VietNamNet Bridge – Ut Linh is a skillful rush-mat maker; though she is only nine years old. She is among rare descendants of the Cai Chanh rush-mat making village in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

Cai Chanh is a famous village for making rush mats. This is the traditional job of Cai Chanh villagers for several generations.

There was a time that this traditional job brought about prosperity to villagers, so all families in the village did this job. Traders flocked to Cai Chanh to buy rush mats. One could immediately hear the click sound of looms when they entered the village.

In the past, sedge or rush mats were indispensable in every Vietnamese family. However, as they are made by natural materials, mats easily get moldy in Vietnam’s wet climate. Traditional mats, as a result have been replaced by plastic or bamboo mats.

Many rush mat makers in Cai Chanh village had to give up mat weaving looms to become building workers, traders or hire workers in cities. Rush fields were left fallow. The number of mat-weaving households in Cai Chanh is just a handful. Most of mat makers are old people, women and children. Mat making is now the extra job.

Because of poverty, most of kids in Cai Chanh quit school at the age of 9-10 to become mat makers.

Mr. Thanh’s family has done this traditional job for three generations. He has four children. Three sons quit school like other kids in the village. Thanh plans to support only Ut Linh’s studies.

Thanh has been a mat maker for nearly 40 years. He said he did not know when Cai Chanh villagers began to do this job. When he was a little boy, he saw rush, colors, looms and began learning this trade.

He said the village was prosperous after the country’s unification (1975) thanks to this craft trade. The village was always crowded with mat traders. Mat weavers, thus, were highly respected.

“There are many complicated and detailed stages to make a mat. Mat makers must be very patient, skillful and especially love this trade. Though we want to preserve this traditional trade, many people have to change the job to secure their families,” Thanh said.

He said that profit from this trade is very low, only VND5,000-20,000 ($0.4-2)/mat, depending on the quality and artistic value. There are several kinds of rush mats of various sizes and colors. However, the most favorite kind are plain mats, which are made from naturally white rush threads. To make plain mats of high quality, workers have to choose the best rush threads, which are long enough, small and smooth.

“If there are many customers, I can save a little to pay school fees for my daughter, otherwise, profit from rush mats is only enough for food,” Thanh said.

Mr. Luong Van Nhanh, 50, who has done this trade for nearly 30 years, one of the best mat makers in Cai Chanh village, said he and his wife have to get up early to pedal to the rush field to cut rush. Rush is dried for several days, split into small threads, died in different colors and weaved. Nhanh said he can make a mat a day.

“It takes less time for plain mats and much more for mats with patterns. But the price for the later is higher. Snail shell’s valve mats are the most expansive, around VND120,000-150,000 ($6-7) a pair. Normal mats are only VND40,000-70,000 ($2-3.5) a pair,” Nhan said.

The biggest worry of mat makers in Cai Chanh is the narrowing of rush fields. “The prices for colorings, looms, etc. all rise but we cannot increase mat prices. We used to earn some profit from this trade but we may starve to death with this trade now,” Nhanh complained.

Making rush mats in Cai Chanh:

PV