Ba Ren, the largest pig market in the central Quang Nam Province, is also known for a unique job some women there do: they hold pigs and climb on a scale to weigh them.
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The women, most of them old, are always there, regardless of the weather which can be hot in summer and chill in winter.
Their work also benefits traders since it is otherwise very difficult to get the pigs on the scale.
So, once the new method of weighing the animals was discovered, it quickly became a regular job. All the women are farm workers aged above 40 with no prospects of finding work in a company or factory and no choice but to do this hard and dirty job.
Tran Thi Thao, 47, a local, has been doing this job for 18 years.
“I started to work at a time when I did not have a penny in my pocket,” she says.
“Thanks to the love and help from the other women, I have been able to take care of my old father and two children for nearly 20 years.
For hoisting a pig in her arms, a woman is paid VND500 (2 cents) and Thao says if she works hard, she can earn VND40,000 (USD1.91) in a day.
“It is better than staying jobless at home.”
It only seems logical there is fierce competition among the women. But nothing can be further from the truth: there is rarely any disagreement between them and, in fact, they always help and protect each other during hard times.
It is normal for them to pass on their turn to someone who needs the money more.
Luu Thi Lien is, at 75, the oldest of the pig-hoisters. “I’m too poor and too old to do any other job; I just have no choice,” she says.
She tires quickly and suffers from a backache after work. So, touchingly, the others always ensure old Lien gets to carry the smallest and lightest pigs.
What they are doing may appear to be a lowly and poorly paying job. But the women earn a living through honest and hard work and their compassion for their fellow beings is amazing.
