With only one arm left, Mr. Phan Van Chanh (57 years old) can make rough bamboo shoots and turn them into unique household items, earning tens of millions of dong per month.
” King bamboo roots”
About Hanh Dong hamlet, Dai Thanh commune, Dai Loc district, Quang Nam province, when asked about Mr. Nam Chanh’s house with one hand, everyone knew. The people here always give this “village artisan” admiration for his will, energy to overcome fate, and admire him for his very attractive products created from bamboo.
He was known as the “bamboo-root king”, so in his spacious house, the furniture such as tables and chairs, cabinets to the bed… were all made of bamboo, hand-made and arranged by Mr. Nam Chanh.
Pointing to the bamboo tree he was doing wrongly, Mr. Chanh said that before, his family was very poor, so the family’s main income was from farming and working as hired laborers. When he was 22 years old, he had an unfortunate accident at work and lost his right arm.
The accident was like an event never to be forgotten in his life. From a healthy young man, the main breadwinner in the family, suddenly losing his arm turned his life upside down, falling into despair.
“Losing an arm makes my ability to work almost no longer, all activities are very difficult, let alone manual labor. However, I always think that I am disabled but not disabled, I can still earn money. a job to help support the family, raise children to eat and study”, Mr. Chanh recalls.
At first, he worked at a local brick kiln and then switched to knitting, making bamboo products such as baskets, baskets, baskets, etc. to sell to earn money to support his wife and children. By 2006, the historic flood in Quang Nam had made bamboo gardens in the commune uprooted, lying alone by the river.
“Inadvertently I saw the curved, rough but beautiful bamboo roots, so I came up with the idea to turn those bamboo roots into something, such as a set of tables and chairs,” Mr. Chanh said.
Thinking about doing it, he stayed up all night to come up with ideas and sketch out a set of tables and chairs that are made from bamboo. After getting a satisfactory drawing, he began to make suitable tools with only one hand.
When he first started working, Mr. Chanh only made straight tables and chairs, little technicality, not eye-catching, so customers didn’t have much. Many people did not know the story and told him that he was “crazy” all day long to bring home discarded items to fill the house.
“When I went to find bamboo to make tables and chairs, they told me I was crazy, having one hand would do godly things. But the more they talked, the more determined I became to learn to prove that I could do it. “, said Mr. Chanh.
Determination has helped him overcome difficulties to explore and learn difficult techniques with the desire to make more beautiful and useful products.
After many failures, unique and highly sophisticated products were born, and customers also ordered more. Since then, the name “King of Bamboo Roots” has been famous throughout and outside Quang Nam province.
Turn the bamboo root into a million-dollar item
From 2012 onwards, tend to use fine art items, everyday items using natural materials, friendly to the environment began to flourish. Mr. Chanh is known by many people from far and wide and orders have also come rushing in.
In order for the products to be durable, he needs to be very careful in choosing bamboo and treating it before making it. The bamboo that is purchased must be “bamboo” grown on a mound, 5 years old or older.
After digging the root, it must be soaked in the mud for at least 3 months to avoid being eaten by termites and termites and increase the strength of the bamboo. New quality bamboo is put up to dry for processing. Thanks to his meticulousness in all stages, his products always achieve both durability and aesthetics.
“An average set of tables and chairs needs about 40 different bamboo roots. In which, the roots are used to make chair legs, armrests, handles … need to be very beautiful and sturdy. Each set takes more than a month to complete, that’s it. Not to mention the fact that it takes a lot of time to find bamboo that has curvature and balance with each other,” said Mr. Chanh.
On average, in nearly 2 months, Mr. Chanh sells a set of products from bamboo roots, the market price is from 25-60 million VND, depending on the number of items to follow (set of 5 items and 9 items). There was a set that was ordered by a customer and made from a giant bamboo that he sold for 65-70 million VND.
He sells about 8 sets a year, earning 200-400 million VND. This is a “huge” revenue for people in the countryside of Dai Thanh commune, especially for a worker with only one left arm like Mr. Nam Chanh.
Not only making tables and chairs but “bamboo king” Phan Van Chanh also creates many other products such as cribs, beds, altars, dressing tables… And of course, all of his products are meticulously made from bamboo roots.
Now, the goods made by Mr. Chanh have been well received by many people in places such as Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau, and Da Nang. Follow Dan Tri