While Tet nears, J’rai women carry their children while they do the difficult work necessary to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
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| Mrs. H’ran with her three-month child |
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| Mrs H’lan carries her four-month old boy |
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| Tet is nearing, but the strings are there for any customer to buy |
For J’rai people, Tet is very simple. They just want to have enough rice to eat and wine to drink. Even with their modest earnings, during Tet their local stilt houses are full of laughter.
In order to enjoy this party, they must work very hard before the new year. Starting in middle of Lunar December, all J’rai men and women in Iagrai District, Gia Lai Province, go into forests to collect Giang (a sort of bamboo) to make thin strings for wrapping traditional Chung cakes for Tet.
It takes them up to three days to collect enough Giang, because many of these forests have been decimated in the last year. Then they spend one more day splitting the Giang into thin strings.
After this work is done, the J’Rai women make the 50km trip to Pleiku City to sell the strings, which are used to tie Tet cakes. Many of the women take their children with them. Mrs. H’ran walks the streets of Pleiku, trying to sell enough of her bamboo strings to celebrate Tet. The baby doesn’t cry much despite the tough circumstances.
Mrs. H’lan has a four-month boy, her third child. Still she must travel the long distance to work as a vendor. This year, in spite of the low prices for their wares, between VND1,000 (USD0.05) and VND2,000 (USD0.1) per bundle, bamboo strings are attracting fewer customers. She earns about 100,000 (USD5) for a week of work.
“This year, sales of bamboo strings are slower. I will keep trying to sell for two more days. I hope to be able to buy around 10kg of rice for Tet,” she said
As Tet gets closer, their window for earning money is narrowing. Still, the strings are there for any customer to buy.