(VOVworld) - Lao Bao township in Quang tri province shares the border with Laos’ Savanakhet province. The women there, mainly from the Pako and Van Kieu ethnic minority groups, make their living by pulling rickshaws. Starting with only 10 rickshaws, they have now formed a pulled-rickshaw team of more than 80 members to transport goods and earn stable incomes and also help ensure social order and security in the border area.

The Lao Bao-Densavan border area is experiencing an extremely hot summer. Despite severe weather, dozens of women are still busily transporting goods in the border area. They are loading and unloading goods quickly and busily.

A rickshaw transporting goods at the Lao Bao-Densavan border area (Photo: VOV)

Nguyen Thi Thuong, Head of the Women’s Union in Ka Tang hamlet, is also the founder of the rickshaw team. Thuong said that in 2003, farm-work could not support daily life while the border trade was being developed, Thuong asked her sister-in-law to transport goods over the border. She earned around 70 cents per shipment. In order to improve the work opportunities and incomes, the sisters made a rickshaw for their own.  Thanks to the rickshaw, they could transport hundreds kilos of goods, bringing a 5-6 fold increase in income: “At first, we made two rickshaws, then we increased to 10. We also asked other poor women in the hamlet to work with us and generate some more income for them”.

With 10 rickshaws, they formed a group to transport goods, generating an income of around 15 USD per day. Some women even invested to make a rickshaw for themselves. In 2005, a pulled-rickshaw team was officially formed. The team has now developed, with more than 100 rickshaws and 80 members. Pulling rickshaws has generated a stable income for many, reducing the rate of poor households in the area by 50 percent. Ms. Ho Thi Nu, a member of the rickshaw team, said her family’s life has much improved thanks to the money earned from rickshaw pulling: “Now we can afford a decent daily life. We used to live on wood collecting, and it was very hard to earn even 30 cents. From rickshaw pulling, we earn 15 USD for each journey”.  

Members of the rickshaw-pulling team are discussing their work (Photo: VOV)

Like Nu’s, many households in the hamlet now have TVs, motorbikes and savings and are able to send their children to school. Local people’s living standards have much improved. Vo Thi Thuy, Head of the Women’s Union of Lao Bao township, said: “The local women used to be very timid, with little communication with the outside world. Since joining in the rickshaw team, many have become more sociable. Each of them has two to three mobile phones to connect with customers in both Vietnamese and Laos”.

The women have also been very helpful in denouncing criminals and helping local authorities in the fight against border criminal activities. Many have also made significant contributions to detecting trade fraud, ensuring social order and security. Ms. Thuong again: “All the members of the team must follow the regulations which ban illegal migration through the border, and the transportation of illegal goods, and do their best to escape poverty”.

Since 2008, in response to the campaign to study and follow President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example, the rickshaw team has actively joined a movement to save a jar of rice, launched by the branch of Women’s Union in Ka Tang hamlet. In the movement, each household saves one handful of rice to support poor households. Each team member donates 1 USD to a fund to assist disadvantaged people in the hamlet. Ms. Ho Thi Hanh, one team member, recalled: “My house was on fire and the women in the team helped me a lot. They provided our family with necessities and created conditions for me to earn extra income”.

For many local women, joining the rickshaw-pulling team is not only for their daily income but is also a group with common interests who can share and help each other in their daily lives.