The villagers make their bridge

Before, and...

after!

Tâm, a poor peasant of Long My : « To sell my paddy I had no choice: first in a small boat, then 4 km farther, I sold it to a middleman. At his price, and if the harvest was not good, he would take the chance to pay even less, he knew I had no option. Where else could I go with my little boat? Now, many come with larger boats, we can bargain. Because when we made this road we also dredged the canal. I can also sell to those who come with a carrier tricycle, this is even cheaper than the boat.
Bernard : «In one year then, how much more do you get for the paddy?
Long discussion, several people join: small peasants are not used to such calculations. Finally they estimate the gain to 55 euros, a 7% increase. But this is also +25% profit!
A neighbor: «You forget your pigs!» Burst oflaughter in the small house!
Tâm : «I believe I gain 2-3000 dôngs (10-15 cent) per kilo.  Heu, in one year… »
Again all together they do the calculations, nudging and correcting each other... Conclusion : in one year Tâm was loosing 1/3 of his profit on pigs.
An old lady intervenes: "With this new road one can easily go to the clinic, in a few minutes by motorcycle. Today there is one in every farm. In my house there are 4 motorcycles! I am at the end of the road, thje people on the other side leave it at my place. Before we had to borrow a boat, there was no guarantee to find one in the middle of the night.
Tâm : « My children stopped at grade 6. They had started late and were not very good. I cannot find work everyday, when I got an opportunity for work, then sometimes there was no one to bring them at school. I think of this, when everyday I see my neighbors' children pass my house on their bicycle.»

Bernard KERVYN, 20/10/2007

One click and watch the video (3'40")
Join the villagers: one bridge costs 250 euros, 1 meter of road 1,2 euro.