Dao buffalo girl studying in Europe changes gender stereotypes
Yen had to drop out of school early, but her dream of escaping poverty motivated her to return to school. She passed the university entrance exam, studied abroad, and helped change the gender stereotype that "girls don't need to study much."
The Dao buffalo girl and her journey to study abroad in Europe to change her poor fate
The opposite road from the border village to 2 European countries
"It's enough for a girl to finish 9th grade, to know how to write and name. Why study so much?", that sentence haunted Chao Thi Yen for a long time. For 3 years, she was stuck between her desire to go to school and the rigid belief of her family and community that "girls don't need to study much".
Yen was born into a large family in Ngam Xa village, Nam Chac commune - a mountainous border commune in Bat Xat district, Lao Cai. From the time she started going to school, Yen was passionate about studying and was always at the top of her class.
Chao Thi Yen loved to study since childhood.
However, after finishing secondary school, Yen was forced to drop out of school and stay home to pick vegetables to sell in China and work in China. She thought her life would follow the same path as many other Dao Tuyen women in the community, working to earn a living, and then getting married and having children at the age of 17-18.
But the desire to go to school still burned. Every morning on the way to work, Yen missed her school days so much that sometimes she unconsciously drew a calculation or read a few lines on the ground. One day, while herding buffalo near the secondary school, Yen secretly stood by the window listening to the teacher's lecture.
The old teacher knew that Yen really wanted to go to school, so he came to her house many times to persuade her parents. "The teacher lived 3-4km from my house, but every week he walked there 2-3 times to ask my parents to let me go to school. My father kept his old views, but the teacher always emphasized the goal of "studying to escape poverty," Chao Thi Yen (32 years old) told Dan Tri reporter.
Loving her daughter, after many conversations with the teacher, Mrs. Ly Thi Hoa also agreed to let Yen continue her dream of education. At first, Mr. Chao Kim Son did not really support her, but later, he and his wife worked many jobs, accepting to gradually sell buffaloes and cows to have money for their daughter's education.
At that time, no Dao Tuyen family in Ngam Xa village could send their daughters to higher education. Everyone said, "Why should we send them to school? Later, we will come back to support our husband's family." But Mrs. Hoa thought that boys and girls were all her children.
Overcoming prejudice, Chao Thi Yen continued her unfinished dream. It took Yen one semester to rise to the top of the class. Seeing that her student was intelligent and had the ability to grasp things quickly, the school's teachers had to prepare separate lesson plans and assign separate exercises for Yen.
In 2010, Chao Thi Yen became the first person from a mountainous border commune to go to university. The school Yen chose was the Forestry University because at that time, she witnessed devastating flash floods, and Yen decided to choose a job related to forest protection.
On the journey from Ngam Xa village to the lowlands to study at university, Yen realized that not only her people but also many people she met, despite being educated, still held the prejudice that "girls do not need to study much, should not dream too much" but should follow the safe choice of finding a stable job, getting married, and taking care of the family.
The young girl could not help but feel sad. Yen thought, there was only one way, that was to study hard, to make her dream come true.
Yen once shared about her journey to study abroad in Europe through the book "The opposite path from the Dao village to the Erasmus scholarship".
After 4 years of hard work, Yen graduated from university with a good degree and surprised many people when she won an Erasmus scholarship worth 50,000 USD (about 1.2 billion VND) to study for a master's degree in Germany and Italy.
The day Yen received the scholarship to go abroad, the people of Ngam Xa village flocked to her house like a festival, giving her small gifts before Yen left for Europe. Hearing the simple, sincere wishes, Yen realized the change in the community.
The path she took at that time was no longer in the opposite direction because people began to believe that studying was good for the future regardless of whether the student was male or female.
Decided to return to the border village
After 2 years of studying abroad in Europe, in 2018, Chao Thi Yen completed her master's degree. She returned to Vietnam and worked in various positions such as project assistant at the Center for People and Nature, freelance consultant for several UNESCO projects and a Dutch organization...
Working in prestigious organizations and having a stable job, the Dao girl still hopes that one day she will return and develop herself in her homeland.
Yen gave up her high-paying job in Hanoi to return to her poor village in the border area.
In 2020, Yen decided to work, run a homestay business and develop eco-tourism in Sa Pa. She and a friend pooled their capital to start the business. "That was the money I saved up from working for several years plus borrowing from friends. But unfortunately for me, the Covid-19 pandemic caused tourism to stagnate. The homestay was therefore only operating at a low level," Yen shared about her first start-up.
In May 2022, Yen was fortunate to attend the Prime Minister's Conference on Dialogue with Vietnamese Farmers. Meeting successful people in the field of rural agricultural economic development, Yen seemed to see more clearly the path she needed to take.
After participating in the Prime Minister's Dialogue with Vietnamese Farmers in 2022, Yen boldly took the entrepreneurial path.
She saw many farmers who started their businesses very late but still succeeded, and many individuals who were not indigenous but could improve many ethnic products. "Why can't someone born in a village like me do that?", the young girl asked herself.
She realized that if she was always fidgeting, one foot in and one foot out, it would be difficult to do anything well. Yen decided to give up her well-paying job, return to her birthplace to start a new journey with Dao agricultural products and herbs.
In early July, Chao Thi Yen officially became the Director of the Goong Indigenous Knowledge Cooperative. "Goong in Dao language means good. I hope the values that the cooperative brings will create good things for the community," Chao Thi Yen said.
Young girl accompanies local farmers to do business.
There are many difficulties but we will not back down.
Goong Indigenous Knowledge Cooperative focuses on products related to indigenous knowledge of the Dao people, traditional medicine, medicinal herbs, postpartum bath leaves, agricultural products... exploited and produced in the ancient way. Yen will be the connector to apply science and technology to improve the medicine, promote its medicinal properties and create more favorable conditions for users.
Taking advantage of the strength of multimedia, the young master did not hesitate to livestream (live broadcast) to advertise the products of the Dao ethnic group. Realizing the community's interest in the products, Yen planned to develop a type of experiential tourism for the community.
In addition, she also searches for good Dao products to distribute to the market. "The cooperative will set quality standards and whoever wants to supply the goods must ensure that they follow those standards," said the director of the Goong Indigenous Knowledge Cooperative.
Initially, the cooperative headed by Yen has been successful with some products such as ginseng vermicelli, ginseng... Recently, the cooperative has connected to consume about 20 tons of ginseng for local people. Dao herbal remedies have also attracted a lot of attention from people and were quickly sold out on e-commerce platforms.
The cooperative gathers 9 local households. However, in the early days, Chao Thi Yen had the hardest time. In addition to the help of a younger sister, Yen still had to take on many "positions" as a content creator, filmer, video editor, sales page manager, label designer, product developer... Yen seemed to be the first person in Ngam Xa village to bring this new knowledge back and apply it to production and livelihood.
From a person who specializes in sustainable forest resource management, when switching to business, Yen has certain advantages in developing the economy but still knows how to connect with conservation, creating an impact on the community. However, the difficulties are probably greater when she is limited in financial resources, human resources, marketing knowledge...
If before, Yen was doubted by outsiders about her choice of following the letter, now Yen also has to listen to gossip about her decision to quit her stable job to return to her hometown to start a business.
Although there were times of discouragement, the young girl told herself that this was probably the best path and the best choice for herself. Therefore, Chao Thi Yen still strived every day and moved forward in the same way that she had gone in the opposite direction to reach the horizon of knowledge before.
Content: Pham Hong Hanh
Video: Pham Tien
Photo: NVCC
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