The family of the 54-year-old housewife and farmer endured the difficult life for many years till she was introduced to a micro-finance programme implemented by Dariu Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organisation.
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Tran Thi Su, 56, tends to the loofah garden in front of her house. The garden, which was begun with a US$25 loan from the Dariu Foundation, has helped lift her family out of poverty. |
Tran Thi Su has no dreams for a better future.
Receiving us in her humble metal sheet roofed house that sits amidst hundreds of yellow blossoms of the loofah gourd, Su says she is completely content with what she has.
Su is not a nun who has renounced the worldly life, but she has not forgotten the day staff members from the local bank visited her hut just several years ago to offer the household a loan.
One look at her dilapidated hut with nothing of value in it except a radio and some agricultural tools changed their minds almost immediately, and they left in haste.
Life was very hard for the middle-aged couple with six children who had migrated to southern
Without any agricultural land or stable jobs, the couple and their children depended on their forays into the
Turning point
The family of the 54-year-old housewife and farmer endured the difficult life for many years till she was introduced to a micro-finance programme implemented by Dariu Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organisation.
The year was 2004 and the money she got as her first loan was VND500,000 (about US$30).
"Knowing my difficult situation, a staff member of the Dariu Foundation asked me to join the micro-finance programme and promised to help my children continue their study," Su said.
She decided to take the money and use it to farm loofah squash (a gourd without sharp ridges), a venture that inspired no confidence in her neighbours.
"At that time no family in my neighbourhood was growing the loofah vines because most of us lived off the forest. I thought of planting the vine because I didnt have money to invest in a bigger business. Many laughed at me, warning that I would not be able to sell my crop," she added.
Fortunately Su had a good first crop that yielded about 200kg of the gourd. Since no one in the village was growing any vegetable or other crop, they sold at a good price.
Since they had no experience in farming, Su and her husband would listen to the small radio everyday to learn from the advice of agricultural experts and other successful farmers.
"We wrote down every thing they said very carefully and followed the instructions. It was unbelievable that we got a big reward from our efforts," Su said.
After harvesting the first crop, she invested the entire money to buy her first property, 0.1 hectares of agricultural land. The debt had to be settled in weekly installments, which she did.
Success replicated
The micro-finance project then was expanded to every family in Thanh Son Commune of Tan Phu District and everybody opted to grow vegetable. Su helped her neighbours by sharing her experience and knowledge.
"Now all the families in my commune have joined the programme and most of them grow vegetables," Su said, adding that after purchasing agricultural land she bought a house with two tenth of a tael (a tael of gold is equal to 37.5 grammes or 1.205 ounces).
She takes great comfort in the fact that three of her younger children are studying at universities in
Su said when she was poor, she ran around the village to borrow VND100,000 ($6.00) but nobody dared to give it to her. But six years after taking part in the micro-credit programme, she has nearly one hectare of agricultural land.
Thousands of women in Dong Nai and the Mekong Delta
It has attracted more than 11,000 active borrowers in the provinces since it was established in
Nguyen Van Hanh, director of the foundation, said it has disbursed nearly $2 million to women living under the poverty line.
Over the past three years, the foundation has provided direct micro-finance services to 13,500 poor families in rural areas.
(Source: VNS)
