Vietnam’s mountainous Dien Bien Province, 500 km (about 310 miles) west of Hanoi, is home to the well-known battleground of Dien Bien Phu, where Vietnamese soldiers fought and won a decisive 55-day battle in 1954 against the French Union that brought an end to that war. Today, Vietnam is now engaged in another battle — against HIV/AIDS. And Dien Bien is one of Vietnam’s two provinces with the highest HIV prevalence.
Ms. Ca Thi Hinh, 32, a member of the Thai ethnic minority group in northern Vietnam, grew up in the province’s Tuan Giao district, an HIV hotspot. Born into a poor family, Hinh married in her early twenties. Her husband was also poor, and all they had was a temporary shelter. They both worked hard as hired laborers, saving as much as they could and looking forward to the moment when they could afford a decent house.
In her traditional costume typical of the Thai ethnic minority group in northern Vietnam, Hinh tells her story to a reporter from Vietnam Television with confidence, shining eyes and a radiant smile. Photo Credit: Richard Nyberg/USAID
In 2007, Hinh’s husband was diagnosed with HIV when he was treated for a high fever, and died shortly after. Hinh then found out that she had contracted HIV from her husband, and the sky seemed to fall down on her. She could only gather her courage when she thought about her two small children. “I must live,” she thought. “My children need me to take care of them.”
As stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS are still problems in Vietnam, people like Hinh have difficulty finding jobs, face unfair treatment in accessing social services and experience discrimination in healthcare and other settings.
Hinh looked to animal breeding as one option to earn an income, but she was turned down for a loan from a state-owned bank. Then she learned about M7/CFRC, a microfinance service provider supported by the USAID HIV Workplace Project. M7/CFRC staff trained her in financial management and gave her a microloan of $150. Adding $50 from her own savings, she bought two goats, one of which was pregnant. Three months later, her herd had grown to eight and she sold two goats for $215. With this money, she is able to support her children and her sister.
“I am very grateful for the support and care from the project. My children are now well-fed and educated, and I, myself, am more confident,” Hinh said. She hopes to have more goats soon, so that she can sustain her income.
Since 2008, the project, funded under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief (PEPFAR), has helped 1,400 people living with or affected by HIV in Vietnam. With microloans from the project, people like Hinh have found jobs and realized their dreams of running their own businesses. The success of the microfinance model for people living with HIV has encouraged local microloan providers to commit $1 million in loans to this target group.
The Government of Vietnam has also adopted the project’s microfinance models and is developing a new policy to provide loans to populations at highest risk of HIV in Vietnam.
Learn more about USAID’s work in Vietnam.
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