HA NOI A downturn in traditional handicrafts has driven tens ofthousands of people with skilled rural trades into the ranks of theunemployed. But these once busy workers face more difficulties than people incities or even farmers. Losing their jobs in handicraft villageshas not only left many idle, but led others to become addicted toalcohol and illegal drugs. This is because most village trades people have no land foragricultural production and no useful skills or qualifications tolook for jobs in city factories.
Laterite bricks hide a workshop named Muoi Toan Laterite Sculpturefrom sight, leading people to assume it must be busy (Laterite is adense clay highly rich in aluminium and iron. It is used forbuilding traditional homes and garden walls.) However, inside, only three workers sit in a corner croppinglaterite bricks. The dry, rasping sound of knives hitting hardbaked clay can be heard on a hot summer's day. Tomorrow, the workshop will be even quieter as one of the threeworkers will be sacked when the owner is unable to pay his salary.
Nguyen Van Muoi, the owner of the workshop, points to the piles ofbricks and says: "They have been there for five months. We minedand processed the laterite bricks for a project in southern TraVinh Province. However, due to the economic downturn, the customerhas failed to pay. And, we have to stop!." That was the only contract, worth VND100 million (US$4,760), Muoi'scompany has signed so far this year.
By the same time last year, hehad earned more than VND900 million ($42,860) and his 15 workersmonthly earned VND6 million ($285) each. Like other 200 laterite handicraft households in Ha Noi's Binh YenCommune in Thach That District, the workshop uses laterite to buildhouses and make tables, desks, lamps, cupboards and ornamentalitems. Laterite sculpture has been a tradition in the commune for years.Nevertheless, since the beginning of this year, many workshops haveclosed down. Looking around his workshop, cleaned of the thick yellow dustlayers of laterite covering and with all the tools arranged orderlyon the shelves, Muoi pauses and lets out a sigh.
His eyes fade intothe distance. Like the laterite villages, Van Ha wood carving village in Ha Noi'sDong Anh District, is also stagnating. The total number of workersis down from 30 last year to 15 today. Do Van Dinh, the owner of a furniture workshop, says he can onlysell one to three tables and desks a month worth VND6 million($285) each.
Stockpiled goods are valued at about VND800 million($38,095). "The commune has more than 1,800 households doing this traditionalhandicraft work so it faces a lot of difficulties when contracts,mainly from China and Taiwan, are delayed," Dinh said. Luu Duy Dan, chairman of the Viet Nam Handicraft VillagesAssociation, says 70 per cent of 3,355 handicraft villagesnation-wide are suffering a downturn. Dao Van Dai, deputy chairman of Van Ha Commune's People'sCommittee, says the workshops borrow an average bank loan of VND500million ($23,800) over six months to buy their productionmaterials. However, lots of stock is unpaid for, creating a dilemma when theloan is due.
Dan says: "People from all walks of life are able to participate inthe production of handicrafts. They get enough money to lead theirdaily lives and don't have to leave for cities to look for jobs. Itis the traditional handicraft villages and their unwritten rulesthat maintain social order and culture in the countryside." Muoi, the owner of the laterite workshop, says the failure to findanother job coupled with the financial burden of raising a familyhas turned one of his former workers into an alcoholic. His wife isnow taking legal procedures to divorce him.
Their house is up forsale. "He used to be a hard-working and clever sculptor," says Muoi. Dan says it is crucial for Viet Nam to find solutions to recoverbusiness in handicraft villages. However, he adds that no relevantagencies want to take responsibility for giving assistance.
Some handicraft villages paddle their own canoes by focusing on thedevelopment of the domestic market. They provide handicraftproducts for daily use at reasonable prices, instead of looking foroverseas markets or producing luxurious goods. Dan says that to promote domestic demand, festivals and exhibitionswill be held in big cities and more tourism linked to handicraftvillages. Meanwhile, Nguyen Thanh Dung, an official from the Department ofProcessing and Trade for Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Products says theGovernment is implementing a project worth VND180 billion ($8.58million) to assist handicraft villages to sell their products,especially during this difficult period. He says the ministry has worked out a strategy for handicraftvillages to take advantage of their own strengths.
Muoi says he will take responsibility for his own workshop. Hewants to create more products from laterite and to design housesmade from the highly insulating brick. "People are developing a trend to live with nature, so laterite hasbecome a popular construction material," he says. He is now advertising in the southern market. "The economicdownturn can't stop me," Muoi says.
"Laterite is not only atraditional job, but my destiny." VNS.
I am a professional editor from China Insulating Brick,and my work is to promote a free online trade platform. Our website contains a great deal of information about China Insulating Brick. Welcome to visit!
I am an expert from insulationrefractory.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Insulating Brick , Insulation Glass Wool, Fire Brick Refractory,and more.
Related Articles -
China Insulating Brick, Insulation Glass Wool,
|
