Improve life thanks to small loan

(VBSP News) Coming to Hamlet II, My Phu Commune, Thu Thua District (Long An province) and ask about Hanh Long An Garment unit, everyone knows it. However, not much people know that the manager of that famous unit is a woman who had to undergo hardship, challenges to get out of poverty and her success is always resulted from VBSP’s loan support.

Hanh Long An Garment Business creates jobs for locality

Starting career only with VND two million

The woman mentioned above is Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh. Meeting her for the first time, no one can think this woman with a kind face and smile had to overcome many challenges and hardship during her life in the past. She says she was born in a disadvantaged family with many children so she had to earn for livings at the early age.  At the age of 20, she got married and the couple had been tried to earn for their living everywhere but their life still met difficulty, the hunger and poverty was always in companion with their family. In 2003, she saw that in My Phu commune, there were not much people to do business in garment sector while the demand for this was huge.

Taking action as thinking, she borrowed a sewing machine from her relative for trying her capacity. Then she realized her real capacity in the garment sector, she decided to get out of poverty by this career. However the first obstacle she met was the matter of money. Gathering all her savings added with borrowing amount from relative, she owned only VND 800 thousand. Luckily at that time, she was introduced by mass organizations to know about VBSP and she submitted her loan application for borrowing VND 2 million from VBSP’s lending program for poor households. She says with us “At that time VND 2 million was a huge amount and it contributed efficiently to my career.”

With that borrowing capital for starting career added with her advanced thinking, she knew that unless the business should be expanded, her family couldn’t get out of poverty Her sewing machine was operated at the maximum capacity, she not only received to finish processing clothes for some garment enterprises in province, but also tailor for customers in commune. She also studied by herself fashion design in magazines. After four years doing this business, her family got out of list of commune’s poor households. In order to getting out of poverty sustainably, in 2007 she expanded her business to become a garment unit. This time, VBSP was again in companion with her by lending her with a loan size of VND 20 million – ten times compared to the first lending time from lending program for job creation. With her unit’s prestige and success, the loan size from VBSP has been gradually increased to VND 30 million and then VND 50 million. Since then, VBSP’s Thu Thua district transaction office has lent to Hanh Long An garment unit from lending program for job creation up to VND 300 million.

Wishing for being lent more preferential loan

According to Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc Thuy – Director of VBSP’s Thu Thua transaction office, not only Hanh Long An garment unit has been lent from VBSP but also many households in hamlet II, My Phu commune have been also lent from the bank for buying sewing machine, processing textile products for Ms. Hanh. Currently, this unit has created job for more than 100 laborers with the average income around VND 3.5 - 4 million/month. Especially, laborers can work part-time or bring items to do at their home and get wage based on product number.

Ms.Hanh’s strong will to get out of poverty and get rich has been admired by people in the hamlet and they elect her to be the group leader of savings and credit group of hamlet II, My Phu commune. Her group includes 52 members and reach the outstanding loan of VND 1.2 billion. Ms. Hanh says members in her group are working hard so now there are only six households being in the list of poor households. Relating to households which have members working and processing permanently for her unit, there remains only one poor households at present. She told with us: “VBSP’s capital resource is the same to a life saver thanks to preferential interest rate with enthusiastic staffs accessing to communal People’s Committee for disbursement so it has built up belief of getting out of poverty for people. For such production and business units as our unit, the preferential loan has reduced capital cost, helping us in paying higher wage for laborers”.

At present, many people call her as “General Director” of the garment unit. She has been supported and assisted by her husband who playing as the role of “chief accountant” and her dutiful daughter. Garment products of her unit have been purchased popularly at the wholesale market in Tan Binh district – Ho Chi Minh city and some surrounding provinces. Every month, her unit produces an average of 40 thousand products, the current turnover reaches VND one billion/month. “My wish is being lent more from VBSP’s capital resource for expanding business activities, creating more job for laborer at my local area”- she said.