Women in Sapa carry many responsibilities at the same time. We are expected to be good wives and mothers, help improve the family income and preserve the traditions and values that hold our communities together.
In principle, I believe women and men are equal, although our daily work is divided. Women usually take care of the home, prepare food and raise the children. Many of us also sew, make handicrafts or produce souvenirs to earn additional income. Men generally do the heaviest physical work, especially in the rice fields.
The difference becomes clear when somebody falls ill. A woman can take over a man’s work if she has to, while continuing to manage her own responsibilities. Most men would struggle to replace a woman in the household because they have never learned all the tasks involved.
If a husband becomes ill, his wife can take over his work as well as her own; most husbands would not know where to begin with hers.
Tourism has brought some positive cultural changes. There are more performances of traditional music and dance than there were before. Visitors want to experience local culture, so activities that were once less visible are now presented more often.
Religious life has changed very little. Many people here are not strongly religious, while those who are tend to be Catholic or Buddhist. Relationships within the community have also remained mostly the same, although people have become somewhat more open through meeting outsiders.
Food has changed more noticeably. Tourists expect dishes that differ from our everyday meals, so there is now a greater variety of ingredients and cooking styles. Clothing remains traditional in its basic form, but the colours have become brighter and the fabrics contain more decorative detail.
Tourism has made our culture more visible and colourful, but visibility does not automatically mean that the people preserving it receive a fair share.
I believe tourism can be good for Sapa, but it needs direction. At present, development is poorly controlled. People build what they want, where they want, and the town has changed very quickly. Some of those changes have improved life, but others have made Sapa less balanced and less beautiful.
I would not ask for tourism to stop. I would ask for better planning and a fairer distribution of its benefits. Women and ethnic minority communities perform much of the work visitors see, yet they do not always receive the same opportunities as the people who own hotels, shops and other businesses.
Women already carry the home, the income and the culture; Sapa’s future should not ask us to carry tourism as well without giving us an equal share of what it brings.