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From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

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LIVING OFF THE LANDThe smoky, cold hut in the mountainous interior of Viet Nam iscrammed with men and women from the indigenous H’moungpeople, dressed in traditional black and indigo leggings and smocks.There is barely a trace of the modern world: no plastic, no calendars orpho<strong>to</strong>s on the walls. The women, sporting cylindrical black felt hatsand large silver hoop earrings, do not speak Vietnamese. The <strong>to</strong>picalso is traditional: how <strong>to</strong> use straw (and more memorably, rubbingalcohol) <strong>to</strong> keep their most prized assets, buffalo, warm and fed inwinter <strong>to</strong> reduce the risk of sickness.This sanctuary of tradition is under siege. The richest houses in thevillage already boast a mo<strong>to</strong>rbike or a television set and, a few kilometresaway, the local <strong>to</strong>wn is filling with the more intrepid type of <strong>to</strong>urist.These visi<strong>to</strong>rs will bring income, buying artefacts and food, helpingthe H’moung <strong>to</strong> diversify their livelihoods and so reduce their vulnerability<strong>to</strong> crop failure or a sick buffalo. But the <strong>to</strong>urists’ presence willalso dilute, if not destroy, the very ‘purity’ that drew them here. Do theH’moung care? Not yet, apparently. ‘Farming is hard. My dream formy kids is education and a skilled job – I want them <strong>to</strong> get out’, saysone man.‘Even if they leave the village and I am alone – I want them <strong>to</strong>study Vietnamese, English, or French, not H’moung.’The fast-evolving rural world entails both opportunities andthreats for its inhabitants. Change is uneven, and often faster in areasthat are more connected <strong>to</strong> markets, but few areas escape change119

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