Starting a business in the "land of steel and bronze" of Cu Chi.

Ms. Nguyen Ho Vy, owner of Dang Khoa dried vermicelli (Phu Hoa hamlet, Phu Hoa Dong commune, Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City), is one of the outstanding daughters of that "fortress" land. Born into a family with a revolutionary tradition, her uncle was a martyr, her aunt was a revolutionary hero, and both her parents were Party members, the patriotic tradition of her family has permeated her every step of the way.

Her grandmother's and mother's stories about the years of fighting and their love for their homeland not only instilled in her a sense of gratitude but also fueled her determination: She must do something to repay her debt to Mother Earth.

Having transitioned from a job as a laboratory technician at a hospital, in early 2021, Vy and her husband started their own business with the desire to both enrich themselves and develop the traditional craft village in their hometown.

When Dang Khoa's dried rice noodle factory first started, she only had 5 employees; now she has over 20 workers. Her facility specializes in processing dried rice noodles, dried pho noodles, brown rice noodles, etc., with a sales volume of nearly 100 tons per month. Her products have successfully penetrated demanding markets such as the US and France.

To achieve the solid foundation they have today, Vy and her husband have overcome many difficulties. Recalling her entrepreneurial journey, Vy said that in the early days, she had absolutely no idea what the business would be like.

Having been accustomed to the medical field, she was bewildered when she had to learn how to soak rice, make rice noodles, dry them, and then learn how to "predict the weather"—rain, wind, scorching sun, night dew... all sorts of worries came her way. Her husband handled the production, while she took care of the packaging, from removing and pressing the noodles to packaging and finding markets for the product.

Back when I worked in the medical field, the heaviest box of medicine only weighed 5 kilograms, but now boxes of dried biscuits can weigh up to 19-20 kilograms. The factory doesn't have enough workers, so she has to roll up her sleeves and get to work.

"The early days of starting the business were really tough. Fresh rice noodles, after being produced, needed to be dried in the sun before being put into the electric drying system. So, on days with sudden rain and wind, if it was too sunny, the noodles would break, and if there wasn't enough sun, the noodles would get moldy, sometimes ruining a whole ton of rice. Before, I didn't do heavy work, but since starting the business, I've been doing carrying and lifting, and I've gotten used to it," Ms. Vy recounted.

Overcoming those initial difficulties, Vy and her husband boldly invested in modern technology and production lines to increase productivity and income for their workers while still preserving the essence of the traditional craft.

"Tradition is not only something to be proud of, but also a source of strength for progress. With all our hearts and minds, our generation today is following in the footsteps of previous generations, contributing to building our homeland, so that this 'land of steel' will flourish even more brilliantly," Ms. Vy emphasized.

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