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Inspirational story "opposite direction"

Through much suffering and effort, one can escape poverty, so without digital technology , perhaps Chao Thi Yen (born in 1990, Dao Tuyen ethnic group, living in Ngam Xa village, Nam Chac commune, Bat Xat district, Lao Cai) would not dare to "swim upstream" to leave the city for the forest.

"She is a daughter and relatives are gossiping, why send a daughter to school, if she studies well, her husband's family won't help her later, if she stays home and gets married, studying won't help you, it's a waste of money to support her education. Now things have changed, since Yen started studying, everyone sends their children to school, everyone wants to study like Yen, there's no distinction between boys and girls anymore."

Mr. Chao Kim Son, father of Chao Thi Yen

When Yen graduated from secondary school, there was a natural disaster, a crop failure, poverty, and her father fell seriously ill, so she dropped out of school and became the main breadwinner in the family. But she never gave up her desire to go to school. She patiently convinced her parents to let her go back to school for 3 consecutive years, with the promise that she would study well and become the first person in her village to go to university. "My excellent bachelor's degree was soaked in the sweat and tears of my parents working for hire, and my siblings had to drop out of school to make room for me to go to school," she confided.

After 4 years of hard work, Yen graduated from the University of Forestry with a good degree and won an Erasmus scholarship worth 50,000 USD to study for a master's degree in Germany and Italy. In 2018, Yen completed the program and returned to Vietnam to work in various positions such as assistant and consultant for a number of projects.

"Where I live, there are no roads, no electricity, no television, in general, there is nothing. In the years of crop failure, we have to eat cassava instead of rice. Sometimes we have to dig for cassava to eat. My teacher told many of my friends that if they don't try to go to school, life will always be difficult like that. The girls who study in the district often say that down there they can eat dried fish, beans, eggs... in the future, they have to go to school to have a better life. From what my teachers said, I have to go to school."

Thi Yen Pan

After releasing an autobiography "The opposite path from the Dao ethnic group to the Erasmus scholarship", when mentioning Chao Yen, many people immediately think of a girl with extraordinary willpower and the ability to inspire.

Yen has had the opportunity to travel to many countries in Europe, experiencing community cultural preservation activities. Working in prestigious organizations with a high income, Yen still worries, hoping to return one day and develop herself in her homeland. In 2020, Yen decided to work and run a homestay business, developing eco-tourism . She pooled her capital to do business, but operations were limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May 2022, Yen attended the Prime Minister's Conference to dialogue with farmers. Meeting successful farmers in the agricultural economy , Yen saw more clearly the path to take. She saw many farmers who started their businesses late but were still successful, many individuals who were not indigenous but could improve many products of ethnic minorities. This thought made Yen - a girl born in the village want to start getting rich because only when "having a solid economic foundation will the voice have more weight, creating a livelihood for the community".

Elevating local products

In early 2023, Yen returned to her hometown, starting a new journey, doing business, livestreaming to sell products through social media channels, specializing in Dao specialties such as agricultural products, medicinal herbs, remedies...

As an expert in the field of exploitation, protection and development of forest resources, Yen realized that the exploitation methods in her hometown still needed to change. She instructed people when harvesting Chinese clematis tubers, wild clematis tubers... to only take large, mature tubers, and replant the young tubers. When they collected raw materials for herbal baths, she suggested that they only take branches and leaves, not roots and woody stems, and not exploit completely...

In July 2023, Yen officially became the Director of the Goong Indigenous Knowledge Cooperative, with 11 participating households. The Goong Cooperative focuses on products related to indigenous knowledge of the Dao people, medicines, medicinal herbs, postpartum bath leaves, agricultural products... exploited and produced in the ancient way.

"Goong in Dao language means good. I hope the values that the cooperative brings will create good things for the community."

Thi Yen Pan

Yen applies science and technology to enhance medicines, promote medicinal properties, connect suppliers and buyers, take responsibility for quality, and provide instructions for use...

In the early days of starting the business, Yen was accompanied by elderly relatives and aunts, some of whom were illiterate. Yen tried to convince some young people to participate, directly training and supporting the construction of channels, bringing agricultural products to e-commerce platforms. About 6 months later, one of these channels had more than 90,000 followers, and sales were stable.

I hope the values that cooperatives bring will create good things for the community.

Initially, the cooperative was successful with a number of products. There were quite successful deals such as the cooperative connecting to consume about 20 tons of ginseng for the locality. Herbal remedies are also of interest to many consumers and are consumed quite well on e-commerce platforms.

At Goong Cooperative, in addition to the help of a younger brother, Yen has to do many jobs, including creating content, filming, editing videos, managing sales pages, designing labels, developing products...

The cooperative established by Yen is considered to not only provide quality products, create stable livelihoods, but also preserve and develop indigenous knowledge. Yen aims to achieve a revenue of 20 billion VND by 2026 and Goong's products will meet export standards...

* Chao Thi Yen is one of the participants in the dialogue of young Chinese - Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the Red River basin; Third prize in the Sustainable Forest Ecological Growth Program 2024; As a delegate attending the 9th National Congress of the Vietnam Youth Union, Chao Thi Yen proposed solutions, hoping that young people would start businesses in agriculture, bringing the rural economy up.

* At the youth startup forum, Yen suggested that training and startup support should focus on young people with a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and desire for innovation. Startups in agriculture should choose to accompany the local community, build TikTok, Facebook channels, and e-commerce applications.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/khoi-nghiep-bang-tri-thuc-va-chiec-dien-thoai-thong-minh-20250617110805653.htm