VietNamNet Bridge – The winter weather is increasingly harsh, but it cannot stop the flow of people from the countryside to the capital to do anything to earn some money for the coming lunar New Year holiday (Tet).

Tent on the sidewalk




With only two or three pieces of canvas, these two men built for themselves a hut right on the sidewalk. The tent has become a home, with only a few bottles, bowls, chopsticks and an old bed-plank for sleeping.

The tent is next to a bus station, approximately 10m2, on the roadside, where vehicles travel day and night, making big noise. But perhaps they have gotten used to it. Because of money, they accept to live there through the day.

They are rural laborers who go to Hanoi for a few days to make money for Tet.  They will return home before Tet so it is costly to hire a room in a motel. Building a tent is the best choice for them.

In the freezing weather, they sleep with just a very thin blanket at night. Their meals are only instant noodles. In cold, with inadequate clothing, they just wait for milder weather to continue looking for a temporary job.

Collecting rubbish




Mrs. Thuy, 45, from the northern province of Vinh Phuc is a waste trader. Normally, she only works near her home in Vinh Phuc, but this year she goes to Hanoi with hope of earning some money for the Tet holiday.

"They say it is easier to earn money in Hanoi. This year I also go to Hanoi to collect rubbish to earn some money to buy Tet gifts for my children," she said.

Thuy’s ordinary income at home is only VND20,000 - VND30,000 ($1-1.5) a day. But in Hanoi, she can earn four to five times higher.

"Before the Tet, Hanoi people usually clean up their home so it is easy to collect good secondhand items," Thuy said.

Each five or six days, she brings the waste she collects in Hanoi to Vinh Phuc. "They're rich so they throw old items away. We are poor so we make the most of their secondhand items. These things are still very good for us," she said.

Every day, the woman wonders along Hanoi streets to collect waste to have an abundant Tet for her family.

Mr. Kien, 35, from Bac Giang province, has lived with his child only for several years because his wife has left home to earn a living. Kien stays at home to take care of the child instead of his wife. The man does not have a stable job so he does any work that he can get.

"This Tet my wife will be far from home. Our Tet will be very sad," he said.

Near the Tet, he sent his son to his parents to go to Hanoi for extra work. "I do anything that I’m hired to do. It is hard but I can earn quite a bit," he said.

Nguyen Nhung