Tien Duoc (Soc Son): TYM is a fulcrum, helping many women change their lives

Since the 90s, when microcredit came to Tien Duoc commune (Soc Son district, Hanoi city), the lives of women here have changed significantly. Tinh Thuong One member Limited Liability Microfinance Institution (TYM) has gradually become a fulcrum to help women develop economically and change the lives of not only individuals but also their families.

Help women escape poverty

In a new, spacious 3-story house, Mrs. Do Thi Minh Bau (65 years old, residing in Tien Duoc commune, Soc Son district, Hanoi) could not hide her joy. She said: “I can have this property all thanks to TYM.”

Looking at this house with full amenities, few people know that Mrs. Bau and her husband had to go through a time of poverty. At the age of 31, Mrs. Bau came to Tien Duoc commune to get married. Her husband is a soldier, has poor health, and the family’s economy depends on a small grocery store. The meager income from the restaurant is not enough for Mrs. Bau to take care of her husband’s medical treatment as well as the children’s education.

Mrs. Do Thi Minh Bau became rich from TYM’s loans

She wanted to expand the shop and sell more goods, but she had no capital to invest and could not borrow anywhere. Then in 1998, Mrs. Bau learned about TYM through the introduction of a relative. That was also the time when Mrs. Bau found a “ray of hope” to develop her family’s economy. “TYM’s way of accessing loans is very easy and convenient, without collateral. Every month, at regular meetings, TYM staff are present to listen and promptly answer questions,” Mrs. Bau shared.

With the first TYM’s loan of 500,000 VND, Mrs. Bau used part of it to import more goods. The rest is used to renovate the restaurant to make it more spacious. Because the loan is divided into small installments and paid in installments over a year, every time she sells something, she keeps a portion to save for weekly principal and interest payments. Since then, the number of regular customers at the restaurant has clearly increased . One year later, Mrs. Bau paid off the initial loan amount . Not only that, she also accumulated more capital to expand her business.

Mrs. Bau said that for the past 25 years, she has availed loans from TYM every year. Although the amount of money was not large, it helped her a lot in her business. Thanks to that, the family’s economy gradually stabilized. In later years, the family still had enough to eat and could do many big jobs in the house. “In addition to a spacious house, last year, my family also bought a car to serve our travel needs. My family’s life has changed today all thanks to TYM,” Mrs. Bau excitedly shared.

In Tien Duoc commune, besides Mrs. Bau, there are many examples of using TYM’s capital to develop the economy and change lives. Mrs. Ngo Thi Bac (53 years old, residing in Duoc Ha village, Tien Duoc commune) is one such example. Mrs. Bac joined TYM in 1995 through the introduction of the Vietnam Women’s Union of Tien Duoc commune. Before borrowing money from TYM, her family’s main source of income only depended on a few acres of rice fields, so it was very difficult. In the first year of borrowing money, she bought breeding pigs to raise for reproduction. Realizing that the loan was effective, she continued to borrow in the following rounds to develop livestock raising and then combine raising chickens to get meat and eggs to sell on the market.

Mrs. Bac confided that with unsecured loans, TYM has completely changed her family’s life. With loan capital, along with advice and encouragement from TYM staff, Mrs. Bac has become more bold in investing in economic development, something she was not confident enough to do before.

Besides taking out loans, according to Mrs. Bac, saving is also a favorite form of women because it helps her and other women in the center form savings habits, know how to spend appropriately and accumulate assets for their families. From small amounts of money, after a period of participation, women will have a certain amount of savings. “TYM’s capital has helped poor women like us have the opportunity to change our lives. In particular, we also benefit from many things such as gaining knowledge, receiving advice and experience, and learning how to manage finances…”, Mrs. Bac shared.

The “beat” of poor women

Mrs. Bau and Mrs. Bac are two of more than 700 women in Tien Duoc commune who have availed loans and been involved with TYM activities for many years. Their story is also typical of the change of many women here when they have access to microcredit to develop their economy and improve their quality of life.

It can be said that Tien Duoc commune is one of the first areas where TYM has operated since the early days of its establishment, for more than 30 years now. At that time, the criteria for searching areas were the poorest areas of Soc Son district. Few people can imagine that this place was once a poor countryside, where the people were mainly farmers and life was extremely difficult. From women who worked hard all year round and were only familiar with the fields, they boldly took out loans to raise livestock, cultivate crops, produce and do business. Many of these women are holding such a large sum of money in their hands for the first time, personally signing a loan contract and becoming the owner of a production and business project.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Anh, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Women’s Union of Tien Duoc commune, has been involved with TYM activities for many years. Mrs. Anh shared: “TYM has been operating in the area since January 1994. So far we have seen many women’s lives change positively since joining TYM. In recent years, Tien Duoc Commune Women’s Union has always coordinated closely with TYM – Soc Son Branch to comprehensively support members not only to obtain timely, appropriate and effective loan capital but also to have the opportunity to enjoy many other meaningful social activities. After joining TYM, many women not only improve their family’s economy but also improve their quality of life and gain status in the family as well as in society. Currently, there are no poor households in Tien Duoc commune.” Representatives of the Women’s Union of Tien Duoc commune also recognized TYM’s contributions to poverty reduction, the women’s movement and local social security activities, implementing gender equality and limiting black credit.

Source: Phụ  nữ Việt Nam