Mai's Travel Journal: Chapter 17 - Ninh Thuan

Tuesday 26 October 2004

The journey to Ninh Thuan through the Ngoan Muc Pass was really visually pleasant!

I befriended a young girl with the same name as myself: Mai- who’s 16 years-old and lives in Ninh Son, Ninh Thuan province. Mai had quit school and has been working for almost two years. Mai is currently working as a housekeeper for a family in Da Lat. Last year, Mai worked as a sales clerk in Ho Chi Minh City, but she missed home too much so she went home. From time to time, I looked at Mai – her stature is small yet her speech is so mature.

I arrived at Ninh Thuan Provincial League around mid-morning. Everybody was meeting in Ninh Phuoc District for the Youth Union Conference, so I left for Ninh Phuoc with the help of some members of the Provincial League.

I was surprised because this was the first time on my journey that I had met so many people who knew about my trip before I even had the opportunity to introduce myself and my mission. I was proud and happy; at least I tried to do something and everyone was supportive. I became more active and outgoing than before and the feelings of loneliness and boredom have disappeared. I don’t pay attention to those feelings anymore.

I found out so many new things about Ninh Thuan province. Ninh Thuan is the smallest province along the coastal areas of Central Vietnam. It also has the least amount of rainfall in the entire country and has the longest provincial capital’s name: the township of Phan Rang -Thap Cham. Ninh Thuan is the province where the sun and wind are “roasting” [just as its name implies, “rang” in Vietnamese means roasting or burning]. Ninh Thuan has only 3 Cham [an ancient Hindu kingdom which formerly controlled this area] Towers but they happened to be the oldest Cham structures in the country.

Back at the town of Phan Rang-Thap Cham, I had the whole afternoon to talk with those in the League here. Again, I had to answer the question of why I had visited Ninh Thuan: because Ninh Thuan has mountain on one side and ocean on the other! I will go to a coastal commune, Vinh Hai and a mountainous commune, Ma Noi.

From this moment on, I began to question why Ninh Thuan, with its “golden-forest, silver-ocean” image is so poor?

Wednesday 27 October 2004

I went to Vinh Hai commune, in the district of Ninh Hai, in the early morning. Vinh Hai has a reputation for its conservation and protection of sea turtles and coral reefs. The entire commune has five villages along the main highway, starting with My Hoa, Thai An, Da Hang, Vinh Hy and Cau Gay. Among them, Vinh Hy and Thai An are the two villages located immediately next to the ocean and have TV broadcasting stations. My Hoa , Da Hang and Cau Gay are closer to the mountain and home to the ethnic group of Dac-Lay.

The village of Vinh Hy has two parts, connected to each other through a bridge over the Vinh Hy pass. The entire village has 368 families whose livelihoods depend on the ocean, shrimp farming and rice farming. The people of Vinh Hy have enough food but lack fresh water for their daily needs. I remembered the humid summer days of Hanoi, where occasionally the water was shut off for conservation, but it wasn’t until I went to Vinh Hy that I really appreciated the importance and value of fresh water in our daily lives. Not only that – all the water reservoirs in the village are rarely full because the amount of rainfall in the area is really low each year. Walking around Vinh Hy, one can really see the sand, sun and wind in every corner of the village.

The fresh water supply for the village is drawn from Lo O spring. The villagers call it a self-running fresh water source. Before, Vinh Hy used wells to supply the village with fresh water, but ever since the shrimp farming businesses expanded in the village, the well water has been contaminated with salt water. After that, five water reservoirs drawing water to the village were built but because the pipes were too small in diameter, there wasn’t enough water for the villagers to use and some reservoirs dried out. Gradually, everyone chipped in financially to draw more water from Lo O spring to the village to supplement their water needs.

Everyday, the villagers share with each other buckets of water drawn in the wee hours of dawn, in the burning sun of the afternoon and in the darkness of the night. Water, water and water is the constant topic of discussion in Vinh Hy. The longer I stay in Vinh Hy, the more I realize that it’s not as simple as a lack of fresh water for daily use, but moreover, it’s the devastating impact of rapid development without proper planning.

At Vinh Hy, I also gain more understanding about the hardships women, whose husbands did not return from their fishing excursions, endured. I heard from Phan Rang-Thap Cham town that “if one needs a housekeeper, just go to Vinh Hy”. A high proportion of students, mainly female, in Vinh Hy drop out of school and work as housekeepers for city dwellers and urbanites.

In Ms. Chi’s family, ever since her husband passed away, Ms. Chi was forced to let her eldest daughter, Trang, 17 years old, quit school and work. It’s been about three years since her daughter went to Ho Chi Minh city to work for a family acquaintance. Ms. Chi sells Cang cake to survive day by day. She gets one hundred dong for each cang cake, which would not be enough to keep a customer’s appetite full, but cake-vending provides enough for her family to survive on. She said, “I work to pay off the loan I borrowed in the days my husband was alive, from the Poverty Elimination Program Fund. Only when everything’s paid will I be able to get more capital to invest in farming.”

Her neighbors commented, “at least Ms. Chi has acquaintances who she can send her children to. We don’t even know anyone to entrust our children to. At least it’s better for them to be in the city; living here… there’s nothing to do”. Another woman said, “my daughter, if she could be sold for 100 million dong, would gladly sacrifice herself, so at least her mother and siblings would have a better life.” I was saddened. Was life really that bad to be so negative?

I left Vinh Hy and headed straight to Cau Gay, where there are 41 families. It is also the place where the Lo O spring originates.

My first image of Cau Gay is of the children, who were dreaming of brick houses. They were playing with each other and at the same time taking care of the younger toddlers with the expertise of adults. I must admit, their babysitting skills are better than mine!

Two thirds of the houses at Cau Gay are temporary shacks. They were built from mud and were too small for a family of average size in Cau Gay, which is five members per household. The main arable land is situated next to the village. Most of the women here work as venders at the commune; mainly buying fish from the fisherman and selling them at the commune market.

The women here are addicted to rustic tobacco. I was surprised at the way they rolled their smokes, their smoking and their invitation to me to smoke. I have often thought about smoking and its impacts on women’s health and have only really encountered it through newspapers and literature. Ms. Quyt is an example. She smoked everyday, even during her pregnancies, and even when her tenth child is not even one year old yet.

Most of the women in Cau gay deliver their babies at home, without the help of medical personnel. Families at Cau gay are sizable, with a minimum of four children to about ten children per family. Cau gay is the only village that does not have a village clinic.

Cau Gay elementary school is quite beautiful but is rather quiet and empty. Everyday, there’s only one school session held here. This afternoon the school is empty; no teachers, no students. The elders here said, “the children here don’t like school. There were days when the teachers arrived and waited and waited, yet none of the students showed up.”

Most of the children over 10 years-old at Cau Gay are illiterate and cannot speak Vietnamese. They quit school too early. Before, there was a catch-up class, but it got shut down and now its future is unclear. Study, quit for a bit, and then restart then quit… the cycle has trapped the children of Cau Gay. So, secondary school for the people here is really only a dream.

Nevertheless, in comparison with Vinh Hy, Cau gay is a bit luckier since this is the location of the Lo O spring. No one has really tested the spring water for its level of cleanliness or contamination. Intuitively though, the water at Vinh Hy is really the discarded water from Cau Gay. The water keeps flowing downstream and there isn’t really any stagnant water so I am assuming that on its way to Vinh Hy, the water would somehow became clearer and cleaner. At least for both Vinh Hy and Cau Gay, having a fresh water source is better than having none. Water is really the source of life.

I climbed to the very beginning of the spring and walked along the drying spring, just so I could appreciate and gain knowledge about its importance through my own experience rather than through books and literature. I saw garbage being thrown into the spring from the villagers of Cau Gay and from the tourists to Ninh Thuan. I walked along the tangled web of pipes laid in the deep portions of the spring and drew water to Vinh Hy.

I returned to Thai An village at dusk. At Thai An, I had plenty of fresh water to use and that’s a real blessing.

Thap Cham, Thursday, 28 October 2004

I had the whole morning in An Thai village, Vinh Hai commune before going back to Phan Rang, Thap Cham to get to Ma Noi.

An Thai was in the center of the Vinh Hai commune. Comparing it to other villages, An Thai was wealthier, and it wasn’t as short of water as Vinh Hy. Yet, as for long-term prospects, one couldn’t be sure whether An Thai’s water would become salinated or not as prawn-raising was developing quickly. “The key is to do it far from residential areas with the right techniques”, said Mr. Vo Bay, owner of a prawn pond. Owning a prawn pond was not easy. Before, I just heard people talking about the profits of prawn pond owners: “Big money”. Actually, it was not always so easy. A pond like that of Mr. Bay was 2.8 hectares in area. Just the construction cost 60 million dong. A prawn, during its time, could die at any time for any reason; bad breeders, changing weather, bad cultivation, etc… which meant loss, debt, poverty and straitened circumstances to its grower. But a successful crop could make a profit of about 100 million dong. Really big money!

I went along Mr. Bay’s pond and then turned back so as to be in time to get to Phan Rang, Thap Cham. Tomorrow, I would go to Ma Noi.

I arrived back to Phan Rang, Thap Cham in the sunny mid-day. The road ran along the salt-marshes of Nam Hai with blue sea and white sand on one side and rocky mountains on the other. The only thing I could do was to turn my head in all directions to catch the sights. The scene ran backwards quickly, yet I managed to take some pictures. Certainly, doing anything in a hurry would not be as effective as doing it carefully but I wished to take some pictures to share with people at home.

Here, the most disturbing thing was rubbish. Rubbish and rubbish, everywhere. Plastic bags, plastic bottles, glass bottles, and so on were dropped on both sides of the road, in cantus bush.

Friday, 29 October 2004

I was lucky enough to have the chance to experience a shower in Ninh Thuan in the early morning. The wind was blowing harder, clouds were gathering in the sky. It rained heavily but stopped so quickly that no-one got wet. After a moment, the sky was clear and blue and the wind was as “dry” as ever.

The second time on the road to Ninh Son, I didn’t spend as much time on the sights as the first time. I was caught in thoughts about the water of Dinh River. It was said that “the water in Dinh river, when it is high, brings flood, when it is low, it means drought. It’s never reasonable. So it’s not a surprise that this province is so poor.”

Some of the stages along the road to Ma Noi were asphalted, some weren’t, but all were deserted. I felt as if I were coming to another world when I turned onto the road to the place.

Ma Noi had many streams and those were the water resources of the local people. In the center hamlet of Ma Noi, each household had a big cistern storing rain water or stream water. Everyday people, mostly women, went to the streams to take water for use at home. At the moment, the self-run pipeline was under construction. In the near future, people in the center of the commune would not have to go far to fetch water.

I came to Gia Hoa in the early afternoon. There were two ways to Gia Hoa: one was to walk through a forest and the other was to drive through Hoa Son - the commune nest to Ma No. Both took about two hours. I decided to walk through the forest to find out more about Ma Noi. Gia Hoa was a hamlet whose population was under the authority of Ninh Son district, Ninh Thuan province but whose land was under the authority of Don Duong district, Lam Dong province. The walking made me feel as if I had been to Yok Don one more time.

Forests are always so beautiful and quiet. The farther I went into the forest, the more quiet and deserted it was. Here and there I found trees lying about in disorder on the ground. I was not treading on the ground soil but on a layer of trees’ outer skin which was shed there day after day.

I was surprised at the oil-layers on every stream I crossed. It was oil from the motorbikes that carried wood out of the forests. I didn’t know what to do when I met a group of local people carrying wood for money. Those young and middle-aged people carried pieces of wood on their back. They earned 70,000 dong per day for their work. And the forest couldn’t cry upon seeing its trees being cut down. The thinking of the people of Gia Hoa destroyed the forest quickly: “the land is of others, the forest is of others, we are living on the land without any rights.” I was not sure if it’s right but I felt that in Gia Hoa, people were living with both the forest and forest destroyers.

In the late afternoon, everyone went to Gia Hoa stream for a bath, washing or to get water. The stream was very busy and crowded. Everyone, no matter who they were, young or old, woman or man, tried to take as much water as they could carry with their motorbikes, bicycles or hands.

It was dark but it seemed that not a family in Gia Hoa brought their cookers into the house. They cooked dinner outside. Lights from the fires flickered as if electricity had never been there.

Thinking about the life of teachers in Gia Hoa, I couldn’t forget the picture of two teachers, Ms. Phuong and Ms. Huyen, in the Gia Hoa stream with the local people. “Everything will be OK”, said Huyen optimistically. She had been here for nearly one year. Her colleague, Hoa, had been here since her graduation six years ago.

They had classes not only in day-time. In evening, students came and they turned from one to another, teaching even the very small things such as the way to write a letter or read a word. The students were of many different levels and they took care of each individual one with all their heart.

I just couldn’t stop myself from making a comparison. I had millions of hobbies like any other city-girl, such as having a snack on the streets, chatting or shopping. Hence, I admired these people who led a quiet life, lacking in many things, to bring education to children. They would never have the chance to enjoy things that I and other girls did. Loss or gain, perhaps they would never do the calculation to find out, but I wanted to do so to let you and me understand their optimism.

Saturday, 30 October 2004

I said good bye to the local people and the teachers early in the morning to go to the commune. I would be back in that forest. Right on its edge I saw wood being tied on two bicycles to be taken away. Calm features and smiles were on the faces, while the hands were busy tying well-cut pieces of wood. I looked down. On the ground, traces of vehicles could be seen everywhere. You see, at night, the forest was as busy as a discotheque in a city. Trade took place everywhere, big roads, small roads and even paths, by day or by night. The forest had an important part, yet its part was given to it by force.

I reached the center of the commune when it was in full day-light. I went around the teacher’s collective quarters before going back to the road. I was lucky to get a bus after a few minutes. Then I got to Thap Cham station. This evening, I would get a train to Ho Chi Minh city. Was it too quick?

I stayed in the Thap Cham station for the whole afternoon. From a distance, the Cham Towers were really beautiful. One day, I would be back to see them from up closer.

Chương 17 - Ninh Thuan - Photo Gallery

Photos: Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai
(select image to enlarge)

1. Mountain and the sea, side by side – a common feature of Vinh Hao, Ninh Thuan
2. Vinh Hy village, locating by the sea, has more salt water than fresh water
3. An old fisherman working

3b. This is me…
3c. Here I am again, I climb up here to see further

4. Salt field in Nhon Hai
5. Nhon Hai's salt

6. Stone garden – where local people dry the fishes under the sun

7. Vinh Hy village in Vinh Hai, which is in serious lack of fresh water
8. Shrimp cultivating field in Vinh Hy helps many people overcome porverty, but also makes the fresh water become salty.
9. Adding nutrition to the water to help shrimp grow faster

10. Television transceiver to serve local people in Vinh Hy
11. Vĩnh Hy The long Windy Pass is the main route to Vinh Hy
12. Water from shrimp cultivating field comes out and pollutes the fresh water

13. Mountainous field and the field guarding house of people in Ma Noi
14. There are trees being cut down and seen here and there in the forrest between Ninh Thuan and Lam Dong provinces.

15. An old local lady coming from field work.
16. Spring is the only source of fresh water for people in Ma Noi, Ninh Thuan.

17. Building cage for the chicken, Gia Hoa village, Ma Noi.
18. Going back from school at mid-day

19. Fresh water is lead from Lo O spring. Here people in Vinh Hy village queue to bring water home.
20. Rain water tank is one of the water reservation measure in Vinh Hy. (However, Ninh Thuan is the province with lowest rainfall index in Vietnam).
21. The teacher and her pupils are in an outside activity, at the end of their class. Gia Hoa village, Ma Noi.

22. Overview of Vinh Hy village seen from Windy pass, Vinh Hai.