Creating happiness from the farm

Not only did he ignite the dream of sustainable agriculture , he also created a place for children in his hometown to learn English, practice life skills and connect with international friends. It all started with a small fire called "responsibility for the homeland"...

Kiến tạo hạnh phúc từ nông trại- Ảnh 1. — Tran Thanh Ha with the farm in the early days of its establishment

Back home, sowing dreams

The Hygge Farm - a small farm located about 30 km from the center of Hoi An is a favorite destination for many international volunteers and young families who love to experience. The founder of The Hygge Farm is Tran Thanh Ha, born in 1993, a young man who studied high-tech agriculture in Israel, studied experiential education in Singapore and worked on organic farms in Denmark.

Everyone thought that after those long trips, Ha would choose to stay abroad, where conditions were better and income was more stable. But no, Ha chose to return home.

Ha confided: "I started out as a poor student in a village school. When I went abroad to study, I realized that my lack of foreign language skills was a huge barrier, preventing me from absorbing all the good things from developed agricultural countries." Ha continued, her eyes quiet but bright: "It was that difficulty that urged me to create a place for children in my hometown to have an environment to practice and learn English in the most effective way."

From a family cow farm, in October 2021, Ha started building The Hygge Farm with 3 main missions: educating children about traditional agriculture, learning life skills and practicing English with native speakers; developing agricultural tourism ; connecting international cultural exchanges.

Kiến tạo hạnh phúc từ nông trại- Ảnh 2. — The Hygge Farm educates children about traditional farming, learns life skills and practices English with native speakers

Through the storm, keep the faith

No start is easy, especially when you choose to start in a place where most young people have left. "When I returned, the land was barren, the young people had gone to the city, and the acacia forests were eroding every inch of my hometown... People didn't believe it. They were used to traditional ways of doing business, so when they saw me - a young boy from somewhere struggling to grow clean vegetables, build thatched houses, entertain Westerners... they laughed. Some people even said, it would probably last a few days," Ha said.

Then Typhoon Noru hit in 2022. Devastation. Everything I had built was almost gone overnight. But Ha did not give up. "If I had not been determined enough, I would have returned to the city a long time ago. I believe that if I do things properly and persevere, the rocks will eventually bloom," Ha said.

The first flowers are the children of the poor countryside. Every afternoon, the children come to the farm to learn how to sow seeds, pick up trash, and learn English with foreign volunteers. The once shy children are now confident in asking questions and starting conversations. No one would have thought that in the middle of the countryside there would be a place that helps children practice English so naturally.

And that belief gradually spread. Parents began to trust and send their children. People began to visit. Small tours of "a day as a farmer" gradually became popular. International volunteers returned in greater numbers, bringing with them connections and positive spread.

Kiến tạo hạnh phúc từ nông trại- Ảnh 3. — "Learning in the Forest" encourages hands-on exploration, curiosity and connection with nature from an early age

Sow letters, cultivate people

Ha recalls that when she was a student in Hue, she created a small website to connect international volunteers and Vietnamese students. That idea is now being applied back home, in a concrete and meaningful way.

The Hygge Farm organizes free English classes for disadvantaged children. Every week, volunteers from many countries such as France, the Netherlands, the US... come to the farm, stay with Ha and help teach. The classes are not blackboards or chalk, but storytelling, baking, playing games, sowing seeds, picking vegetables..., all in English.

The idea of "Classroom without walls" was nurtured by Ha since her days in Denmark and was re-implemented in a very unique style in Vietnam. Instead of a traditional classroom, children will study among trees, streams and the vast sky, using the forest as a laboratory, playground and source of inspiration.

Ha confided: "I want children to learn in a fun, comfortable atmosphere, and see English as a tool to expand the world."

Not only children, but also students majoring in English, agriculture or tourism are also welcomed by Ha to experience, intern and learn. For Ha, learning must go hand in hand with practice and education should start from the smallest things.

Children learn to respect nature through simple actions such as not picking flowers, breaking branches indiscriminately, not throwing trash into streams...

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY AUTHOR

1 model - 3 values

Unlike conventional commercial farmstay models, The Hygge Farm chooses a slow but sustainable path. Every corner of the farm is designed to serve 3 clear missions:

Educational Farm: Where children learn about the environment, life skills and English through real-life experiences.
Agricultural tourism: With half-day, one-day or two-day tours for families, students and foreigners to experience farming and traditional food preparation.
Cultural exchange: International volunteers live and work on the farm, eating and living with local people, creating a true cultural exchange environment.

"Here, foreigners learn how to make rice paper and banh thuan, while children in my hometown learn to say 'thank you' with a smile. Learning sometimes just needs to be like that, simple and sincere," Ha said with a smile.

From the experiences at The Hygge Farm, Ha added environmental protection messages: limiting plastic waste, reusing materials, sorting waste, saving water, and planting native trees. He believes that if children love nature from an early age, they will become environmentally friendly adults in the future.

Kiến tạo hạnh phúc từ nông trại- Ảnh 8. — Green shoots are sprouting, not only in the soil but also in the hearts of children, mothers in the countryside and even guests from afar.

Happiness is the journey back

Perhaps what makes The Hygge Farm special is not just the creative model, but the heart of the founder. In the name "Hygge" - a Danish word meaning "cozy, peaceful", is Ha's wish for a place where everyone feels like they belong.

"I don't dream of changing the whole world. I just want to change a small corner of my hometown, where poor children can study, adults have a livelihood and nature is preserved. If every young person returns, bringing a good seed, I believe the village will bloom again," Ha said.

Happiness, sometimes, does not lie in great things but begins with courageous decisions. Like Ha, she chose to return to cultivate the future right on the land of her birth.