The one who ignited the fire of passion in highland women

Bring joy to the unfortunate

After many harvest seasons, the image of the women's union members of Tam Thai commune going together to plant rice, harvest rice, and dry rice to help Kha Thi Hoai Oc (born in 1981) and her children has become familiar to the people of Can village (Tam Thai commune, Tuong Duong district).

Among those familiar figures, Ms. Vi Thi Hiep - President of the Commune Women's Union is loved by many people for her resourcefulness, enthusiasm and always taking on the hardest tasks. Over the past 13 years, from the time she took on the role of a Commune Front official to a Women's Union official, she has considered Ms. Oc and her children as family members.

Women's Union members of Tam Thai commune, Tuong Duong district, together harvest crops to help disadvantaged families in the commune. Photo: NVCC

Ms. Oc had a rather unfortunate situation when she was born and was not as agile and normal as her peers. At the age of forty, she became a single mother raising two disabled children. Understanding that disadvantage, over the years, Ms. Hiep has organized many fundraising activities to support Ms. Oc's family. Roughly estimating, up to now, the total amount of money and gifts given to her is more than ten million VND.

Along with that, Ms. Hiep and the women's union members in the commune always accompany and work side by side with her and her children in farming, house renovation or selling agricultural products. Amidst the chaos around, perhaps that is the rare joy that makes Ms. Oc temporarily forget the hardships in her life. She considers it a support for her and her children to stand up and rebuild their lives after loss and misfortune.

Ms. Vi Thi Hiep (born in 1989, second from right) - President of the Women's Union of Tam Thai commune, Tuong Duong district, presented gifts to support Ms. Kha Thi Hoai Oc (Can village, Tam Thai commune). Photo: NVCC

Also receiving that special attention, the third grade student of Tam Thai Primary School - Vi Thi Huyen Trang found herself a protective arm from her "second mother" Vi Thi Hiep. Trang has a rather special situation when she suffered from heart disease since birth, poor health, and needed a lot of care from her mother. However, that small wish could not come true when she soon fell into an orphan situation.

Since her mother passed away, Trang has lost her natural innocence and her studies have also declined significantly. With the heart of a mother, Hiep has cared for and guided her through the most difficult times. At the same time, she encouraged the Women's Association to adopt her as a godchild and mobilized social resources to support her in her life and studies. Now, there are people to share the happy and sad stories in class with her, people to comfort her in the afternoons when she misses her mother, and birthdays are warmer with cakes filled with love. She is no longer alone. Because behind her are Hiep's mother and her sisters and friends in the Women's Association where she lives.

Under the effective advocacy of Ms. Vi Thi Hiep, the "Rice Saving Jar" model has been enthusiastically participated in by many women's union members of Tam Thai commune, creating a stable fund to support many disadvantaged women and children in the area. Photo: Thanh Quynh

At the age of 34, with more than 10 years of being close to the grassroots as Vice President of the Fatherland Front Committee and 3 years as President of the Commune Women's Union, Ms. Vi Thi Hiep has left her mark in the hearts of the people by becoming a support for many unfortunate lives here. Without being flashy or colorful, Ms. Hiep quietly does those things with the hope of reducing the hardships that are present in the lives of people who have suffered many disadvantages and are isolated from modern life.

A new breeze in the work of the Association and the women's movement

Actively seeking funding from organizations and individuals inside and outside the locality to create funds for charity activities is the creativity that Vi Thi Hiep has achieved in the past 3 years as President of the Women's Union of Tam Thai commune.

After her efforts to put the local women's movement into practice, Ms. Vi Thi Hiep (right cover) received many certificates of merit from the Women's Union at all levels. Photo: NVCC

For example, on the evening of April 13, the villagers were extremely excited to participate in a meaningful cultural program organized by Ms. Vi Thi Hiep and members of the Executive Committee of the Commune Women's Union, to raise funds to help orphans in difficult circumstances in the area. With the enthusiastic response of the villagers and members, 20 million VND was donated at the program. This is the 5th program organized in the commune with enthusiastic support from the people.

Through the cultural programs organized by the Women's Union of Tam Thai commune, many children in difficult circumstances have received meaningful encouragement. Photo: NVCC

In addition to her creativity in fundraising activities, Ms. Hiep is also a pioneer in accompanying members to build economic models. Accordingly, she proposed that the Commune People's Committee support 11 million VND to implement the livelihood model "Growing male papaya trees for flowers" at Cay Me Village Association with an area of ​​0.4 hectares. At the same time, deploy a corn planting model at Xoong Con Association with an area of ​​0.5 hectares; The model of renovating and planting new meter trees at Na Tong Association, with 64 members participating, with an area of ​​more than 1 hectare.

These models have achieved important results, helping women here diversify their livelihoods. There are even branches that have developed economic models well and maintained effective savings models such as the Can village branch with 19 million VND, the Cay Me village branch with 28 million VND, creating conditions for 11 members to borrow capital. Thanks to that, many members have escaped poverty sustainably. For example, in 2022, the poverty rate in Tam Thai commune decreased by more than 5% and the near-poverty rate decreased by 1.31%. Most of the households that escaped poverty and near-poverty were families of women members.

The cassava growing model of women's union members in Tam Thai commune helps increase income on difficult-to-cultivate hilly land with steep slopes. Photo: NVCC

Saying goodbye to the land of Tam Thai, Ms. Lo Thi Kim Oanh - Vice President of the Women's Union of Tuong Duong district confided that it was the emotional and humane actions of Ms. Vi Thi Hiep that inspired the branches and people in the community to unite and participate in the union's activities.

Along with her creativity in her work, Ms. Vi Thi Hiep is an outstanding Women's Union official of Tuong Duong district despite her young age. Her contributions not only help the local people overcome difficulties but also change the society's view on the role of women in life./.