Life at a Floating Market
It's 5 am at the Phong Dien floating market, on a Mekong tributary near Can Tho, Vietnam. Vendors here have already been working for hours.
Kim Long provides sustenance for the vendors - steaming bowls of noodle soup. "I wake up at 230 every morning to cook," she says. "My husband helps me carry the heavy pot to the boat, and I paddle up the river to work." She's been doing this work for two years.
Vendors glide through a maze of wooden boats heaving with produce - kilograms of tomatoes, melons, pineapples, cabbages, eggplant - the enormous bounty of Vietnam's Mekong Delta. People here bring produce they've grown, or buy wholesale from up the river and sell here to smaller shops, restaurants and families.
Tien is 48 years old and has been selling tomatoes and onions in this market for almost half her life. She's seen a lot of changes in her time. The market has become smaller as more people use motorcycles and cars for transports. Water levels rise and fall unpredictably, due to a combination of climate change and the impact of several dams hundreds of kilometres upriver in China.
"The river is everything to me," Tien says. "Without it there is no life, no work, no jobs." This was a common theme amongst the women here and many were angry and concerned about the dams - a huge story of its own.
Market vendors here typically make a few dollars a day. It's enough to live day-to-day, but not more. Many of the women have just a few years of education, and some have none. They talk about educating their children. It's important to them. But their earnings don't always cover school fees, uniforms and books.
Phung is 57 years old and has five kids - four sons and one daughter. "My kids aren't very educated because I didn't have much money," she says. "Education was too expensive." She herself completed grade six - common for women her age as the Vietnam war (called "The American War" in Vietnam) - interrupted lives. People moved constantly to find safety. Phung has been selling lemons at the market for 27 years, making 5 or 6 dollars each day. She plans to continue working as long as she's healthy. Her health, she says, is one of her most valuable possessions.
Hai is 68, and she and her husband live much of their life on this boat. For the last eleven years, they've travelled from a province about 100 kilometres away, buying and selling produce. They make $10-$15 for each 3-4 day trip. They go home every two months or so, but otherwise, sleep every night on the boat. Hai never had the chance to go to school and is illiterate- not uncommon for women of her generation. Despite her age, there is no talk of retirement. "I'm just living day-to-day," she says. "If I'm healthy I can keep working, keep earning money. So my health is the most important."
Many of the women talk about the need to keep working, and they work hard. They prepare the produce, paddle the boats, keep track of the money. Hong is 54 and has worked on the market for 20 years. She used to sell rice, and now sells fruit and cake - some to tourists. She has three kids, including one daughter who finished grade 7, and is now married. Hong herself says she wasn't sure about the role of women today. "It's better if women can stay home,' says says, "and look after their families."
The morning sun breaks through at Phong Dien and the heat rises. The women keep working.
With thanks to Maruko Chen for guiding and interpreting.
