The ordinary courage of the very poor
Em and Lê have 7 children; the 3 eldest had to leave school because of the
costs. 2 are now working in a factory and send 10 euros every month, 1/4th their
pay. They do not visit the family often because the bus is too expensive. This
household has only 2000 m2, planted with pepper trees. They could certainly
produce much more. Tuu, the agronomist of
Thiên Chí –the local NGO which we support,
helps them for this. He believes this source of
income could increase from 100 euros per
year to 600 or even 800 euros. The husband
is working hard: he breaks big rocks into
pieces, which he sells to local builders. This
is a very dangerous occupation and in fact he
is now immobilized for the second time, a
piece of stone has hit him in the eye. In total
the family survives with 20 euro cents per
Lê treats her rabbits almost like her children!
person per day.
This was before Thiện Chí intervened.
Thanks to a small loan of 40 euros and the
technical support of the para vet, the rabbit
farm has increased the family income by 1/3
in a few months! Tưu, the agronomist
predicts that with the pepper trees, their
income will soon reach 51 cents euro
(+255%).
Much is left to be done: Lê has a tumor which
makes physical work painful. The house is
shaky, the roof must be fixed. Do not imagine
Thiện Chí is the only help they get! This is a
Em’s work. All by hand, 1 euro per day
principle: Thiện Chí helps only with the
community: the commune, the neighbors, the local church…
Thiện Chí has decided to focus on the extremely poor. In total 1600 households
are followed today. There would be many more, but Thiện Chí is short of funds.
One must count 100 euros on the average for one family to get out of poverty.
One starts always with a scholarship (16 euros/year), so that the children would
not drop out of school. Sometimes housing is a priority, Thiện Chí provides 50%,
the community the rest (2 times 200 euros for 30 m2).
Thành took us to visit a young farmer who now raises eels, in the Mekong delta.
Son in law in a large family, but no land! The community has paid for half the new
house, Thiện Chí the rest. Thiện Chí has given a loan of 25 euros to Han so that
he could double his production. He has dug a small basin and put a tarpaulin.
Today he is very proud of his harvest: 60 euros in 4 months!
They keep the old one, but they are so
happy for the new house! For 12 people
Han insists we visit his eel pond !
The people are so grateful, it is really moving. Thiện Chí has been for them the
unexpected help, so used they were to all sorts of disasters and suffering. But for
Thiện Chí not doing the maximum with them would be unbearable.
Bernard KERVYN, with Du, Hàng, Thành of Thiện Chí. 15/11/2005