Breaking the cycle of poverty through small loans
Charity work is not without its critics. The old proverb about teaching a man to fish puts its downside quite plainly – there’s only so much you can do for someone in need before you’re at risk of creating a dependency that could do more harm than good.
That’s the concern, in some respects, that has given rise to microfinancing. While the idea of a charity that lends rather than gives seems a little counter-intuitive at first, the hope is that in giving people the opportunity to take themselves out of poverty, one engenders a sense of self-respect and dignity that does more to bring about real change than the traditional give-and-then-disappear model delivers. A man who learns to fish may not go hungry again, but a man who gets the chance to start his own fishing business can feed a whole town.
The model is working in Vietnam. Recognized as one of the top microfinance institutions in Vietnam consecutively since 2007, the Dariu Foundation works both with the Vietnamese government and in partnership with other aid organizations to help alleviate the symptoms of poverty – mainly operating in the poorest districts of Tien Giang, Vinh Long, and Dong Nai provinces.
“We work with Save the Children and Handicap International, but most of our cooperation is with the Union of Friendship Organizations working around the Mekong,” says the Director of the Dariu Foundation, Hanh Nguyen. Although microfinancing projects in the poorest communities are its top priority, Dariu also runs mobile schools, offers scholarships for kindergartens, builds kindergartens, and provides residents with financial education.
Success Stories
The foundation was established in 2002 by Tomas Trüb of the Swiss media company Ringier AG, who fell in love with the country during his frequent visits. Tomas has since invested a large amount of his personal fortune and recruited many other donors to help create better living conditions and opportunities for underprivileged Vietnamese families.
Since then, the foundation has seen many success stories. “If they asked someone to lend them money, people would shoo them away because they wouldn’t believe that they could spend it wisely and repay the loan,” says Hanh. “One of the poorest residents, Mrs. Ngoc of Vinh Long province, joined our program in 2008 with a loan of one pig. She had no land, nothing. By 2010, after three years in our program, she was earning more than USD10,000 per year.”
The microfinancing program has led to other more diversified projects, including the mobile schools. These provide children without access to computers or the internet at home with basic skills they’ll need later on in life to pass high school and university exams. The courses teach the children how to use Windows and Microsoft Office, and run for three months.
Providing children with these skills heads off compounding issues that may occur in the future. “One of the problems is with the culture,” says Hanh when asked why many families in the Mekong Delta and the Dong Nai highlands are lagging behind in education compared to their provincial counterparts. “They think they can make an income easily so they don’t need to go to high school or university.”
Duong Tran Le Truong, a bright 15-yearold boy from Go Cong Dong, currently takes courses at the mobile school in his community. The school has motivated him to work in the IT field. “I’m happy because I can learn and improve my skills for a better future,” he says. “I’d love it if some more programs like this could come to my community.”
The Dariu Foundation and the mobile schools they run have become well-respected in the areas in which they are provided. With the excellent reception and success of the program, Dariu is currently working on expanding the school’s model to other countries such as Myanmar and Kenya.
Education for the Poor
The scholarships provided by Dariu are a little different from what most people imagine by the term. In the most hard-hit impoverished areas, barriers to schooling are far more fundamental than the lack of a seat at school. Scholarships mainly go to poor families who have children of around kindergarten age, and are in the form of school supplies such as uniforms, notebooks, pencils, and bikes for students living a long distance from their closest school. This year, the foundation is looking to provide around 2,000 scholarships, 1,000 of those in the form of imported bicycles from the US.
Because of the Vietnamese administration’s need for more than 3,000 additional kindergarten classrooms in the Mekong Delta, the Dariu Foundation has also made a large investment in building classrooms in the area. Both the government and Dariu share the costs of building the preschools 50-50, with the former assuming all responsibilities after construction is completed.
“The government provides teachers’ salaries, furniture, toys, and all the necessities. We just help to build the schools,” Hanh explains.
Of course, without donations and the support of international organizations, Dariu wouldn’t be able to run the projects that they do. With an official staff of 70 employees, they are always appreciative of the enthusiasm of newcomers wishing to join their cause. For those HCMC-based earners who prefer to invest in charitable work rather than the alternative, it’s worth taking a look at the Dariu Foundation website at www.dariu.org to learn how to get involved.
Text by Harrison Tripple and Michael Arnold
Images provided by Dariu Foundation