It’s a familiar summer sight for locals living around the popular attraction in District 9, but this group of children is not here to enjoy the rides or entertainment.
Early each morning the kids arrive to scour the grounds and vehicles for scrap metal which they can then sell for a few dollars.
The area they frequent the most is a parking lot for trucks where children will climb onto the vehicles even while they’re still running in hopes of catching a few scraps of metal debris.
Local people call them the “urban Tarzans,” said Truong Quang Luan, an older member of the group.
Luan said he’s been collecting scrap material for nearly two years now and despite being a teenager, he has the look of a boy much younger, weighing just 20 kilograms (44 pounds).
With bare feet and nothing to cover their heads, the children also walk to construction sites and seek out welders, looking for screws, nails, copper wires or anything else made of metal.
Often, while plunging their bare hands into garbage dumps, the children will cut their hands on broken glass and other sharp objects.
As a result, Luan and the other children are covered in scars.
For all their efforts, the kids usually come away with just a few dollars for a whole day’s work.
“Sometimes, when one of us can’t find anything, the others will share the metals they picked,” he said.
“If lucky, we can earn as much as VND50,000 (US$3) a day,” said another child.
For most, the money they earn will be used to pay for school.
Some children come from the Mekong Delta and work only in the summer while for others, it is there year-round job.
But all of them share the same wish to continue their studies and work towards a better life.
The children say they want to stay in school as long as their parents can afford the cost.
One boy, Ha Van Hanh, has been a good student for the past five years at a junior school in Can Tho City.
He joined the group to collect scrap metal last summer because it’s been difficult for his mother to make ends meet by cutting rice at home.
Hanh wished to earn some money to help her, he said.
After a full month of scouring for metal, Hanh has become familiar with nearly every area around the Suoi Tien Theme Park where scraps can be found.
However, the fun and excitement going on inside the park is a world he has yet to discover.
“I can only stand at the gate and look inside,” he said.
Reported by Tuoi Tre |
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