Women face hazards in ammunition depots

A number of Vietnamese women work in unfamiliar territory to others. The following story published by Phu Nu Viet Nam (Viet Nam Women) will tell you their story.

Pham Thi Thieu, aged 36, has worked as an ammunition depot keeper for 15 years in a remote and isolated valley in mountainous Lang Son Province.

Her daily tasks are to check the ammunitions, booking keeping, delivering and receiving new ammunitions and other day-to-day tasks.

According to Thieu, the job of an ammunition depot keeper is very demanding as an explosion could occur at any time because of a negligent act.

"For a depot keeper, the most important thing is to keep the place well ventilated," Thieu says.

Another depot keeper is Ms Pham Thi Kim Dung. Her main duty is to maintain and fix the ammunition. Every day she has to clean or scrape the rust off the ammunition or repaint the fainted letters or signs.

"All these activities require care and precision," Dung says.

She recalls an explosion occurring in the depot in 1968 that claimed the lives of 19 people.

"That was an expensive lesson for us all!" Dung admits.

Working in the ammunition depot is extremely dangerous. Yet women account for more than 50 per cent of the workforce there. Some people have argued that women are more dexterous, careful and hard working than men. So the job is more suitable to women!

Isolated places

Living in an isolated place and far away from economic, social and cultural centres including schools for their children and hospitals has made the lives of these women and family members more challenging.

Ms Luu Thi Hoang Ha, chairwoman of the Women's Union in the depot says that at present, 60 families live in the adjacent residential area, and each family has a metal roofed room of about 18sq.m.

"The most concerning is our children's schooling. Many parents have to send the children to their grandpas or grandmas to look after them so that they can have better schooling."

Ms Le Thi Hanh recalls the case of her daughter.

"When she was at primary school, I sent her to a primary school close to where we lived. Yet when she was about to enter junior high school, I decided to send her to a better school in town, which is quite far from our home. I asked one of my friends living in town to give her food and shelter. I was very worried as my daughter was only a teenager. But I had no other choice."

Another anxiety that torments many of them is where to go and live after being demobilised. They cannot stay there as the place is exclusively reserved for soldiers, not civilians.

Nguyen Thi Mao, a single mum with two sons who are now university students and has 26 years working as a depot keeper, concedes: "I'll be demobilised soon. And I have to return the room to the unit. I don't know where to go after that."

Though difficulties and challenges are lying ahead for many female depot keepers, they still devote their hearts and minds to the work they are doing every day. For them, being a soldier is an honour. It's their duty to fulfill their assignments to their best. — VNS