Thai Nguyen: Providing livelihoods to help ethnic minority women rise out of poverty.

Beyond mere material support, livelihood models, including providing breeding stock and livestock supplies, are opening up a sustainable path out of poverty for many ethnic minority women in remote areas of Thai Nguyen province.

"Seeds of hope" from practical livelihood models.

In the journey towards achieving sustainable poverty reduction, providing livelihoods for people in mountainous areas, especially ethnic minority women, is considered one of the effective methods, demonstrating profound humanity while also motivating them to become economically self-reliant and stabilize their lives.

Phu Lac commune is one of the most disadvantaged areas in Thai Nguyen province, where the poverty rate remains high; especially among households headed by women, single mothers, or those with disabled family members and no stable employment. In this area, each cow, flock of chickens, or bag of animal feed delivered directly to them not only holds material value but also represents a key to unlocking opportunities to escape poverty.

Providing livelihoods is not just about material support, but also about empowering ethnic minority women to overcome difficulties.

In a simple house in Queo hamlet (Phu Lac commune), Ms. Ninh Thi Thuong, a San Chay ethnic minority woman, carefully feeds her cows handfuls of green grass. She recounts that for many years, her family has been classified as a poor household. Her husband works far away, and she single-handedly cares for her two sons, who suffer from congenital disabilities and intellectual developmental delays. The lives of the three of them depend mainly on meager social welfare benefits and the struggle to make ends meet from a few acres of barren land.

Upon receiving a breeding cow, she emotionally shared: “I see this cow as a life-changing opportunity. I don't wish for anything more than to have good health so I can work, and with the cow, I can expand my herd, sell calves to pay for medicine, and send my grandchildren to school.”

Like Ms. Thuong's family, 60-year-old Mrs. Tran Thi Cau, a San Chay woman from Khuon 2 hamlet, still has to shoulder the responsibility of raising two intellectually disabled children. Without land for farming or a stable job, Mrs. Cau has to work as a seasonal laborer with an unstable income. Every expense in the household must be carefully managed.

When she received the breeding cow, Mrs. Cau was overjoyed and shed tears. She said, "The cow is like a savings. I will take good care of it so that when it has calves, I can sell them to earn money to support my grandchildren's education and repair the leaky roof of my house."

These simple stories, however, contain the power of resilience and belief that when poor people receive timely, targeted, and appropriate support that meets their needs, they will be able to stand up on their own and create change in their lives.

Highland women and their journey to economic independence.

Not only those households receiving support for breeding cows, but many other women also have access to models more suitable to their family circumstances. For example, Ms. Tran Thi Tuyen, a Dao woman in Hamlet 2, Phu Lac Commune, is raising two young children alone and lives in an old warehouse that was renovated with the help of her neighbors. Her previous work consisted only of picking tea leaves for hire, with an unstable income that varied seasonally.

After receiving financial assistance to purchase breeding stock and supplies, Ms. Tuyen chose to raise laying hens. Thanks to her diligence and skill, the flock thrived, providing a small but stable income. She happily said, "Since we started raising chickens, our family meals have included eggs and chicken meat. I sold a few hundred thousand dong worth of chicken recently, which I saved for my children to buy school supplies."

These livelihood models, though small-scale, have helped many ethnic minority women generate additional income and improve their lives. More importantly, they are gradually developing habits of production, budgeting, and saving—fundamental skills that will enable them to escape poverty sustainably.

Livelihood support programs not only provide economic value but also offer profound emotional encouragement to the poor. When women feel the care and support of the community, they gain more confidence to strive for a better future.

In reality, livelihood support, if implemented correctly, has a dual effect: it provides people with a means of earning a living and fosters self-reliance. In many places, households that previously received cattle and chickens have now become well-off, continuing to help other households, creating a cycle of compassion and mutual support to escape poverty.

The story in Phu Lac is a clear testament to the value of policies that target the right people, especially ethnic minority women who are vulnerable in society. When empowered, they not only improve their family's economic situation but also contribute to raising the living standards of their community and building a prosperous, beautiful, and compassionate new rural area.

From a cow and a flock of chickens, the women of the highlands of Thai Nguyen have been able to build new lives with their own hands. They are no longer beneficiaries, but have become the subjects of the development process. And when their faith is rekindled, they will not passively accept poverty, but will gradually rise up through their own strength and determination.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/thai-nguyen-trao-sinh-ke-de-phu-nu-dan-toc-thieu-so-vuon-len-thoat-ngheo-10395093.html