Moon boat aspirations

No more gloom and despair to the end like Han Mac Tu’s verse, the moon boat in Quy Hoa now helps leprosy patients have a better life.
Moon boat bobbing

Quiet, gentle and discreet, Quy Hoa maple village (Ghenh Rang ward, Quy Nhon city, Binh Dinh province) is like a small hidden corner in Quy Nhon beach town. The beautiful beauty of the natural scenery blends in the 60-hectare area, once there was a maple village. Tucked away in a valley surrounded by mountains and sea, Quy Hoa maple village was once like a quiet stop in the middle of a lute written with captivating and enchanting tunes of nature. This is also the place where poet Han Mac Tu once lived and spent his whole painful life in this place. For a long time, everyone remembers the sad and despairing verses of the Han poet: “Whose boat docks at that moon river / Can bring the moon back in time tonight?”, or “Who buys the moon, I sell the moon?” for?”. The evil disease came to the poet with the surname Han in the midst of the undeveloped medicine, plus the alienation of the world made him have to find a faraway place to lull his soul. Mr. Chin hopes that, in addition to helping the leper villagers develop their economy, this moon boat can be put into tourism service. Quy Hoa, a place that has long been implicit in people’s minds is a refuge for people with leprosy. Many people come and go, the remaining patients are a struggle when they have passed most of their human lives, sitting on the porch in the afternoon waiting for the day to pass. But, Quy Hoa now suddenly makes people feel surprised at the transformation of a land that was haunted by pain and miserable fates. In a hidden corner near the coast of Quy Hoa, fisherman Le Van Chin (52 years old) sat contemplatively in front of a row of coconut trees fluttering in the sea breeze. He was probably one of the few special people in this place. Around where he sat, small blue boats were spread out on the sand. He smiled happily, pointed to each boat and said: This boat is yours, that boat is yours, that one… all of them are made by you. And he was also a leper patient at one time. In 1981, when he was still a young teenager in the coastal area of ​​Phan Thiet (Binh Thuan province), he discovered that his limbs lost sensation, then hard lumps gradually appeared on his body. The family took Mr. Chin to Quy Hoa for treatment. At that time, there was a huge guilt in him. But then, at that time, medicine was also more developed, his disease was completely cured. He had a time to return to his hometown of Phan Thiet and go to the sea, but his love with his daughter Ghenh Rang held him back to this land. He is here, working as a seafarer and living in harmony with other sick people. The sea job is very hard, especially for those who have been sick and in poor health in the leper village. Towing heavy basket boats to the sea or to shore every day is a problem. Once, when he saw too many plastic drums being discharged in industrial zones, he came up with the idea of ​​​​making boats from plastic containers. He bought 10 boxes and did his own research. Having made a boat in the past, he quickly built himself a boat from these plastic drums. Lighter boats made of bamboo slats sweep oil, surf faster, maintenance work is also less, more convenient when pulling into the water or bringing ashore, suitable for the health of patients in Quy Nhon. Hoa. Many people see the advantages of this type of boat so they are very interested, they put him to do it. He made 3 types of boats, including pointed boat, cradle boat, and high-pronged cradle boat. Each type is 4m long and 1.2m wide. Each of these boats uses 7 drums of 200 liters type and some auxiliary materials such as freight, screws, bamboo… Currently, the cost to complete each boat is more than 4 million VND, he sells it for a price. 5 or 6 million dong. Mr. Chin with his moon boats. Many fishermen in Quy Hoa consider this boat to have many advantages. Because it’s plastic, it’s easier to float on the water, and the machine can be installed so that it doesn’t take much effort to row. Moreover, the boat has a longer service life when the bamboo boat is only used for 3-4 years to degrade, and the price is more expensive. Therefore, in the past few years, Mr. Chin has made about 60 of them by himself. In addition to relatives in the maple village, there are also some fishermen in Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen who also come to work. He named it “the moon boat Han Mac Tu”, in memory of the talented but unlucky poet who used to live in this maple village. He said to make and sell these boats because their shape is half moon, like the moon. But this place is associated with many memories of the talented poet of the past. From the day there was a television report on a boat with a strange name “Han Mac Tu moon boat”, many tourists coming to Quy Hoa wanted to meet Mr. Chin and take souvenir photos with him with the “moon boat”. Indeed, if you visualize it well, you can see that the boat has the shape of a new moon. The “Han Mac Tu moon boats”, which are popular with Quy Hoa fishermen, also make tourists inside and outside the province when coming to Quy Hoa excited to learn, adding the element of taking advantage of the waste drums, reducing environmental damage. school. Moon boat’s ambition In the memory of the patients once here, the leper village that day also had several hundred leprosy patients. Life was difficult and lacked enough, they did not return to their homeland but decided to settle here, considering Quy Hoa as their second homeland. Missing home, missing their loved ones, they bury them in their hearts to face the sick life they are suffering from. Mr. Chin’s moon boat is made from a 200-liter drum and some auxiliary materials such as freight, screws, bamboo… Painful little people have long had to deal with the gnawing of disease. But, in them, there is still an enduring vitality, strangely resilient. Meeting them, it seemed that no wound had ever been imprinted on the already emaciated bodies because of the evil leprosy. Meet them in the leprosy village of Quy Hoa, where the disease was famous nearly a century ago. But, there are love affairs that each of us feels warm to know. Like Mr. Chin’s love affair with his current wife, like a fairy tale in this feng shui village, where the moon boat seemed to have brought them together, to a happy shore for the past few decades. Few people know that Ms. Vo Thi Thuy (a resident of Ghenh Rang ward) is not like the leper villagers. She did not get sick, but because she loved this kind, hard-working man, she decided to live in the same house with him. At that time, in 1988, the psychology was still very heavy for the sick people in Quy Hoa and that mentality also had a great influence on ordinary people like Ms. Thuy. Like many others, Ms. Thuy’s feelings for Mr. Chin at first were just concern and sharing between people. But then, when love comes, I don’t know. And they had a wedding, then entered the leper village. Called “wedding”, but in the late 80s of the last century, people lived in poverty, disease, simple weddings with only a few cakes, candy, and invited friends and patients to congratulate, in front of the event. witnessed by the hospital board. It was all a great effort. Love is the magic medicine that helps them overcome illness and live better. Living together in love, the patients no longer feel guilty. The power of love has become a spiritual medicine along with the advancement of medicine that has helped many people overcome illness. But, in order to overcome the guilt and obstacles of her family and relatives, Ms. Thuy was determined to come to Mr. Chin, even though the difficulties were endless. A corner of Quy Hoa maple village today. And now, her choice has paid off somewhat. Every day, Mr. Chin, besides going to the sea, builds moon boats for people in the village. Good news spread far away, his boat was popular in many places, he built boats for fishermen in many coastal villages in other localities. During the stormy seasons, when he could not go to the sea, he stayed at home to build boats. Husband and wife and children live peacefully and happily with other families. His children are all grown up, in which the youngest daughter is in high school. That seems to be a worthy reward for his life after hard days. Mr. Chin’s house is not difficult to find, from the hospital gate, go to the right about 50m, you will see a boat placed by the roadside, follow that road about 50m more, on the right hand side, you will see a whitewashed house in front of you. beautiful white is a man who is hard at work. With the “moon boats”, the economy of Mr. Chin’s family and many other households has thus improved significantly. But, he has another wish, which is to put these boats into tourism. “If boats made of drums can carry tourists to Quy Nhon beach, the children of leprosy patients will have jobs. Thus, economic conditions are improved, life will be less difficult, “- Mr. Chin confided. Currently, in Binh Dinh in general, Quy Nhon in particular is on the way to developing tourism, including Quy Hoa maple village. Therefore, Mr. Chin hopes that his moon boats will not only help Phong village people more convenient in catching coastal seafood, but also can participate in tourism services.