Hanoi: Chao Chi Oanh va Chi Suot
Photo 1: Ms. Oanh, her husband and son
Photo 2: Ms. Suot and her Doctor
Two of my friends from Middlebury College, Annie and Sasha, were recently visiting Hanoi. Sasha has recently joined EDM as our USA representative helping with the fundraising efforts in the USA and Annie has helped with numerous fundraising efforts this past summer in New York and Washington DC. I wanted them to meet our local microfinance partner Binh Minh, and to get a feel for what we do here, so we spent the morning meeting the Binh Minh team and visiting clients. We met two clients with rather memorable stories.
Who: Ms. Oanh, husband, two daughters and one son
What: Rice production, dry tea seller, wholeseller
Where: Dong Anh (client of Binh Minh)
Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh is 44 years old with two daughters and one son. When we walked into the one bedroom thatched roof and cement wall home, we were kindly greeted and were asked to sit down on the matted table. Ms. Oanh has been a client with Binh Minh since its creation in 2003. Ms. Oanh and her husband were discussing their daily schedules with our translator (the accountant from Binh Minh) when we were taken surprised by the abrupt movements of what appeared to be a medium-sized child in a cot in the corner of the room. Ms. Oanh told us that this was her eldest daughter, who is 16 years old and brain damaged, evidently coming down with Japanese encephalitis as an infant. When asked how she supports the childs needs, she said that the Red Cross had visited her and they provide VND 100,000 – 450,000 ($8-36) quarterly but this is not enough. When asked how the loan from Binh Minh has helped, Ms. Oanh said that she can invest in her inventory by buying goods directly (not on credit) and by storing goods in her house. She sells dry tea and is a wholeseller for other traders. Overall, she would prefer to borrow based on demand and finds that the scheduled loans from Binh Minh are too restrictive. However, she smiles saying that her life has gotten a little bit better because of Binh Minh loans and that counts.
Who: Ms. Suot and her husband Mr. Thuc, two daughters and two sons
What: Rice production, pig seller
Where: Dong Anh (client of Binh Minh)
Our next encounter was Ms. Suot, a 53 years old woman with 2 daughters and 2 sons. Ms. Suot has been taking a loan since the creation of Binh Minh in 2003. Ms. Suot told us a rather extraordinary story about how she had recovered from brain disease using traditional medicines. We met her Doctor who showed us pictures of Ms. Suot when she could no longer walk. It seemed to all of us to be quite a miraculous recovery. Ms. Suot had used the loan for pig raising and had taken advantage of the emergency loan to use for medicines.
Photo 2: Ms. Suot and her Doctor
Two of my friends from Middlebury College, Annie and Sasha, were recently visiting Hanoi. Sasha has recently joined EDM as our USA representative helping with the fundraising efforts in the USA and Annie has helped with numerous fundraising efforts this past summer in New York and Washington DC. I wanted them to meet our local microfinance partner Binh Minh, and to get a feel for what we do here, so we spent the morning meeting the Binh Minh team and visiting clients. We met two clients with rather memorable stories.
Who: Ms. Oanh, husband, two daughters and one son
What: Rice production, dry tea seller, wholeseller
Where: Dong Anh (client of Binh Minh)
Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh is 44 years old with two daughters and one son. When we walked into the one bedroom thatched roof and cement wall home, we were kindly greeted and were asked to sit down on the matted table. Ms. Oanh has been a client with Binh Minh since its creation in 2003. Ms. Oanh and her husband were discussing their daily schedules with our translator (the accountant from Binh Minh) when we were taken surprised by the abrupt movements of what appeared to be a medium-sized child in a cot in the corner of the room. Ms. Oanh told us that this was her eldest daughter, who is 16 years old and brain damaged, evidently coming down with Japanese encephalitis as an infant. When asked how she supports the childs needs, she said that the Red Cross had visited her and they provide VND 100,000 – 450,000 ($8-36) quarterly but this is not enough. When asked how the loan from Binh Minh has helped, Ms. Oanh said that she can invest in her inventory by buying goods directly (not on credit) and by storing goods in her house. She sells dry tea and is a wholeseller for other traders. Overall, she would prefer to borrow based on demand and finds that the scheduled loans from Binh Minh are too restrictive. However, she smiles saying that her life has gotten a little bit better because of Binh Minh loans and that counts.
Who: Ms. Suot and her husband Mr. Thuc, two daughters and two sons
What: Rice production, pig seller
Where: Dong Anh (client of Binh Minh)
Our next encounter was Ms. Suot, a 53 years old woman with 2 daughters and 2 sons. Ms. Suot has been taking a loan since the creation of Binh Minh in 2003. Ms. Suot told us a rather extraordinary story about how she had recovered from brain disease using traditional medicines. We met her Doctor who showed us pictures of Ms. Suot when she could no longer walk. It seemed to all of us to be quite a miraculous recovery. Ms. Suot had used the loan for pig raising and had taken advantage of the emergency loan to use for medicines.
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