A brighter future for the most underpriviledged

No electricity, based in the middle of nowhere, and as remote as the end of the world. This is the place that Nam comes from, a small village of 22 H’Mong families in Dien Bien province.

Being unconnected with the national power network, Nam’s parents have a temporary micro-hydro plant, that utilizes the water flow from the stream near their house and made of raw materials collected within the village. Electricity generated and conserved all day long is just enough for running basic appliances for a short time, such as lights or a TV - the only thing that connects them to the other parts of the world.

This is being considered as an industrial revolution for adults in the village who had lived in the dark for decades. However, it is not enough at all for curious children growing up in the generation of information technology like Nam.

“When I was a typical kid, being passionate about superman characters, my cousin and I watched these shows on TV for hours in day time,” Nam smiles, remembering this funny memory from his childhood. “When my parents came back from farming, there was no electricity left for lighting the house and cooking dinner.”

Life without electricity is very difficult. It has held his village back from the world.

Young people in the village at Nam’s age do not have many opportunities. Many of them choose to get married early and give birth at sixteen, or earlier. The cycle of disadvantage repeats generation after generation.

“We have so far lived hard on farming,” Nam says. “We do not even have sufficient soil for crops in that rocky mountainous land.”

Yet, Nam always believed that there must be pathways for himself and villagers to escape the cycle of disadvantage. He, therefore, left the village and registered in the 3D course at REACH in September 2020. He wanted to be a good example for his community in creating life changes.

“I really wish my community will have better living conditions, and the children will be better educated,” he says.

The desire and determination to change has helped Nam overcome many challenges he faced in the training as well as the first time he lived independently in a big city. It has been six months, and from a person who had never used a computer before, he is now able to draw lively and colorful 3D graphics easily with a mouse and a keyboard. He has some of the most wanted skills and is ready to join the IT workforce.

Talking about his community, Nam hopes one day in the near future, his village will be connected with an electricity network so he can set up a business in his hometown and create jobs for young people in his remote community just like him.

In Viet Nam, there are about 9 million people living under extreme poverty (WB, 2018). The majority of them fall in ethnic minority communities that are based in rural and remote areas. Poverty, underdeveloped education conditions, and a high prevalence of unemployment and underemployment has created a number of problems for youth in these communities. These  include school dropouts, child marriage, and human traficking.

REACH’s vocational training and job placement program contributes to improve living conditions of ethnic minority youth and their families. Over the last 2 years, REACH has trained 260 youth from EM groups all across Vietnam.

Help us to train and place more in secure employment.

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If she had not taken up the opportunities that REACH provided Man’s dreams and talents would never have been realized.

As a child Man was always fascinated by art, color, and design. She loved to draw and showed much talent in drawing cartoon characters.

“I loved to draw, particularly cartoon characters, and wished that one day I would be a creator of some of those cuties,” Man recalled from her childhood.

Growing up in a very poor family in Hai Duong province provided few opportunities for Man to express her creative talents. Pencils, crayons, and sketchbooks were mostly unaffordable for her family. When she was lucky enough to obtain some of these items they were treasured. However, scarcity couldn’t prevent Man from chasing her dreams.

“I drew a lot, at any time and wherever I could. On the wall, on the ground. I used to do drawing with chalkstones that I collected from the countryside when I didn’t have a pencil,” Man remembered.

Man’s background and family circumstances prevented her from taking her talents to professional levels. Her parents couldn’t afford for her to take up higher education in art-related professions such as graphic design or architecture. When she completed school she was destined to work in a local electronics factory to contribute to the meager family income. The work was exhausting and very lowly paid and it frustrated Man because she knew that she had talents that needed to be further developed.

“There were days when I came back home from endless overtime work hours, with an exhausted body and a meager amount of money I was paid. I told myself that I was not meant to be there,” Man recounted about her past job.

A year after she left school Man saw a promotion for REACH’s graphic design program. She still remembered the mixed feelings of excitement combined with nervousness when she registered for the program.

“I hardly ever had a chance to use a computer before and the concept of drawing with a mouse sounded very strange to me,” she said. “What’s more, technical IT terms seemed very academic and complicated to me at that time,” she added.

Leaving her fears behind her Man entered the training program at REACH full of determination to conquer computers and the new ‘language’ of IT. Her training exposed her to various software programs that enabled her to design and edit graphics and photos. After only three months of intensive training, her talents were finally being realized.

Man’s newly acquired skills opened the door to her securing a design position in a communications and advertising company where she supports clients to develop their corporate branding.

“I have found myself a career”, Man said about her current job. “This is a good start for my pathway to become a professional graphic designer.”

Assisting disadvantaged youth like Man to develop skills and knowledge for long-term, sustainability is the mission of REACH. Supporting young people like Man to pursue their passion and realize their dreams is an exciting part of this mission, and REACH is so grateful to the many donors, sponsors, supporters, and staff who make this possible.

[The real name of the character was changed for the confidential purpose]

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