Go to Tan Hoa Dong market, Ward 13, District 6, Ho Chi Minh City and ask 10 street vendors around the market, 7-8 of them know about "Mam Mam nutritious porridge" of Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Loan. People know "Ms. Loan nutritious porridge" not because the shop she owns is prosperous, but because of her determination to rise up to achieve the success she has today.

Even more admirable, when her life has stabilized, Ms. Loan continues to spread positive energy to women in difficult circumstances near the market, through the Savings and Loan Group of which she is currently the group leader, to connect with loans from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), thereby helping them have more motivation to escape poverty and take control of their lives.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Loan, owner of Mam Mam nutritional porridge system

Ms. Ngoc Loan shared that, at the age of thirty, she was a single mother of two small children, leaving her hometown without a single penny in her hand. Her family was poor and she did not know where to turn. She did all kinds of jobs to make a living. When she was sick, she felt like giving up, but thinking of her "children", she persevered. But poverty and hardship still clung to her persistently, seemingly with no way out.

Too miserable, perhaps "God" also looked down and created a chance encounter with Ms. Lieu (Ms. Thai Thi Ngoc Lieu, at that time President of the Women's Union of Ward 13, District 6, Ho Chi Minh City). With the sensitivity of a woman who has many years of social work experience in the locality, Ms. Lieu encouraged Ms. Loan to participate in activities in the Women's Union of the ward to have more motivation and sharing from women in the same situation. Through that, Ms. Loan also expressed her wish to have a small amount of capital to start a business, hoping to escape the situation of "sweating but having nothing to put in your mouth".

Understanding Ms. Loan's situation and wishes, Ms. Lieu proactively introduced and connected with the District 6 Social Policy Bank, helping Ms. Loan borrow a starting capital of 20 million VND to open a small grocery store to trade and do business in the market. With her resourcefulness and clever calculation, Ms. Loan soon not only paid off the principal and interest to the bank but also had enough left to cover the living expenses of her three children. At this time, she was also confident and bold enough to borrow an additional 30 million VND to build a nutritious porridge business because she realized that the demand for this product was increasing, as life became increasingly busy.

“Thinking about the difficult times, worrying so much, no one to take care of the children. Helping others is also helping myself, unexpectedly from that thought helped me succeed with the Mam Mam nutritious porridge shop that is trusted by many women with young children. From this porridge shop, my family not only has more income, life gradually stabilizes, buys a car, buys a house, children are fully educated, but I also have the opportunity to help my elderly parents, relatives in the family and many women in similar situations” – Ms. Loan recalled.

A Mam Mam nutritious porridge shop of Ms. Ngoc Loan

Up to now, from an initial loan of only a few tens of millions, Ms. Loan has built a business with a system of nutritious porridge shops for children, earning hundreds of millions of VND/year, creating jobs for female workers and part-time students. Not only that, she has become a "bridge" for people in difficult circumstances and poor women around the area where she lives to borrow capital at preferential interest rates. Many people, thanks to the capital of the Social Policy Bank, have avoided having to borrow from outside at high interest rates, which can easily lead to a vicious cycle of not being able to escape poverty when they do not have the initial capital, as well as having to bear the debt with the "cutthroat" interest rates of the underworld, where can they escape poverty.

According to Ms. Loan, most of the leaders of the loan groups are active in mass organizations such as women's associations, farmers' associations, etc. in the neighborhood, so they have a clear understanding of the situation and circumstances of their members. From being close to and understanding each other's circumstances, the members have encouraged, motivated, and supported each other to create a livelihood, build production and business facilities, and escape poverty with loans through the trust of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies.

Talking to Ms. Tran Thi Thu Giang, Deputy Director of the District 6 Social Policy Bank, about support programs in the area, Ms. Giang shared: “The activities connecting the bank and unions, associations, etc. have contributed to the public dissemination of preferential credit policies of the State, the list of households borrowing capital and the procedures of the Social Policy Bank. Through that, people transact directly with the Bank on a fixed day every month to borrow capital, repay debts and deposit savings in the presence of local authorities, officers of socio-political organizations and the Management Board of Savings and Loan Groups. From there, people's trust in the policies of the Party, the State and the activities of the Social Policy Bank is created. At the same time, local authorities also have the opportunity to interact more with people, grasp their thoughts and aspirations, promptly resolve difficulties and problems of people, contributing to ensuring social security, maintaining stability, security, order and social safety at the grassroots level”.

Consulting and supporting people in difficult circumstances to borrow capital