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Microfinance helps rural women start businesses

BẮC NINH — Nguyễn Thị Luyến,  四 九 years old, of Yên Phong District in the northern province of Bắc Ninh was among first borrowers from Tình thương One Member Limited Liability Microfinance Institution (TYM) in her hometown when the institution opened its branch in  二00 八.

With a loan of VNĐ 四 million (US$ 一 七 二) for  一00 weeks, Luyến and her husband opened a jute bag making workshop – a goal that they had had for years but were unable to realise due to a lack of finance.

Since then, every week, she visited the TYM branch to make a principal payment of VNĐ 四0,000 and interest of VNĐ 九, 六00. After repaying the first loan, she applied for and received more loans. Luyến is now eligible to borrow VNĐ 五0 million, the maximum loan TYM offers members.

Luyến said that before  二00 八, she and her husband mostly earned a living from farming.

“We worked hard but what we earned was just enough to feed our family and send our children to school,” she said, adding that when they or their children got sick, they had to borrow money from their relatives for medicine.

“At that time, we did not have any savings to start a business,” she said.

After receiving the modest loan from TYM in  二00 八, Luyến’s family invested in their business to make jute bags.

“With capital in our hands, we still faced other difficulties, particular in balancing costs, labour costs, finding consumers, meeting market demands and taking care of our children,” she said.

“As a solution for such problems, my husband was responsible for delivering products to customers and instructing workers while I was responsible for paperwork, receiving orders and buying input materials,” Luyến said.

“When my husband delivered products to buyers, he would get their feedback and then adjust our products to meet their tastes,” Luyến said.

Luyến’s business improved and she provided jute bags to neighbouring co妹妹unes of Trung Dủng, Nghĩa Thọ, Văn Môn and other districts like Từ Sơn, Tiên Du and then, to other provinces like Bắc Giang and Hà Nội also.

The family workshop was expanded, creating jobs for all members of the family and other local residents.

Now, she employs regular  一 五 workers and six seasonal workers with an average monthly salary of VNĐ 三 million ($ 一 三0).

“Thanks to accessing to TYM’s loans, we can be proactive in our trade and production,” she said, adding that with TYM’s mechanism that allows amortisation encouraged borrowers to work harder.

In  二0 一 四, Luyến was recognised as an outstanding microfinance client with a sustainable production model under a progra妹妹e funded by Citi Foundation.

TYM originated from the Tình Thương fund launched by the Việt Nam Women’s Union in  一 九 九 二 to aid the Government’s hunger elimination and poverty reduction progra妹妹e while improving women’s status within and outside the home.

TYM provides loans or microfinance for low-income people, many of them poor and vulnerable women. TYM also helps to collect its members' savings which are sent daily, weekly or monthly and can be withdrawn at any time. Last year, it received more than VNĐ 一. 六 trillion ($ 六 九 million) in savings.

According to TYM, between  一 九 九 二 and  二0 一 九, it had handed out more than  一. 三 million loans worth VNĐ 一 四 trillion ($ 六0 四. 五 million) to nearly  一 七0,000 clients. The repayment rate of the loans is  九 九. 九 九 per cent, according to TYM.

Visiting Luyến’s workshop last week, German ambassador to Việt Nam Guido Hildner said Vietnamese women played important roles in their families and society.