We went to Ms. Cao Thi Hoa’s house, center 63, Duyen Yen village, Ngoc Thanh commune, Kim Dong district, Hung Yen province on a hot afternoon. At the gate, I saw a tall, thin woman with her hair in a bun, carrying many trays and baskets woven from rattan and bamboo.

Her business has more than 10 women aged from 35 to 60 years old working in the factory and 140 women working at home. Some of the women are poor and have low income. They work very enthusiastic; their hands are very skilled at knitting. Around them are the trays and baskets that they have just made so beautiful and delicate.

Ms. Hoa confided that nearly 20 years ago, her family’s life, as well as many other sisters’ families, faced many difficulties because they all depended on rice cultivation and precarious income. At that time, she thought that she would simply find a job to help herself and her family have a stable income. She noticed that there are many women in the commune who, besides planting rice, have a lot of free time. In 2004 , she established An Hoa Linh company with 80 women workers. At first, the company faced many difficulties in terms of material, capital. Women workers thought that this profession would not last long, so the job would not be stable. After a while, Ms. Hoa found a stable output for her products, with financial support from organizations, especially capital from TYM, Ms. Hoa and her female employees were assured to develop their profession. After a year of operation, she combined with Ms. Huong, Ms. Dong, her 02 sisters, to expand the area to other communes in the district such as Song Mai commune, Mai Dong, bringing the total number of employees to 150.

Products are exported to Japan, USA, Korea, Taiwan. With happy laughter, Ms. Hoa shared that she plans to expand her business to other districts, creating jobs for women to earn more income.

We say goodbye to Ms. Hoa with an admiring look, a woman who is smart, brave, dare to think, dare to do, always helping rural women get jobs. a shining example for other members in the center, also a typical example in the emulation movement “Women actively study, work creatively, build happy families”.