Thanks to policy funding, Ms. Vi Thi Luong (Ho Lao village, Luc Son commune, Luc Nam district, Bac Giang province) has "changed her life" from being a street vendor to doing sustainable agricultural economics.
Rise from two empty handed thanks to policy capital
In 2001, when her husband passed away at the age of 33, Ms. Vi Thi Luong became a single mother "carrying" on her shoulders 3 young children, the oldest was 15 years old, the youngest was only 10 years old. All 3 children were at the age of eating and studying.
During her youth, Ms. Luong worked hard to make a living, took care of her sick husband, raised her young children, and became a successful person when starting a local agricultural business.
It is difficult to describe the hardships that Ms. Luong has gone through during those 20 years. Not only did she lack money, she also had to play two roles, being both a father and a mother to take care of her children.
The feeling of being alone is "not knowing where to start" to reduce the burden of raising children in extremely difficult economic circumstances.
Struggling to make a living, selling a few kilos of fruit and some firewood from her house, she still longed to get rich. Due to her limited education and lack of qualifications, she had no other hope than to carry a street vendor everywhere. She said that when her husband died, the house had only 400 kg of rice left. She sold 200 kg of rice to buy a street vendor to carry around the village and commune, then exchanged the rice for necessities to make a living. The hardships kept coming and going.
During that time, every day she went to pack goods from 4pm to 11pm, had a quick bite to eat, then at 2am rented a car to Hai Duong, Hanoi to deliver bamboo shoots, oranges... She only had one day off a week, Sunday. At that time, her youngest child could not see her mother during the day because when she came home, she was at school, and when she came home at night, she was already asleep. So on Sundays, when her friends invited her to go out, she refused because she said she had to stay home to see her mother. "When I saw my mother coming home from the alley, tears welled up in her eyes, saying, 'Mom, I miss you.' I could only hug and comfort her, saying, 'Mom, you hug me to sleep every night,'" Ms. Luong recounted, tears still welling up in the corners of her eyes.
Thanks to the support of the Commune Women's Union, Ms. Luong was able to borrow capital to do business.
Get rich at home
Then she thought, she was working everywhere but her garden was left fallow with a few longan trees that did not generate income. Among them, there were 80 longan trees that the couple used to take care of, but now the garden was mixed with other things that were no longer suitable for longan productivity. At that time, she saw many people starting to cultivate fruit trees with new technology for high productivity, so she boldly asked the Commune Women's Union to support policy loans.
In 2010, she borrowed 10 million, then 20 million to improve the garden land and buy seeds. When the term expired, she borrowed another 100 million to improve her plant care techniques. Previously, she had 5 hectares of longan garden, which yielded 30-40 tons of longan fruit each year. Now she has increased it to 2 hectares with 1,000 longan trees. Each crop yields several dozen tons. This result has helped Ms. Luong "change her life".
"There are perennial plants like eucalyptus and acacia that take 4 to 5 years to generate revenue. During that time, I plant short-term plants like squash, ginger, and seasonal plants in the ground... Each year, the agricultural harvest also gives me 300-400 million VND," Ms. Luong shared.
From this agricultural economic model, she has had the economic conditions to take care of her children's education, success, buy equipment for life and buy a house on a large street to do business. But she still does gardening and develops the economy according to her passion, hobby, and life associated with agriculture. Currently, her children have their own property and do business with their mother.
Ms. Luong (right) and officials of the Women's Union of Luc Son commune
To get to where she is today, Ms. Luong has gone through many years of experience, with successes and failures, but the important thing is the spirit of "losing without being discouraged". Moreover, when she was supported with a loan to do business, she told herself that she had to succeed at all costs. That not only helps herself but also makes her responsible to society, because the borrowed capital cannot be wasted or missed.
From her experience, Ms. Luong said that ethnic minorities in Luc Son have many opportunities to get rich from policy capital. However, people need to have the spirit of mastering their land and not letting the land master them. If the land is not productive, it is necessary to change the crop structure. When growing one crop is not successful, plant another crop to have a continuous income. When borrowing capital, one must be responsible and make efforts to make a profit and repay the capital. Ms. Luong also suggested that people can grow squash, corn, papaya, and ginger intercropping for year-round income.
In the coming time, Ms. Vi Thi Luong will continue to promote the economic value of indigenous crops such as longan, lychee and other agricultural crops. She hopes that the local ethnic minorities will know how to rise up to get rich, take control of their lives and change their thinking and ways of doing things, improving their lives. From there, they will contribute to the local economy, building their homeland to be richer and more beautiful.
Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/me-don-than-co-cua-an-cua-de-nho-khoi-nghiep-tu-nong-san-dia-phuong-20240616162611699.htm
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