In my hometown, in the past, when people heard about taking out loans from banks, they were often afraid, especially women. They were afraid that if they borrowed money to buy things or do business and failed, they would not have enough money to pay off the debt. Ms. Dang Thi Theu in Tien Doan hamlet, Nam Hong commune (Nam Truc district, Nam Dinh province) is no exception.

Visiting her after she availed her new loan, I remembered the early days when she joined TYM a few years ago. Ms. Theu’s situation was quite special because her husband died early when she was still young and their son was only 2 years old. The income of the two of them was based on a few fields.

For many years, she struggled to take care of her family and children, Ms. Theu became a strong, resilient woman. Now that she is over 40 years old, she is working as a factory worker and her son is grown up, her family’s life is less difficult. Her life has improved somewhat, but she still does not have enough conditions to buy more equipment for her family. After being shared and introduced by some women who have taken out loans from TYM, she came to me, a TYM credit officer in the area where she lives for advice. After understanding TYM’s operating policy, she was very excited, but what she was most concerned about here was the payment method of every 4 weeks while she worked for a company with a monthly salary. I know that this is also the concern of many women who are workers when accessing this loan, so I sympathize with her worries. I took the time to share with her many examples of women who availed TYM’s loans and have paid back very well, the experiences of women in similar cases on how to manage finances, how to balance income and expenditures. Then she boldly borrowed the first loan of 20 million VND to buy a motorbike as a means of transportation to work. She proactively saved a portion of her salary each month and adjusted her family’s expenditures to repay it. Then, as time passed, she was able to repay the entire motorbike loan without much pressure.

Seeing that, she also borrowed a second cycle of loan with 30 million and increased the loan amount to 40 million in the third cycle. Thanks to the loan from TYM, she was able to buy valuable assets in the house such as a motorbike, TV, refrigerator, new bed and wardrobe. Her house gradually became more convenient and spacious, and the life of her and her children became more and more comfortable and pleasant. She confided: “Luckily, TYM helped me take care of my family and give them a more complete life. The house did not have a red book, so I could not take out loans from the bank. And I was single, so it was difficult to borrow from outside.”

After saying goodbye to her, I felt happier and loved my job more. Hopefully, more women will boldly access TYM’s loans and use them effectively to develop their families’ economies and improve the quality of life.