Tam Nông Micro Credit Program, Đồng Tháp Province

Originally, this project has a dual purpose : poverty alleviation and environmental protection in the buffer zone of  Tràm Chim National Park located in Đồng Tháp province. Tràm Chim National Park spreads out over 7,500 hectares and is home to more than 130 plant species notably the Tràm or Melaleuca, 120 different kind of fish, 40 kind of amphibian and reptile, and more than 200 bird species among which features the Sarus crane or Red-head crane listed as an endangered species by World Wildlife Fund.  The Park has been badly ravaged during the war. Afterwards, it has been severely compromised due to the extreme poverty in the region that has driven the people to over exploit the Park for its natural resources for a living. This project combines micro credit program to help the local people break out of poverty coupled with environmental education and replanting the Tràm, in the hope that improved and stabilization of human living conditions would put a stop to environmental destruction, thus benefiting both human and nature alike. By joining this program, the participants also pledged not to encroach upon the Park next door.
 
Like Mrs. Nuong, many women in Tam Nông district have benefited from this integrated micro credit  program, a multi-year joint effort between VHI, Cần Thơ University and the Tam Nông Women's Union. This program has provided a solid foundation for two hundred (200) women and their destitute families to pull themselves out of poverty, with the majority choosing to raise husbandry (91%), while 6% would go into small business and 3% would opt for agribusiness.  All participants made great stride towards self-sufficiency, putting a roof over their heads  and daily food on their tables.  Their families no longer go hungry as in their old times when the majority of these participants started with barely any farm animal in hand.  Many of them used to scavenge the bottom of the rivers for occasional crabs, water snails, or fishes to make a living with a sporadic income throughout the year.

With the support network that includes training programs and technical assistance offered by the Women's Union and Cần Thơ University, not only the participants acquired technical knowledge but also entrepreneurial skills and self-confidence in becoming productive members of society.   The local Women's Union has set up 10 clubs to service and motivate the loan participants.  There are: Club for Family Happiness, Club for Agro-Technical Support, Sport Club, Religious Club, Club for Literacy, Youth Club, Club for Handy Craft , Managers Club...

VHI had convinced  farmers to overcome the cultural stigma against the goat and engage in a pilot program raising goats on a rotation basis to supplement nutrition (goat milk) and other long-term economic benefits to small families at an initial low cost. Cần Thơ University was instrumental in the successful transfer of technology, from the acclimation of the goats to the family self-processed goat milk and others.  The results have been so rewarding that in the year 2005, UNDP (United Nations Development Program) has awarded a grant of $50000 to expand the goat pilot program to the buffer zones surrounding Tram Chim National Park, which Tam Nông belongs to, under the technical guidance of Cần Thơ University.  This is a cause for celebration in itself as with your support, VHI has achieved a milestone at "setting the pace" towards self-sufficiency in this region and has involved other organizations into expanding the micro credit program to the benefit of the population in the Mekong Delta.

This program was supported by individual donations and a grant from the McKnight Foundation.

                           Please visit our Tam Nông photo gallery !

        

Map: Tam Nông is located at the south east border of Tràm Chim National Park which is home to the endangered Sarus Cranes and to a rich biodiversity in Đồng Tháp province.	2001: first Group of 40 women receiving VHI micro loans.	The women farmers anxiously waiting to receive the micro credit loans.
Small business loan: a produce shop .	Small business loan: a shop for selling rice and condiments.	Loan for husbandry: raising sow and piglets.
Loan for husbandry: piglets from the sow (one photo up).	2003: second Group of 160 women farmers receiving the micro credit loans.	Group Meeting: an "old-timer" loan recipient not afraid to voice her opinion on how the program has helped her and her family and how it could be improved.
The Women's Union organizes group meetings once a month and specialized clubs to address issues raised by the participants, and to help them out, from social issues, to teaching basic family income acounting to bringing in Can Tho University to solve technical problems.	Gathering for the distribution of loans.	The Faces of the Program: Mrs.Vân and her 15-years old son who helps the family by selling ice bag. Mrs. Vân was a victim of domestic violence. She took refuge in TN, coming from another village with her three children in tow, homeless and penniless. Thanks to this micro credit program, she sets up a small shop and now is able to send her two youngest daughters to school.
Mrs. Vân's home: the local government gave Mrs.Vân a small plot of land and a dwelling. This micro credit program helps her set up shop which provides her a steady source of income.	The Faces of the Program: Mrs. Tam and her child. Her family raises husbandry.	The Faces of the Program: Mrs. Thu. Her family also opted for husbandry.
The Faces of the Program: Mrs. Aí gave another vote for raising husbandry.	Preparation to re-plant the Tràm (Melaleuca): raised beds on 3 hectares of land and appropriate pH water to spread the Tràm seedlings and to allow the young shootings to withstand the upcoming flood season.	Life in Tam Nông: the typical average dwelling of the villagers.
The Tràm forest: natural Tràm forest has been decimated, due to war and later on due to poverty . Efforts at replanting Tràm (Melaleuca) under a sustainable management system with strains introduced from Australia has been successful with this micro credit program. However, the farmers preferred other economic activities over this one which takes at least 5 years to reap the rewards. A dedicated and wide spread Tràm conservation program would be most effective and desirable in this region .	Lotus pond: participants cultivate lotus to supplement their income.	Dance of the endangered Sarus Cranes in Tram Chim National Park, located at the borders of Tam Nông district, Đồng Tháp province .