Mekong Delta residents flee as nature turns hostile
Their ancestors had come to settle the Mekong Delta, turning it into the nation’s agriculture and aquaculture hub, but now they are fleeing.
At three in the morning, Dang Van Binh, 34, wakes up in his hut by a river in An Phu Trung Commune in Ben Tre Province’s Ba Tri District.
He stands by the bed, looking at his two daughters, aged 12 and two, sleeping. Sighing, he walks to the front door.
His wife, Thach Thi Bo Pha has also got up. She packs some torn clothes for him to wear, dried fish, duck eggs, ten kilos of rice, and VND600,000 ($25) in cash. These are everything Binh gets to travel to a place 300 kilometers (187 miles) away to seek a livelihood.
Hoang Nam, Pham Linh
