Animals for Education in Vietnam

These entrepreneurial Kiva borrowers from Yên Định, a rural village in Thanh Hoa province, purchased, raised and sold animals in order to pay for their children's education. All of these borrowers told me their income doubled (one told me her income tripled) as a result of receiving their loans from Kiva, thereby easing the emotional and financial struggle of being able to afford paying for their children's education. They are all motivated to provide a better life for their children and to help them obtain a great job after graduating from university. Here, again, is another compelling example of the positive impact that microfinance has accomplished.




I discussed with them the impact of their loans during a borrower verification in their village yesterday; from the left: me, Hoai, Thuy, Huong, Tuyet.

Here are two healthy-looking cows Huong was able to purchase with her loan from Kiva. Huong told me that after purchasing these cows, she feels more confident about her ability to provide food and afford tuition for her son:

Hoai has arguably faced the most adversity out of the women in her group loan, as her husband passed away a long time ago and she was left to support her son on her own. Hoai has worked as a tailor for over 20 years, but she began raising cows 4 years ago, and raising chickens 10 years ago, to supplement her income. Here is Hoai with her sewing machine, clothes she has made, and friends from her group loan. Hoai's tailoring business is based out of her home, as we were able to see her at work when we arrived to meet her for a borrower verification visit.





Hoai also told me that her income has doubled since she received her Kiva loan to purchase more animals (50 young chickens). She was very happy to have been able to receive her loan from Kiva, as she said she now has the ability to pay for her son's university tuition. Hoai plans to expand her tailoring business and purchase, raise and sell more cows to continue to support herself and her son. She is confident her son will be able to focus on his studies without worrying about how to afford school and that he will graduate from university prepared for the job market.

To help more women like these, please support Thanh Hoa MFI microloans! Thanh Hoa MFI has been our field partner in Vietnam for almost 8 years. They have a wonderful relationship with the borrowers and just about every borrower I met through Thanh Hoa MFI told me they would change nothing about the loans from and the loan process of Thanh Hoa MFI. To learn more about Thanh Hoa MFI, click here.