Some say that people have too hardened in the
21st century, that everyone is out for themselves and that the public interest
is other peoples’ business. Not so!

People use a pulley system known as a flying fox to cross the Poko River in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. (Photo: VNS)

Recently, Y Nuor and
her neighbours walked 5km from home to Dak Ang Commune to witness the start of a
new bridge to her village across the other side of the Poko River. It took them
more than 30 minutes to get there, five times longer than it used to taken them
before the previous bridge was swept away in storm floods almost two years ago.

Y Nour’s village,
which doesn’t even have a name, lies in the upper region of the Poko River and
beneath the towering summit of Ngok Linh Mountain - at 2,600 metres. The
turbulent river is deep and fierce.

A devastating flood
related to the Ketsana Storm in 2009 hit Ngoc Hoi District in the centre of Tay
Nguyen (Central Highlands) Kon Tum Province. All the bridges along 20km of
river, including the bridge linking the nameless village, were swept away,
forcing people into isolation.

On the other bank of
the Poko lie all the essentials for Y Nour and her neighbours, including
hospitals and schools. Villagers had to come up with ideas to cross the river,
even those that risked their lives.

Some used boats to
cross the raging river, but it generally flows too swiftly. Others built
temporary bridges. In Dak Ang Commune, in Ngoc Hoi District, people use a pulley
system known as a “flying fox” to cross the water.

One villager, Tran
Khac Chin, helped set up large poles on either side of the river connected by
ropes. Everyone, including the young, old and infirm who want to cross the 150
metres of river have to strap themselves onto a pulley and swing over.

Y Xoan, 13, said she
doesn’t know exactly how many times she has swung over the river each day. “I go
every time I need to get something from the other side. Sometimes, I put myself
and my little sister on the rope and swing over,” she said.

Y Nour said at least
five people have fallen from the pulley. “One man hit the rocks hard and had to
be taken to hospital,” she added. A Phin, another resident, said: “We knew it
was risky.” He straps himself and his motorbike on the rope.

Now, as the new
bridge nears completion, Y Nour and her neighbours are starting to smile again.
“I have four children and three of them are going to school. When this bridge is
finished, they will get to and from home much faster. I will also be able to
sell farm produce on the other side again,” she said.

But if it wasn’t for
the public spirited nature of hundreds of people in Viet Nam and overseas, there
would be no bridge. All of the construction money came from a fund-raising
campaign held by the VnExpress, an online newspaper. “I couldn’t hold my tears
back when I saw photos of those people, swinging across the fierce river by
pulley,” said Ho Van Vinh. Another reader, Vicky Ho, said she felt really sad
for the villagers and suggested the newspaper start a fund so that everyone
could contribute.

“As a student, my
contribution was very small, but I believed I could persuade people at school or
in my neighbourhood to help people in Dak Ang,” said Vinh. The comments from
many readers prompted the VnExpress to set up a bridge fund.

Within a month,
thousands of people had sent in their cash and raised a total of VND2.4 billion
(US$120,000), an amount Y Nour’s whole poverty stricken village couldn’t make in
10 years. Sixty per cent of those living in the nameless location across the
Poko are officially listed as “poor”.

“Without the help of
generous people, the people in Dak-Ang Commune would have had to commute by rope
for much longer,” said Tran Van Nhut, deputy chair of the committee’s office.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News