The day started at a coffee shop where some of the staff members often meet to have a coffee before work. I felt very welcome when they invited me to join them.
After that, we visited a woman whose house had been destroyed by a storm. The Thien Chi Center supported her in rebuilding it, and she also received additional support from the government. Thanks to this, she now has a new house, which is more environmentally friendly than the previous one.
She lives there together with her daughter and grandchildren, whom she helps take care of.
The next visit was quite different from the ones I had experienced before. We went to a cacao farm, where I saw cacao trees in real life for the first time, which I found really interesting.
In addition to cacao trees, they also had papaya and cashew trees. Every cashew grows at the bottom of a cashew apple, but the nut itself has to be processed before it can be eaten.
We made a small fire and placed the cashews underneath until they turned completely black. Afterwards, the shell can be removed and the nut can be eaten. It was the freshest cashew I have ever had, and it tasted really good.
The farmer sells the cacao to a large company, which usually pays around 8,000 VND (about 0.26€). Recently, however, prices have increased, making cacao farming more attractive. Cashews bring in a higher income, but they also require significantly more work than cacao.
The Thien Chi Center supports her by helping to finance irrigation systems for her crops.
In the afternoon, we had a spontaneous English lesson because there was no electricity. It was a nice opportunity to get to know the staff better, and for them to get to know me as well.
In the evening, I returned to the office for dinner because the founder of the parent organization Mekong Plus was visiting the Tanh Linh office. During dinner, he shared some of the current challenges the organization is facing. Three major donors are expected to withdraw their support, which would reduce the overall budget by more than 30%. This creates significant challenges, as the organization now has to find ways to compensate for this financial gap.
For this reason, he is visiting all the different offices to discuss possible solutions together with the staff.