Capital Aid Fund for Employment of Poor (CEP), a non-profit Vietnamese microfinance organisation, has helped many disadvantaged families in district Binh Chanh in Ho Chi Minh City to escape from poverty.
 |
| Vo Thi Kim Lien’s family was able to repair their house and live a better life, thanks to support from CEP |
The organisation operates in provinces of southeast Vietnam and the Mekong Delta. Its objectives are to reduce poverty by creating income-generating activities amongst the poor, and to permit gradual increase in well-being and the rate of employment among the poor.
CEP has provided financial support to over 200,000 labourers to help them grow and develop a means of income.
Huynh Thi Thu Xuong, a poor woman from Da Phuoc commune in district Binh Chanh was given VND700,000 ($33) as start-up capital in 1998 to purchase fertilizer and seeds. Thanks to this help from CEP, she is earning enough to raise her two children.
She had lost her husband in a traffic accident in 2007 and her children were at risk of dropping out of school, after the loss of the sole bread winner. A branch of CEP in district Binh Chanh supported her children with books, notebooks and bicycles and an annual scholarship to continue their studies.
She recalls that the right help from CEP at the right time saved her and her children from despair. Her eldest son is currently a student at the Cao Thang Technical College and her daughter is in twelfth grade.
Vo Thi Kim Lien from the Tan Nhut commune in district Binh Chanh received huge support from CEP. Lien was looking after her old mother, ailing husband and 8 children. She borrowed VND500,000 ($23,8) as start-up capital from CEP in 1994, and another VND2 million to repair her dilapidated house. After 17 years of working with CEP, she not only escaped poverty but her children now have stable employment and their own houses.
Ta Thi Mai from Tan Quy Tay commune had a harsh life when she did not know of CEP. She used to sell vegetables in a market to feed her three daughters and diseased husband. She borrowed money from people at high interest rates to buy and sell vegetables. As a result, she was always in debt and hardly ever made a profit. By 2007, she heard of CEP and applied for a capital loan of VND3 million.
She now thanks CEP for their support as her children were able to receive scholarships and her family’s economic condition improved. She hopes that more people will be able to receive support from CEP to overcome their difficulties.
