During my time in Duc Linh, which is already my third office placement, I quickly felt familiar with TC’s way of working. The daily routines here are quite similar to the other offices. Community visits usually take place either in the morning or in the afternoon. Personally, I prefer the morning visits because I can start the day with many new impressions and then reflect on them directly in the blog during the afternoon, but of course, that is just my personal preference.
The biggest difference compared to the other offices is definitely the Children’s Center, which I am very enthusiastic about. Even though there is not much I can actively contribute there myself, it makes me very happy to see the children and witness even the smallest progress they make. I especially admire the patience and kindness that this work requires.
While I taught English together with the entire team in Phan Thiet, here we have only been three people, including myself. I have been very positively surprised by the good level of English here , you can really notice that Hang and Thao practice English every day.
From the community visits so far, I have the impression that even more people in the Duc Linh region are affected by poverty than in the other two regions. I find the stories of single mothers especially moving and impressive, women who do everything they can to provide their children with a good education. Whenever I convert the Vietnamese Dong amounts into Euros, I regularly ask myself how some families manage to survive. The longer I stay here, the more convinced I become of how important TC’s work truly is. In particular, the scholarship support gives many families a real opportunity to break out of poverty.
Two families that especially stayed in my memory are those of Truong Thi Phuong and Khong Thi Mai Trang.
Both women are raising six children on their own, earning money independently, and at the same time trying their best to support their children’s education.
At the same time, I also find the cases involving illness very emotional and sometimes wonder how unfair fate can be. One family that especially stayed in my mind was Ms. Nguyen Thi Chau Vy’s family, whose husband can no longer move freely after suffering a stroke. During the visit, I was able to help clear weeds from their field, which was a nice and refreshing change, as it allowed me to actively help out myself.
What stood out to me most positively during the visits was the helpfulness of the TC staff. Whether it was quickly repairing a community member’s phone or giving families practical advice on how to increase their income, the staff always tried to support wherever possible. This included suggestions such as planting bananas instead of rice because bananas can be harvested all year round, or offering support for raising pigs. Through the piglet bank program, TC supports families not only with 9 million VND, of which only 5 million must be repaid, but also with guidance throughout the process and valuable advice gained from many years of experience. 
Additionally, I find it very inspiring to see how much some families’ incomes have increased through the microcredit programs. One example that especially stood out to me is the eight-member Nguyen family, whose income has more than doubled over the past five years, partly thanks to the support of Thien Chi. 
Seeing such long-term improvements makes the positive impact of TC’s work even more visible and tangible.