. However, the investment of 2-3 billion VND is very large, and the beneficiaries are too few. Therefore, persistently mobilizing people in Nuoc Mu to move to lower residences is the chosen option. Currently, Nuoc Mu hamlet above has 4 households. "When young people grow up, they are willing to move down to build houses, but the elderly often do not go. We have to persistently mobilize," said Nguyen Viet Chuong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Bua commune. |
PHAM ANH
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