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In most circumstances, if two boys started pulling and pushing a girl who was trying to escape, passers by would call the police. But this isn't the case in Vang Ma Chai Commune, a remote area of Phong Tho district in northwest Lai Chau Province. Here, the act is considered a custom and is known locally as keo vo - 'wife catching'.
Every year on January 20 according to the lunar calendar, Dao Do ethnic people in Vang Ma Chai Commune have a day off for their ngay kieng gio (wind abstaining festival). But for the last 40 years, children as young as 12 or 13 gather in the centre of the commune for another tradition, where a boy can seek out a potential lover, ‘catch' her and take her home as his wife without having to go through an official ceremony.
The girl will only be his if he manages to get her home. Once there, they live with each other and if after a few days they don't like it, the girl can return home and wait for another suitor. As well as encouraging sex with minors, the habit inevitably results in underage pregnancy.
Every year teachers at Vang Ma Chai Primary School have to brace themselves to stop their students taking part in the festival, principal at the school Vuong Bien Thuy says. "The staff have to organise themselves to stop our students from going out to catch wives," he says.
"One teacher at my school told me she had just returned two girls from her class to their homes after she caught them at the festival."
One student at the school, 12-year-old Ly Y Phang, was forced to marry a boy of his choice by her own grandfather, Thuy says. Fortunately, when teachers discovered the incident, she was returned to her parents. In another case, the parents of 12-year-old boy Ly Phu Pheng helped him catch a wife of similar age. She has since given birth to their first child.
The ages of the people participating vary but most of them are teenagers, one local resident Phan Ta May says. "A lot of boys catch wives who are older than them. Girls and boys can be as young as 12 or 13. Around two-thirds of marriages are between children," she says. Among them is 19-year-old Cheo Su Truong, employed at the commune's veterinary unit. Truong is a mother of two children, the oldest is five years old. Truong's father became a grandfather when he was only 35.
Once the match is established, that's you for life, complains Ly Y Thong, who caught a wife when he followed his friends to the festival when he was 13 years old.
"I have two children now. Sometimes I get so sick of my wife, she's old. But I can't divorce her."
Dropouts
Vang Ma Chai Primary School has 68 students with four classes from sixth to ninth grade. There are 15 girls in sixth and seventh grades, while eighth and nine grades only have boys. At this year's keo vo, only two students in the eighth grade came to class.
"Five out of nine students in the class are married already, they don't come to class regularly," says teacher at the school Nguyen Van Dien.
Getting married at such a young age means these boys and girls have to concentrate on how they are going to feed their family, rather than working on their education. "We have put a lot of effort into disseminating information and encouraging local residents to abolish this backward custom. But it has been rooted in the culture for such a long time, it cannot be overcome in just one day," secretary of the commune's party committee Ly Phu Hoa says.
"The custom began with the wish of poor people who were in love but couldn't afford a proper wedding ceremony. Unfortunately the custom has evolved into something quite different. We're still trying to encourage local residents to get back in touch with the original meaning of the festival."
This article appeared on vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn
April 29, 2008
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