At 0:00 every day, when the music and the red and blue lights are bustling on Bui Vien West Street (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), that is also the time when street children start their work of breathing fire and buying food. fun.
At 0:00, Khang (12 years old, from Tien Giang) walked out into the middle of the street, puffed his cheeks, took a large gulp of oil, and then lit the iron chopstick wrapped in cloth that he had prepared in advance.
The group of tourists standing around slowly backed away. A few seconds later, in the space that had just expanded, a column of fire erupted from the boy’s mouth, glowing all the way to the second floor of a dance hall. The street filled with cheers and admiration as if admiring a professional circus performance.
After 2 minutes of fire performance for fun, Khang took the iron can and walked around the street. Happy and compassionate guests will put in small bills. Of course, it’s not uncommon for a performance to end with an empty can. “This is a job to make a living and you have to accept that,” Khang smiled carelessly.
Just like that, every day, from 0:00, when the music and the red and blue lights are bustling on Bui Vien West Street (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), that is also the time when children like Khang begin their journey to make a living.
Soaking in gasoline, spitting fire after 0 o’clock
Fire blowing, or fire breathing performance, is an art form that originated from winemaking in ancient Persia. Today, this acting profession is popular, becoming a profession to make a living on the streets in big cities.
In Ho Chi Minh City, in recent years, the image of children sucking on gasoline and dancing with fire has become familiar to tourists. After performing, the children will directly ask for money or sell some goods to make a living. In addition, to make the show more attractive, the children also did a few more magic tricks such as swallowing snakes, chewing razor blades, light bulbs, etc.
While bowing to thank him, Khang used his hand to wipe the oil stains from his mouth. Seeing the group of guests looking at his dirty chin in surprise, the boy smiled and said that he was accidentally burned a few times while breathing fire but did not apply medicine.
“I’ve only been blowing fire for a few days. A few months ago I sold lottery tickets and lozenges, but few people bought it. Seeing that my fire-breathing friends had more money, I asked to take a few classes and do it,” Khang said.
Similarly, two months ago, after watching a few clips on social networks, Tai (16 years old, living in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City) also learned to blow fire. Through failures, the boy has mastered a technique that prevents himself from being burned. Every night, Tai and Khang work to make a living and return together after each performance.
After midnight, when tourists flock to crowded Bui Vien Street, it is the right time for street children to start a day of making a living and making money. Every night like that, a child will be able to blow fire 10-15 times, earning 200,000-400,000 VND.
But every market has competition, street children often face arguments and struggles over territory, so they have to form groups and rely on each other.
“Compared to our old jobs (selling lottery tickets, picking up scraps and scraps), now we earn more money. Sometimes we meet big customers who give us 100,000 VND, so it’s okay to work a little hard,” Khang said.
The children grew up on the streets
As soon as he was born, Khang lost his mother. She passed away after giving birth to death. When he was 4 years old, his father decided to go to Cambodia to do business and left from there, never returning.
After finishing 3rd grade, Khang asked his grandmother to sell lottery tickets in My Tho (Tien Giang). A few months later, without enough living expenses, the boy took a bus to Ho Chi Minh City to find a job.
“When I first came to the city, I worked as a helper at pubs to make money. At night, I slept at game shops or parks if I didn’t have money,” Khang shared.
Luckily, after learning the profession of blowing fire, Khang and Tai went together. At 8 p.m., two children will bring their tools to Vinh Khanh Street (District 4, Ho Chi Minh City) to blow up the fire, then continue moving to Bui Vien West Street, working until 2 a.m.
“Once all the guests are gone, we will ride our bikes back to District 2 to sleep or go to a game shop,” Tai said.
The boy also lost his father when he was 4 years old. A few years later, Tai followed his mother to Ho Chi Minh City to sell orange juice. At night, he walked alone through the downtown streets to make a living.
“Every day like that I earn a few hundred thousand. Having money, besides playing games, I mainly give my mom a savings card,” Tai smiled, showing off the 300,000 VND he just sent yesterday.
Similarly, My (10 years old) family has 6 siblings, all 6 of them stay on the bustling streets of Saigon at night without sleep to make money. In the evening, after receiving flowers and chewing gum from her mother, My and her brother would go to Bui Vien to do business until the street was empty.
Small dreams of street children
Living on the streets, making a living at late hours, the fire-breathing children encountered many difficulties. In particular, sleeping on the street caused Khang to constantly be robbed of all his earnings. Forming a group will help with things like that.
“This group is not allowed to work in another group’s area. We don’t want to be cursed at, chased or beaten, so we will walk next to each other. In addition, to learn from experience so as not to have our pockets wiped out, we will also proactively be friends.” with children in the same situation as me,” Khang said.
Sometimes during a night, if someone in the group doesn’t make any money, the kids still share the lunch box. The happiest thing for them is that all their friends are acquaintances on the street but are always ready to help each other.
At 0:15, a customer was ready to put 100,000 VND in Khang’s iron can, making the boy very happy. Since arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Khang has not had a chance to call his family, so every day he tries to collect money in the hope of buying a cell phone soon.
“I miss my dad so much too! If only he was here and could live with me, I wouldn’t have to do such a hard job,” the boy laughed when asked about his family and hometown.
“I also want to go back to school,” Khang added.
The boy did not clearly understand the reason for wanting to go to school, he only guessed: “Maybe after going to school I will find another job that is less difficult.” His voice was small, almost lost in the background music of a Bui Vien who never sleeps.
According to the leader of Pham Ngu Lao ward (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), authorities have recorded many cases of children working as fire blowers in the western area of Bui Vien street.
Recently, the ward invited a group of young fire-breathers to work at the headquarters. Authorities confirmed that children who make a living on the streets have special circumstances, including some who only live with their parents or grandparents, and some who are abandoned.
“The children do not live in Pham Ngu Lao ward. We helped take them to the shelter, but then their family members came to sponsor them to return home, and then continued to let them blow the fire. Not long after, we discovered it again and everything happened in a repeating cycle,” the leader said.
It is known that the authorities have repeatedly reminded and explained to children about the dangers of smoking oil and blowing fire. The locality also organized propaganda and campaigned for tourists not to give money or encourage children to continue doing this dangerous job.
($1=24,000 VND)
Photo,Video: Internet