Nine farmers from Dai Loc district, the central province of Quang Nam, have become billionaires after finding 13 kilo of aloe wood in a forest in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai.

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They will earn up to 32 billion dong (US$1.68 million) from the aloe wood. Each member received over 3 billion dong and Vo Quoc Tuan, who discovered the aloe, took over 6 billion dong.

Tuan said a week ago he found a big rotten trunk of do tree inside a bushy bamboo hedge in a forest in K’Bang district, Gia Lai province. “I called eight fellow men to pull the trunk out and process it. After 30 minutes, we got a piece of aloe as big as my calf,” Tuan said.

Returning home, these men donated 150 million dong to build roads and to assist local poor people. They promised to donate another 150 million dong to build a football grounds and a public house to serve as a playground for local youth.

In early August, two old men in the central province of Phu Yen accidentally picked up aloe, but they didn’t know its value so they sold the piece of aloe at a very cheap price. The one who bought aloe from the two old men re-sold the aloe for billions of dong.

According traditional medicine experts, aloe wood is created from old do trees (Aquilaria crassma Pierre ex Lecomte). This kind of tree grows in forests in the central and central highland regions of Vietnam. Aloe wood is a rare material to process luxury perfumes, scented soaps, and incenses.

Aloe wood is also used to treat many diseases and to make jewelry. Asian people believe that if they wear aloe wood-made jewelry, they can avoid colds.

PV