Disabled woman inspires entrepreneurship

Overcoming fate

Since childhood, Nguyen Thi Thanh has suffered from a terrible disease called hemangioma and lymphangioma of the floor of the mouth. After many surgeries to remove the tumor, the condition did not improve but instead relapsed and metastasized... leading to the loss of the ability to speak, so people gave her the nickname "Thanh with lisp".

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh was awarded a Commemorative Medal honoring a female entrepreneur with a golden heart for the community. Photo: Thu Huong

Ms. Dao Thi Vinh (Thanh's mother) said: "When taking her to the hospital, many people thought that Thanh would not be able to escape danger, but thanks to her determination as well as the efforts of her family and the medical team, Thanh was lucky to escape death, leaving her with a disability in her face. While her peers went to school every day, Thanh spent her childhood being treated for 11 years.

When Thanh was in secondary school, his family encouraged him to continue studying, but due to his poor health, constant illness, and the contempt of his friends, he could not bear the pressure and dropped out of school. Thinking of his situation, his family supported him and often comforted and confided in him so that he could soon overcome his inferiority complex and strive to improve himself.

After dropping out of school, Thanh followed her mother to the market to sell melons and eggplants to earn money to support her younger siblings. Despite having to fight illness and suffer mental trauma, Thanh, with the responsibility of being the eldest sister in a poor family, decided to start a business in 2015. With the experience of her time as a street vendor, Thanh boldly borrowed capital and opened a seafood purchasing and processing facility called “Thanh Ngong”.

Ms. Thanh and the Nghe An Heart Volunteer Group visited and supported victims of the explosion in Quynh Tan commune, Quynh Luu district. Photo: Thu Huong

“In the early days of starting a business, due to lack of experience and limited communication skills, the business encountered many difficulties and obstacles, and the market was unstable. After that, taking advantage of social networks, I posted products for sale on my personal Facebook; at the same time, I searched for markets from North to South so that the local seafood brand would be known to more and more customers. Once it had a foothold in the market, the facility purchased hundreds of tons of seafood each year, contributing to solving the problem of product output for fishermen in coastal areas,” Ms. Thanh shared.

“The cactus still blooms”

With her efforts to improve her business, Ms. Thanh now has an income of 20 - 25 million VND/month from seafood purchasing and processing. According to her, when she first started her business, it was very difficult because many people doubted the ability of a disabled person to "be a boss", but the best way to convince them is to be determined to do the job effectively and she did it. Currently, Ms. Thanh's seafood purchasing and processing facility is creating jobs for over 20 workers, with an average income of 4 - 6 million VND/person/month.

In addition to focusing on developing her seafood business, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh also spends time on charity activities, helping the unfortunate.

Ms. Thanh and the volunteer group gave gifts to the people of Ky Son on the occasion of the traditional Lunar New Year. Photo: Thu Huong

As someone who has suffered a lot of pressure and social inferiority, Ms. Thanh understands and sympathizes with the situation of disadvantaged women and disabled children. When the business is favorable and the debt has been paid off, each year Ms. Thanh sets aside tens of millions of VND from business profits to visit, donate livelihood models, support capital, and share experiences with women in difficult circumstances and disabled women to start businesses; encourage women to be strong to overcome pain and inferiority to rise up from poverty and take control of their lives.

In addition, she also responded to the "Godmother" program to take care of and raise orphans and children in difficult circumstances... Currently, Ms. Thanh is also the leader of a charity seafood group; a member of the love connection group, Nghe An heart and "0 dong" ambulance...

Ms. Tran Thi Ha - President of the Women's Union of Quynh Luu district said: "With the will to be self-reliant, to strive to do business effectively and especially actively participate in social security work, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh was honored to receive the Commemorative Medal from the former Vice President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Truong Thi My Hoa, to honor the female entrepreneur with a golden heart for the community. In addition, she is also a typical disabled woman who is good at business, a typical example in the movement to study and follow the moral example of Ho Chi Minh, and has been commended and rewarded by women's unions at all levels. In particular, on April 14, 2023, Ms. Thanh was one of the typical disabled women who overcame difficulties and was invited to attend the program "Cactus still blooms" organized by the Women's Union of Quynh Luu district to discuss and share about her circumstances and journey to overcome herself, promoting the spirit of "disabled but not useless".