FROM THE MARGINS
I visited Vietnam recently, reconnecting with old friends and partners in development. I met the leaders and clients of the Tinh Thuong Microfinance Institution (TYM or Affectionate Fund), Vietnam’s first licensed microfinance institution, and I remember what Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, once said:
“Microfinance recognizes that poor people are remarkable reservoirs of energy and knowledge, posing an untapped opportunity to create markets, bring people in from the margins and give them the tools with which to help themselves.”
Vietnam has always been very close to my heart, and getting to see the impact of microfinance on rural women there is very inspiring. I lived in Vietnam in the early 1990s, working as a consultant of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and later, as adviser to an international NGO. This gave me the opportunity to work closely with the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU), which established TYM, a Grameen Bank-patterned poverty alleviation program in 1992. TYM eventually separated from VWU in 1998, becoming a revenue-generating non-profit organization in 2006. It transformed the lives of poor women from the rural areas and garnered the support of many international organizations. In 2010, it became the first licensed MFI in Vietnam.
I am proud to have played a part in TYM’s story.
Upward journey with women
Over the years, TYM has served hundreds of thousands of rural women. It has 208,616 active members as of September 2024, with outstanding loans amounting to US$ 104,240,000. It enjoys a high repayment rate of 99 percent. Its savings balance amounts to US $96,930,000, demonstrating its savings mobilization capacity.
TYM provides a broad range of social services, including:
- Health consultation and training on women’s health, sanitation, and hygiene, contributing to the overall well-being of 44,558 members and their families.
- Capacity-building on topics ranging from literacy to business development, enabling more than 170,000 women to improve their lives and communities.
- Social empowerment, which helps members develop communication and leadership skills that enable them to hold leadership roles in local governments and the Vietnam Women’s Union.
- Education, by providing scholarships to nearly 3,000 children from low-income families.
- Economic empowerment, enabling many women to lift themselves out of poverty by starting small businesses and improving their skills through financial education and business management training.
- Housing and community development, by providing homes to vulnerable women and focusing on community projects to improve infrastructure, health, and education facilities.
First clients
In my recent visit, I had the chance to interview two long-standing clients, who were among the first batch of TYM members. Their stories exemplify the transformative power of microfinance.
Dương Thị Thu joined TYM in 1992, becoming one of the first 20 members. She came from Minh Phu Commune in Soc Son District, one of Hanoi’s poorest communes. Thu received a US$ 20 initial loan, which she invested in pig farming, supplemented by rice and vegetable cultivation. Over her 32 years with TYM, she steadily increased her loan amounts, expanding her farm and later, investing in a welding and metalworking workshop. Her perseverance provided economic stability to her family. They now own a 5,000-square-meter farm where they grow fruit trees and livestock. They have built two spacious homes and acquired valuable assets, marking a profound transformation from their early struggles.
Beyond the financial improvement, Thu shared with me TYM’s tremendous impact on her personal growth. She used to be very shy, but her membership in TYM helped her become an active leader in her community and at the VWU, becoming a model of resilience that other women emulate.
I also met Nguyễn Thị Hương. She and her husband also came from Minh Phu Commune, where they struggled to support their family. She joined TYM in 1992, obtaining a US$ 20 loan to buy piglets and egg-laying hens. Gradually, she expanded her farm, growing organic vegetables and winter melons, which brought higher economic returns. With TYM’s help, she was able to rebuild her home and provide her children with quality education. She now owns a 3,800-square-meter organic farm, supplying produce to local schools and industrial areas. Her success story reflects TYM’s positive impact on local agriculture and the potential for women to lead community-based enterprises.
Hương expressed her gratitude for TYM, emphasizing how it has enabled her and other women to achieve financial stability and support the government’s poverty alleviation goals.
Empowering women
These clients’ stories demonstrate the essential role of microfinance in empowering women and alleviating poverty. Thu and Hương are living testaments to microfinance’s impact on rural communities, particularly in creating opportunities for economic and social advancement.
I congratulate TYM for providing financial and social services that empower women and foster community development. May you continue to transform more lives for years to come!
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“The world is full of beautiful places. Let your heart be one of them.” — Jenim Dibie
(Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip is a poverty eradication advocate. He is the founder of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually-Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), a group of 23 organizations that provide social development services to eight million economically-disadvantaged Filipinos and insure more than 27 million nationwide.)
Những câu chuyện của khách hàng này chứng minh vai trò thiết yếu của tài chính vi mô trong công tác xóa đói giảm nghèo và trao quyền cho phụ nữ. Thu và Hương (hai khách hàng TYM mà Tiến sĩ Aris đã gặp) là minh chứng sống động cho tác động của tài chính vi mô đối với khu vực nông thôn, đặc biệt là trong việc tạo ra cơ hội cho sự tiến bộ về kinh tế và xã hội.