When women spend sleepless nights to make a living in Hanoi

Long Bien market, the largest wholesale market in Hanoi, gathers hundreds of traders from neighbouring provinces. The market buzzes the most around midnight. From 9 PM, when the city streets quiet down, inside the market, a new work shift begins as vendors eagerly receive trucks full of goods arriving from everywhere.

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Heavy tasks like loading and pulling goods seem to be men's work, but here lies a paradox - most of the porters are women.

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Under the dim yellow lights of the market, bent backs tirelessly carry loads, feet hurriedly weaving through narrow aisles. Every night, they strive to take on as many trips as possible, hoping to gather enough money to send home and support their children's education.

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“I can only do this job because I am illiterate. It’s hard work, but I have to do it. There are no jobs in the countryside anymore. If I don’t work, how can I survive?” says Le Thi Huong, 60 years old from Ninh Binh province, one of the many quiet lives making a living beneath Long Bien Bridge.

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Her work is paid by the box: VND2,000 for a small box, and VND5,000 for a large one. She usually carries 7 boxes per trip, working from 9 PM until 7 AM the next day, averaging around 10 trips per night. “After all expenses, I earn about VND350,000 daily, but some nights I return empty-handed because no one hires me,” she shares.

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This job is fiercely competitive. Having worked as a porter for nearly ten years, Hang from Hung Yen province says, “Although there is still work, it’s hard to find regular jobs. Some days I hardly get any work. I don’t know how to pay my children’s tuition, let alone think about Women’s Day.”

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“For people like us, Women’s Day or Tet (Lunar New Year holiday) doesn’t need gifts. We just hope for more trips and more income to take care of ourselves. That is the most precious gift,” shares a female porter at Long Bien market, still pushing a cart piled high with fruit.

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A brief break for those who carry tonnes of goods throughout the night. Amid the early autumn breeze, their smiles in the late Hanoi night seem to erase all the hardships of their lives.

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Seeing these older women always busy day and night, anyone wonders how long they will keep doing this work. Their hurried, back-and-forth figures are familiar images of women porters at Long Bien market. No matter how heavy the loads on their backs or carts, their feet move swiftly without a hint of fatigue.

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Everyone tries to finish their trip quickly to return for the next load. For these women, the most meaningful gift on October 20 0 the day that honours Vietnamese women every year, is having many jobs and enough income to make ends meet.

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When women spend sleepless nights to make a living in Hanoi