2016 Mine Risk Education Summer Camp
“A Dangerous Job”
Essay By: Nguyen Thị Hoài Phương, Class 9C of Nguyen Hue Middle School, Cam Lộ district
“Every day, with an old detector and a small hoe, my dad went to the hills close by our home, hoping to find something that could make some money to bring home to my mom. My family is very poor. This is the reason that kept my dad searching for scrap metal every day, a dangerous job in Quảng Trị.
Day by day, my mom lived in fear. The fear of not only losing her husband, but that her children would lose their father. Every time she tried to convince my father to stop searching for scrap metal, all she received was his silence. She knew that he understood. And we knew that he did all of this because of us.
I felt his fear, my mom’s fear, my fear, that something would happen to our family. And that day it happened. My father left us forever, in an accident when he tried to defuse a bomb that he had found at that hill. That pain, the loss seemed to be too much for each of us. I know my mom is worried for us and for the future of our family. Life without my father will be much more difficult. All the burden to support our family is now placed on my mom’s shoulders. The war lasted for almost forty years, but the aftermath seems never-ending. On every piece of land in this province, it seems there are still mines, bombs, and UXOs left over from the war. These remnants can kill anyone and can turn a happy family into a heartbroken one. For my family, it took my dad away forever.”
