The hard work of women who don't have October 20th to make a living at night

October 20, 2024 | 08:15

TPO – October 20th is no different to any other day of the year for these women. They still work hard to make a living, quietly on street corners, shouldering the worries of “bread and butter”.

Among the streets and alleys of Hanoi capital, you can see the hard-working figures of mothers, aunts, and sisters… working. They do not care about time, weather, or holidays, because for them, today passes like any other day of hard work.

At 2am on October 20, at Long Bien market (Ba Dinh district, Hanoi), while everyone was deep in sleep, the female porters and rickshaw drivers at Long Bien market started a new working day, a job that usually lasts from the previous evening until 6am the next morning.

No one thought that women with weak legs and soft arms could pull carts weighing 100-300kg, no less than men. “I got used to it, I didn’t even remember today was Women’s Day,” the woman shared.

At 3 a.m. on October 20, at a street corner 200 meters from Hoan Kiem Lake, Ms. Nguyen Thi Luong (Khoai Chau, Hung Yen ) was busy sorting bananas for sale. She shared that she has been selling bananas for 20 years, every day she and her husband go from the countryside to Hanoi at midnight to make it to the new day's trading.

“Sometimes I feel sad because on Vietnamese Women's Day I still have to work, but then I think about it, my husband is always by my side, working with him every day,” Ms. Luong added.

At the same time, Ms. Pham Thi Li (60 years old, Hanoi) was busy picking up scrap metal such as food and drink cans, etc. on Phan Dinh Phung street.

Referring to Vietnamese Women's Day October 20, Ms. Li paused and said emotionally: "I don't remember what day it is today, nor do I pay attention to the holiday for women. Every day I go out to collect scrap metal from afternoon to early morning and then go home to rest, repeating the same thing every day."

Most of these women come from difficult circumstances, work hard, work day and night to make a living, work as hired laborers, sell goods on the street...

The shadows are quiet and busy with the whirlpool of life.

At around 3:30 a.m. at Cau Giay intersection, Ms. Chanh and Ms. Hue (who sells salt) sat down to rest and chat with each other. Ms. Chanh shared that she was from Dan Phuong and every day she cycled from dawn, traveling 30km to the city to sell salt. “Every woman wants to be loved, but life keeps taking us away, there is no time to think much about holidays,” Ms. Chanh said.

At around 4am, the female cleaners start to diligently clear the streets in preparation for a new day. While everyone else is still asleep, they silently contribute in a way that few people remember, even on Vietnamese Women's Day.

Dung and her daughter (in Hoang Hoa Tham, Hanoi) stayed up all night to wrap flowers for October 20. She shared: “Although the work is harder on holidays, in return, it brings joy to the buyers and the recipients. For me, everyone has a different job, but every woman deserves to be loved and respected today.”

October 20th is a day to honor Vietnamese women, an occasion to express gratitude and love for them. However, around us, there are still some silent, silent figures, busy with the whirlpool of making a living. For them, this day is just a normal day like any other, because the burden of making a living makes them have little time to stop and feel or enjoy the joy that the holiday brings.

Duc Nguyen