The day began with breakfast, a bowl of phở shared with the Director, before heading out for three family visits.
First Family
The first household includes eight members: parents, four children, a granddaughter, and one additional relative. The family took a 5 million dong loan from Thien Chi to purchase fertilizer for maize and rice cultivation and to buy recyclable waste.
The mother collects and trades plastic and cans, buying from neighbors for 5,000 VND/kg and selling them to a recycling company three times per month for 6,000 VND/kg, earning a 1,000 VND profit per kilogram. This is the family’s main source of income, while the father works as a day laborer.
One daughter, aged 15, has a heart condition and will have to stop school after Grade 9 due to health difficulties. Their house was built with government support. Despite financial hardship, the mother shared that she feels happy thanks to the help of Thien Chi, the government, and her neighbors.
Second Family
The second family includes six members: the parents and four children. Two of the children are university students, one in Phan Thiết (graduating this year) and one in Ho Chi Minh City studying transportation, while the younger two are in Grades 10 and 1.
The mother works for a local water company, earning 6 million VND per month (about 195€). She and her husband share agricultural responsibilities. He manages the rice fields while she raises chickens.
The family has been supported by Thien Chi for six years. Their per-person monthly income has increased from 700,000 to over 1 million VND. They use a 5-million-dong microloan for rice and poultry production.
Education represents a major expense: school fees alone amount to about 40 million VND per year, excluding books and housing. Rent in Ho Chi Minh City costs around 1 million per month, so the children often work part-time to continue their studies.
To cover education costs, the parents also borrowed 80 million VND from a government program.
Third Family
The final family consists of four members: a couple and their two children, in Grades 6 and 8.
The husband is a farmer, raising pigs and growing rice, while the wife works as a seamstress and makes rice wine. Their monthly profit has grown from 768,000 to over 1 million VND per person.
They have borrowed 2 million VND through Thien Chi’s microcredit program for four years and also received 3 million VND in direct support for an innovative biogas model.
This environmentally friendly system transforms pig waste into cooking gas. The waste flows into a covered tank where methane accumulates and is redirected through pipes to fuel daily cooking and rice wine distillation. This reduces odor, disease risk, and firewood use, benefiting both the family and the environment.
The model costs around 12 million VND to install. Thien Chi, with support from HSBC Bank, currently implements it in seven households, with four more interested. Earlier this year, Thien Chi organized a presentation to share the model’s results with local farmers.
