'Super small' alleys in a century-old craft village in Nghe An

Where the house is small and the road is narrow

Normally, when passing through Trung Kien Village gate, 4-seat cars, whenever encountering pedestrians or motorbikes or bicycles going in the opposite direction, often reduce speed to the maximum, or stop completely to give way, because the road is quite narrow, only about 4m wide. Houses are close together on both sides of the road.

The road right after Trung Kien village gate is very difficult for cars and motorbikes to avoid each other. Photo: Hoai Thu

In particular, there are roads that are less than 3 meters wide, bicycles and motorbikes must "take shelter" in the yard of houses next to the road when encountering cars to pass. The roads here are not only narrow, but also flooded in some places when it rains. Land funds are scarce, so many houses here do not have yards, or have "super small" yards of only a few square meters.

Along with the "super small" yard are the "super narrow" alleys, some of which are only 1 meter wide. Following the village chief of Dinh Hamlet, Ms. Pham Thi Dinh walked along the alleys in Dinh Hamlet and Rong Hamlet, which are also the location of the once famous Trung Kien Shipbuilding Cooperative.

A "super small" alley in Dinh hamlet. Photo: Hoai Thu

“With roads like this, many families want to buy cars to serve their daily life but are “helpless” because there is no place to park. On holidays and Tet, when children work far away, children living in other localities return, if they have a car, they have to park outside the village gate, park on the commune roads and walk home. During peak times, some families have to park their cars a kilometer away from home,” said Ms. Dinh.

Due to lack of land, households often add more floors to accommodate daily activities. Even some family temples, Nghi Thiet people have to build two floors.

A section of the inner-village road in Dinh hamlet was flooded after several days of rain in early January 2024. Photo: Hoai Thu

“Land here is more expensive than land in Vinh City partly because it is narrow, partly because no one wants to sell and few people buy. Building new rural areas and expanding roads according to regulations is also difficult, because even if people want to, they do not have land to donate. In many hamlet roads, if households donate even half a meter, they will have to demolish their houses, or lose the entire yard and porch,” said Mr. Vo Van Chien, Secretary of the Dinh hamlet Party Cell.

Some households that still maintain the carpentry profession are facing difficulties in finding workshop space. Some families have to move to other communes and hamlets to rent space for their carpentry workshops. Some households that want to expand their carpentry workshops are also unable to do so.

Lacking land, people in Trung Kien Shipbuilding Village use the roadside as a place to gather materials. Photo: Hoai Thu

Choose the direction of exile

Mr. Pham Van Yet in Dinh hamlet, a veteran with over 50 years of experience in shipbuilding, all of his children work and live far away. Now he is alone at home, and his grandchildren only come to visit occasionally.

“Because of the limited land, most of the younger generation choose to work far away, then settle down and live in other localities. They even go to work abroad in countries like Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Germany... Some of them get married abroad and only return to their homeland once every few years. Dinh Hamlet has about 300 households, of which 176 have members working abroad,” Mr. Yet shared.

The largest place in Dinh hamlet is where people gather and organize collective activities during festivals, New Year, and weddings. Photo: Hoai Thu

In the days leading up to the Lunar New Year 2024, officials from Nghi Thiet Commune People's Committee said that the people of the hamlets as well as the executive committee and grassroots organizations have actively mobilized and contributed to beautify the alleys and maintain environmental hygiene. The commune is also promoting the construction, upgrading and repair of the main road through Dinh and Rong hamlets.

The Party Secretary of Dinh Hamlet said that in 2023, the hamlet executive committee mobilized people, children living far from home and "donors" to sponsor the installation of solar energy lighting systems in all alleys of the hamlet with a total value of hundreds of millions of VND. Each solar energy light is worth 1 million VND, installed 20m apart in alleys and inner-hamlet roads.

A corner of Nghi Thiet commune. Photo archive

“Each section of road with lights installed is assigned to a party cell or organization to be in charge of maintenance and repair. The Dinh Hamlet Party Cell is in charge of the longest section of road, installing 25 lights. With the Veterans Association, Women's Association, Farmers Association, and Youth Union, each branch or organization is in charge of one lane with 8-10 lights. This Tet, the countryside will be more sparkling" - Mr. Vo Van Chien happily said.

Clip: Hoai Thu

Source: https://baonghean.vn/nhung-con-ngo-sieu-nho-noi-lang-nghe-tram-nam-tuoi-xu-nghe-post282817.html