The effectiveness of the 'Household Visit Diary' model of women in Quynh Luu district

Timely support for difficult circumstances

Ms. Vu Thi Hang (born in 1980) in hamlet 4, Quynh Doi commune is one of many members whose households were directly visited by the commune Women's Union officers, who grasped the situation and provided timely support when the family had an incident.

That was the time when Ms. Hang's husband - the pillar of the family - suddenly passed away, leaving behind a sick wife and 4 young children. Losing her husband, Ms. Hang fell into a psychological crisis. Through visiting her family, understanding her situation, the women's cadres of Quynh Doi commune both encouraged her spirit and helped Ms. Hang borrow capital from the job creation loan source to do online business and gave her a cow to raise. Ms. Hang's child was also adopted by the association under the program "Godmother Connecting Love".

Talking to us, Ms. Hang shared: “When my husband passed away, I was in a state of despair. Because when he was alive, due to poor health, I only stayed at home to take care of the children and do chores, so when I lost my support, I fell into depression for nearly a year. Luckily, I was cared for by the women's union officials of the commune and neighborhood, who helped me to regain my spirit and strive to raise my children.”

Currently, the life of Ms. Hang and her four children has become stable. The eldest child is 22 years old and is studying at the University of Agriculture 1 (Hanoi), the youngest is 8 years old. Whenever she encounters difficulties, she is promptly encouraged and shared by the women's union officers.

Another case is Ms. Hoang Thi Thuy in village 6. Although her eyesight is only 2/10, she has worked hard to go to Hanoi to learn a trade. In April 2024, after visiting the household and understanding Ms. Thuy's situation and desire to borrow capital to expand her spa and hair washing shop, the Women's Union of Quynh Doi district officials connected with her to help her borrow 50 million VND from the job creation loan source; at the same time, the Union also gave Ms. Thuy a flock of breeding chickens to develop livestock farming.

“Although my eyesight is not clear, I receive a lot of love from my family and from women's associations at all levels. That is the motivation that helps me overcome my inferiority complex and move forward in life,” Thuy said.

Through the discussion, Ms. Hoang Huong Thao - President of the Women's Union of Quynh Doi commune said: From regular household visits, we not only grasp the thoughts and aspirations of members to innovate the union's activities but also promptly support disadvantaged women in difficult circumstances.

In some cases, the union officials not only visit and help once but also visit regularly and record in the diary the progress in overcoming difficulties, such as the case of Ms. Truong Thi Lien in village 1. In addition to coordinating with the Social Policy Bank to support a loan to create jobs of 50 million VND to help her expand her livestock farm, the Women's Union officials of Quynh Doi commune also introduced Ms. Lien to work as a worker in a garment factory in Quynh Thanh commune to increase her income.

Through visiting households, the Women's Union of Quynh Doi commune also sponsored 15 orphans in difficult circumstances with a total amount of 65 million VND; supported the construction of 2 "Warm Houses of Love", gave breeding animals, and hundreds of gifts to women and children in difficult circumstances... with a total value of 385 million VND.

Not only in Quynh Doi commune but also for women's union officials at all levels in Quynh Luu district, regularly visiting members' households has become a habit. Each visit is recorded in a common diary for monitoring.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai - President of the Women's Union of Quynh Bang commune, women account for nearly 50% of the total population in the area, of which 28 households are poor members, accounting for 0.013%.

Regular household visits not only help association officials grasp the thoughts and aspirations of women, closely monitor the grassroots, thereby finding solutions to support poor households to improve their lives, but also create a close and intimate bond between association officials and members.

During the past half term, the Women's Union of Quynh Bang commune donated livelihood models (breeding animals) to 5 poor households and 6 near-poor households; coordinated with organizations to help 6 business households owned by women, supported 4 women with start-up loans of 120 million VND; supported 3 "Warm Houses of Love" worth 50-100 million VND for 3 member households in difficult circumstances.

In addition, the Association also cooperated with Phuc Mau Leather Shoe Company (Quynh Minh commune), Dai Thanh and Trong Phuc Garment Company (Quynh Thanh commune) to introduce and advise nearly 100 women to have stable jobs with income from 6 - 7.5 million VND/month.

In particular, through household visits, the Quynh Bang Women's Union has promptly supported victims of domestic violence and abuse. For example, in the case of Ms. Nguyen Thi L. (born in 1987), who was often beaten by her husband, the union staff connected her with the Hagar organization (a non-governmental organization supporting people affected by psychological trauma due to human trafficking, violence and abuse) so that she could stay at a community shelter for 6 months and receive psychological counseling.

Or when a 10th grade student was sexually abused by a neighbor in the locality, the Commune Women's Union asked the District Women's Union to connect with the Hagar Organization to help the student stabilize her mental state soon.

Another case of a disadvantaged child adopted by the Women's Union of Quynh Bang commune is Dau Thi Thanh Tr. (born in 2016) in Van Ly hamlet. Tr. has a mentally ill mother, and was born without knowing who her father was. She has been cared for by her elderly grandparents since birth.

Talking to us, Mr. Dau Van Nhiem (born 1946), Tr.'s maternal grandfather, said: "I have 7 children, of which Tr.'s mother is the youngest but developed a mental illness at the age of 22. When Tr. was 10 days old, his mother had a seizure and tried to harm her child, but her grandparents discovered and stopped her in time. After that, Tr.'s mother was taken to Dong Nai for treatment by her brother. Tr. lived with his grandparents. Luckily, he was cared for and adopted by the mothers in the women's association, and our family is very grateful."

According to the staff of the Women's Union of Quynh Luu district: The work of providing psychological counseling for women and children whose rights and legitimate interests have been violated has always been of interest to all levels of the union. Currently, 100% of communes and towns have surveyed and compiled a list of victims of domestic violence to monitor and provide timely support to the subjects; at the same time, building a team of collaborators to support and provide psychological counseling to victims of violence.

Through visiting households at all levels of the association, 20 women were also discovered to be victims of domestic violence, of which 4 were directly assisted by the association, 16 were connected to the association in coordination with the Hagar International Organization to help in the following forms: Counseling victims on prevention skills when violence occurs, supporting livelihood models, necessities, health check-ups, etc.

In addition, through the program "Godmother - Connecting love", up to now, the whole district has sponsored 286 orphans; helping them have the motivation to improve in life.

Replicate good models and practices

Not only grasping the situation and promptly supporting members in difficulty, but also through the "Household Visit Diary", women's unions at all levels in Quynh Luu district have discovered and replicated many typical models at the grassroots level such as the model "Family of 5 no, 3 clean", "Shady trees", "Green fence", "Clean house, beautiful garden", "Adjacent model garden", "Safe village for women and children", "Green house"; "Waste classification and treatment at households"...

In Quynh Hung commune, there are 12 hamlets with 12 thousand people, large area, many members, requiring the commune Women's Union officials to visit households regularly. Thereby, they can both grasp the situation and needs of members, and propagate and mobilize to carry out the general movement.

In early 2023, the Women's Union of Quynh Hung commune combined household visits with mobilizing families to place garbage sorting bins called "Garbage-free routes" at the women's union branches of hamlets 2, 3, 4, 6, 9. In the early days, people did not agree, but the Women's Union officials of the commune and hamlets persistently "went to every alley, knocked on every door". After 8 months of implementation, 815 households participated with a total amount of 161,000,000 VND.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Chuyen - Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Quynh Hung commune said: Through visiting households, discovering difficulties and problems, we always report to the Party Committee and the commune government to ask for opinions, request support and get consensus before implementing, or ask for direct instructions from the District Women's Union to resolve them.

For example, when the Commune People's Committee implemented Project No. 01/DA-UBND dated January 5, 2023 of the District People's Committee on "Propaganda and mobilization of members, women and people to participate in collecting, classifying and treating waste at households in the period of 2023 - 2026", in addition to promoting propaganda and raising awareness for members, women and people at 12/12 branches in many forms, the Women's Union officers of Quynh Hung Commune directly went to households, surveyed families with large gardens and crowded houses, and encouraged them to install waste treatment bins at the source using microorganisms.

At the same time, the Commune People's Committee advised the support of additional funding and received support and approval from superiors. Accordingly, 35 households have implemented the model of waste treatment bins at source using microorganisms, with a total purchase price of more than 11 million VND. By the end of July 2024, 30 more households had registered to participate.

“To improve the effectiveness of the model, we have consulted on opening a training class at the commune hall with over 60 participants. At the same time, we have surveyed and researched the renovation of 2-compartment trash cans with water taps to promote convenience in practice. In the near future, we will install 15 more bins to treat waste at source using microorganisms in hamlet 11,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Chuyen.

Visiting the family of Mrs. Ho Thi Dieu (71 years old) in hamlet 6, Quynh Hung commune - one of the pioneer households in implementing the model of waste treatment at the source, we "witnessed" that in addition to the trash bin placed at the beginning of the alley for packaging of all kinds, in a garden of more than 1,000m2²In addition to growing many types of fruit trees, Ms. Dieu's family also has a bin for treating waste with microorganisms. "Before there was no bin for treating waste at the source in the large garden, my family often dug holes to bury it. Now there are officers training on treating waste with microorganisms in the hamlet, which can be used as fertilizer to ensure environmental hygiene while the fruit trees and ornamental plants in the garden also grow well," said Ms. Dieu.

It is known that through the implementation of the models "Garbage-free route", "Waste treatment at source", "Turning waste into love", "Mother's environment, children's happiness"... up to now, the waste collection rate in Quynh Hung commune has reached 98%.

In many localities in Quynh Luu district, models, good practices, and beautiful images at the grassroots level are not only updated by women's unions at all levels in the "Household Visit Diary" but are also directly shared and spread by union officials on social networking channels (Facebook, Zalo), thereby creating a spread and replication into a vibrant emulation movement.

Ms. Ho Thi Thuy Hang - Vice President of the Women's Union of Quynh Luu district said: "Household visiting activities help union officials promptly grasp and detect problems arising at the grassroots level; if they are within their authority, they will directly handle them, if they are not within their authority, they will propose support from all levels and sectors to resolve them.

In addition, the Women's Union of Quynh Luu district also combines the model of "Household Visit Diary" with the inspection of loan entrustment activities of the Policy Bank, savings and loan groups and the effectiveness of women's loan use.

Through that, the District Women's Union has supported 65 members who want to start a business; 65 women to establish new businesses. The grassroots association has supported 236 members and women to start a business, with an amount of 873 million VND from the association's fund and savings at the branch.