Save Yen's project to support ethnic minorities in rural Vietnam

H'mong people are a poor ethnic minority in northern Vietnam. Their opportunities in life don't go past working in the rice fields - which is back breaking work and they are always struggling. They are living day to day with no hope of any other opportunities.

Little Yen from Meo Vac village is a young woman who has seen this struggle for the H'mong people around her, and has decided to do what she can to help provide them with more opportunities in their lives. To help, Yen has set up a homestay that funds her volunteering organisation to support them.

Yen's organisation teaches English to H'mong kids for free, and employs numerous other H'mong people in her homestay to help teach them hospitality skills so they can work in the rapidly growing tourism industry in their region. Yen is a generous, kind hearted woman who is dreaming big and wants to do more for her people, and has other initiatives lined up through her organisation that can create even more job opportunities for the H'mong people.

Yen started this programme in 2018 and it was going really well until as we all experienced, Covid-19 hit and stopped the Earth. All travellers left. No more tourists or volunteers are coming to Meo Vac. Yen, her family and her staff have no income coming in at all and none for the foreseeable future. Her parents used to sell pigs for a living, working long laborious hours, however they stopped doing this last year in order to support Yen fully with her ideas. Without work, villagers are more likely to dangerously cross the border to China to find work.

Unfortunately for Yen, she has a bank loan due that was taken out to help set up her organisation, and the final payment for the homestay buildings is also due in the next few months. Had the virus not hit, Yen would have been able to pay these bills however she now has nothing left and nothing coming in to pay them.

The rules for private contracts are different in Vietnam. If she can't pay the first bill in time, she will then have to pay double the amount - otherwise lose her livelihood, or face jail time. She can't sell anything to cover her bills because no one is buying anything like that right now. She is truly stuck. Not to mention they have no money left to feed her, her parents, her brother, sister-in-law, and 1 year old nephew.

For most of us our governments are able to help out in times like this. Here in New Zealand while many people are facing tough times financially, our government is at least supporting us through this. There is no help like that available in Vietnam, so Yen is on her own.

Yen has told me about her struggles, and I think this is how WE ALL can support Yen by each contributing what we can. By donating, you can be assured that this money is going to help a highly generous and driven local Vietnamese woman continue her work supporting the H'mong people in her region.

To say thanks for your donation, for every $25NZ (15USD) you donate, Yen would love to host you for one night in her homestay should you decide to visit Vietnam in the next few years. The more you donate, the longer your holiday could be! So not only will your donation be helping many people, but also you're booking a holiday for the future. If we reach $15,000: Yen can secure her homestay and be able to continue her amazing charity work. If we reach $50,000: we are helping Yen set up her charity for life - so that she can reinvest all profits back in to helping her community.

If you have any suggestions on how else we can support Yen, please get in touch to let us know.

Cảm ơn! - Thank you so much!