Today we did a tour of Soc Son, a rural village 40 km from Hanoi. Bloom Microventures, the organization that we did our tour with, combines microfinance with tourism. They use the money that they charge for their tours to fund loans to the poorest women in the village. The loans are for things like starting up roadside businesses or buying animals.
There were 10 people on the tour, including a Vietnamese Australian family with two kids. The Vietnamese Australian couple left Vietnam on boats 30 years ago. They went to Australia as refugees when they were 6 and 9 years old. Last year was the first time they came back to Vietnam. It was interesting to meet people that had been refugees as kids especially because we were in the country that they had fled. It was also good to see that they are successful and comfortable coming back home.
Our first stop was at Ms. Sinh’s house, who had already received her loan and bought chickens with the money. I was sad to hear that already 60 of her 100 chickens have died from disease. At her house, we had tea and asked about her family. She has four kids, three daughters and one son. Her husband doesn’t do anything to help the family. We learned that she works in construction. Her oldest daughter had to quit school to tend the farm. Ms. Sinh works 7 days a week and is only home in the morning, at lunch from 11 am to 2 pm, and after dark. The family lives in a brick house but it has many holes in the walls and it doesn’t have a door. They had a working TV and fan in their house. Their house is quite nice compared to the shacks that are common in West Africa but the family doesn’t always have enough food or money.
We had lunch at the house of the woman who had been the head of the Woman’s Union in the Soc Son commune, where we were. The lunch was really good, one of the only times that we have had tasty vegetarian food in Vietnam. The Women’s Union helps women that are being abused by their husbands, educates women on improved farming methods and helps make life easier for poor single mothers. After lunch, we went fishing with bamboo poles with a line and hook tied to the end of them. I liked fishing how the locals fish. I caught three fish, more than anybody else!
Our next stop was the family that the money from our tour would be going to. Ms. Băng was going to use the loan for buying feed for ducks that she already owned. In my opinion, she had been a little irresponsible in getting the ducks without making sure that she had the money for buying feed.
While the adults were talking, I went outside to play with the two Vietnamese Australian kids that were in our group. We were playing with a makeshift wooden catapult. We would put a rock on one end and jump on the other end to make the rock go flying into the air. When I tried this, I catapulted the rock directly into my left eye. We had to go to the emergency room in a hospital in Hanoi that was an hour away. The doctor ended up gluing the wound shut and we went back to the hotel.
- Brook
There were 10 people on the tour, including a Vietnamese Australian family with two kids. The Vietnamese Australian couple left Vietnam on boats 30 years ago. They went to Australia as refugees when they were 6 and 9 years old. Last year was the first time they came back to Vietnam. It was interesting to meet people that had been refugees as kids especially because we were in the country that they had fled. It was also good to see that they are successful and comfortable coming back home.
We had lunch at the house of the woman who had been the head of the Woman’s Union in the Soc Son commune, where we were. The lunch was really good, one of the only times that we have had tasty vegetarian food in Vietnam. The Women’s Union helps women that are being abused by their husbands, educates women on improved farming methods and helps make life easier for poor single mothers. After lunch, we went fishing with bamboo poles with a line and hook tied to the end of them. I liked fishing how the locals fish. I caught three fish, more than anybody else! Our next stop was the family that the money from our tour would be going to. Ms. Băng was going to use the loan for buying feed for ducks that she already owned. In my opinion, she had been a little irresponsible in getting the ducks without making sure that she had the money for buying feed.
While the adults were talking, I went outside to play with the two Vietnamese Australian kids that were in our group. We were playing with a makeshift wooden catapult. We would put a rock on one end and jump on the other end to make the rock go flying into the air. When I tried this, I catapulted the rock directly into my left eye. We had to go to the emergency room in a hospital in Hanoi that was an hour away. The doctor ended up gluing the wound shut and we went back to the hotel.
- Brook
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