Recycled textbook project of a determined Nghe girl

(Baonghean.vn) - At the age of 30, with a stable job in a big city, Le Thi Khoi decided to start a business in the poor countryside of Hung My commune, Hung Nguyen district with a rather bold idea. This is also the idea that Nghe An Provincial Youth Union has just supported with 50 million VND from the Youth Entrepreneurship Support Fund to start a business.

Childhood…not peaceful

Khoi’s starting point was a house next to the railway, noisy all year round. There seemed to be little laughter in that house as there were only women who relied on each other. Khoi was the only child in the family.

When Khoi was born, her mother was 37 years old, disabled and an unmarried woman, so from a young age until now Khoi has never known who her father is. Khoi only knows that right after her mother gave birth, she turned purple and fell into a state of clinical death.

After being given first aid and regaining consciousness, the doctors named Khoi Nghia, meaning to rise up and win. Later, when making a birth certificate, Khoi's uncle shortened his name because he thought that a girl's name, Khoi Nghia, was too long and masculine...

Le Thi Khoi with book design work. Photo: My Ha

Having a special name, Khoi's life was quite difficult. At the age of 18, Khoi had to go to Hanoi to work as a maid even though she was a good student and had a talent for music, poetry and writing. This passion also helped Khoi to be confident and bold enough to write a letter to musician An Thuyen.

Later, he also created conditions for Khoi to study at the Military College of Culture and Arts. At first, Khoi studied music, which was her hobby. But then, due to health reasons, she transferred to the Screenwriting department.

Disabled workers working at Khoi's production facility. Photo: My Ha

After graduating, Khoi spent nearly two years traveling with private film crews with many different “nameless” jobs. But then, Khoi’s health gradually weakened and it was only then that she learned that she had a very serious congenital heart disease.

Recalling these difficult days, Khoi confided: When the doctor told me to go home and wait for death, I was extremely desperate because I thought how unfortunate I was, born without a father, poor family, and when I could earn money to support my mother, she became seriously ill. But then, I became optimistic and thought that I was luckier than many people because I had my mother... Willpower also helped Khoi overcome difficulties, especially when I was supported with all the costs for surgery.

Recycled books

Having returned to normal life, Khoi began to change his perception and think more about his dream. This was also the time when Khoi built the idea of ​​“starting a business”, the first reason being a “promise”. When he was still working in Hanoi, he often talked on the phone with disabled children in his hometown. The children suffered from the effects of Agent Orange but had many dreams and ambitions; their biggest dream was to have a job to support themselves.

With such a desire, even though he was 30 years old and had a stable management job in Hanoi, Khoi still decided to start over with the project "Producing educational books and story books for children from 2 to 10 years old from recycled materials using manual methods".

This idea was conceived by Khoi in 2013 when he was working at an international kindergarten. However, it was not until 2017 that he started implementing it after winning first prize in the presentation at the YSEALY Conference organized by the US Embassy.

Books conceived and completed by Khoi. Photo: MH

Sharing his plan, Khoi said: I want to produce a special line of books with books made by hand. Through these books, children can think and perceive the noble human values ​​contained in each book and raise their awareness of their own responsibility in protecting the environment.

When he started implementing the idea, Khoi only had nearly 100 million VND in hand, which was the money from selling part of his family's garden land. Khoi used this money to buy a color printer, a laptop and raw materials. Khoi did not forget his "promise" from before, so the workers in Khoi's facility were all less fortunate, including 2 people who were living on disability benefits. Every day, they came and were instructed by Khoi to cut and paste the book covers. In particular, the decoration in the books according to each topic and theme was directly designed and presented by Khoi.

Khoi (in white shirt) attends the Youth and Citizenship Initiative Conference organized by the US Embassy. Photo: NVCC

Sharing more about the process, Khoi confided: For nearly 5 years since graduating, all my savings were mainly used to treat my mother and I. Therefore, when they saw me selling land to make books, many people said I was crazy, investing in a plan with no future. However, my mother put all her faith in me and that was the motivation for me not to allow myself to fail...

Another positive thing that helped Khoi feel confident in his plan was the support from neighbors and organizations. For example, at this time, when people learned that Khoi made books from scrap, whenever they had old books, newspapers and covers, they gathered to give them to Khoi to use. Many people volunteered to work for Khoi even though they knew the salary was not worth much...

Khoi's simple workshop at his home. Photo: My Ha

After more than two months of production, the first books cut and pasted from scrap materials have been completed with various contents. This is also the basis for Nghe An Provincial Youth Union to recently support 50 million VND from the Youth Entrepreneurship Support Fund to help Khoi complete his project. According to the plan, the project will be implemented within 1 year with 20 books and about 1,000 copies. After completion, Khoi will organize exhibitions to introduce and promote and is expected to promote abroad through non-governmental organizations in the first years./.

My Ha