A Brighter Future

Hai spent time as a child watching her relatives create the unique clothing of the Hmong people. They did it with ease, making the zigzag patterns of yellow, red, and green pop against black fabric, and the silver coins sewn on the dresses jingle with every move. 

She knew that one day she also wanted to sew and make beautiful Hmong clothing. But her parents needed her to work in their rice fields in northern Vietnam. The work was back-breaking and took priority over school. Year after year, she helped plough, sow, harvest, thresh, and winnow the rice. 

She got married and had two children, and still the work was the same. She had come to accept that a career as a tailor would never be in her future—until Samaritan’s Purse staff came to her community. 

Hai, now 27, learned how we are helping families establish promising small business ventures. She was thrilled to receive training in business planning and the funds to begin a trade of her choosing. For Hai, the decision was easy. 

“It’s been my dream to open this tailor and sewing shop,” she said, standing among thread, fabric, dresses, skirts, shirts, and pants. “All I hope is that I will be able to earn more money and provide for my family.” 

Samaritan’s Purse is also helping families in Vietnam earn a sustainable income and secure a better future by raising livestock. With nearly half the population in Hai’s northern, rural district living below the poverty line, livestock projects are a way to help people transition from subsistence living to income generation. Parents who would have to travel far away for low-paying day jobs are able to stay home with their children and raise the animals. 

Hai’s family received a pregnant cow, 35 hens, five roosters, and supplies to build enclosures for the animals. Our staff also taught them how to care for the animals. The cows and chickens are providing the family with eggs, milk, and income. 

Raising livestock and running the sewing shop have given Hai a renewed hope. “I enjoy my work and I can be at home with my family more often,” she said.

As we demonstrated God’s love, Samaritan’s Purse also provided De and his wife, Dua, with chickens and a cow. After a few months, they were selling eggs in the local market to boost their income. 

We also gave the couple funds to start a business, and they used it to purchase pigeons. As the flock increases, they’ll sell pigeons for income.

The young couple plans to work hard and save their money so that their 1-year-old son will have a more enjoyable childhood than they did. 

Dua, 19, dropped out of school after seventh grade, and De, 22, quit after ninth grade. They both went to work full time in their parents’ rice terraces in the towering mountains. Dua said that her parents struggled to put food on the table, and without her help the situation would have been much worse. De had to give up his dream of becoming an engineer. 

“I hope for a better future for my son than what I had,” De said. “I want my child to have a better education.”

Dua said that the assistance from Samaritan’s Purse has been invaluable. “We had no way to make money when our son was born,” she said. “I hope he can finish school and go to a university.” 

Dua, De, and Hai are among dozens of families in Vietnam’s northern highlands who are now thriving and on the path toward a more hopeful future because of how God is working through Samaritan’s Purse livelihood projects.