One single mother in Vietnam was heartbroken and worried about her future. But through your generosity — and some timely Gifts of Hope — her life is looking brighter!
Thuong is a young single mother who lives with her son in a small city in Vietnam. When Thuong was an infant, her parents worked long hours and had little time to care for her, so they sent her to live with her paternal grandparents. They visited every few days, but life was difficult as the family struggled to cover their basic living costs. When Thuong was 18, she left home to find work in Ho Chi Minh City. There, she located a job selling dietary supplements, earning a salary of about 255 U.S. dollars a month.
Thuong remained in Ho Chi Minh City for several years, and when she turned 24, she began a relationship that lasted nearly a year. But in April 2021, with the cloud of COVID-19 threatening to shut down the city, Thuong left her job — and her boyfriend — to return to her hometown.
Two weeks after returning to her family home, Thuong found out she was 13 weeks pregnant.
A Gift of Hope for New Mothers
Thuong immediately called her boyfriend to share the news, and while at first he agreed to take responsibility for the child and marry her, he soon changed his mind. Heartbroken, Thuong became worried about her finances, her health and the health of her unborn baby, especially as COVID-19 continued to shut down services in Vietnam. Fearing a life of poverty and social stigma as a single mother, Thuong considered relinquishing her baby for adoption after giving birth.
But then something wonderful happened! When Thuong was 7 months pregnant, a friend introduced her to a local Holt social worker. She was immediately enrolled in a program for single pregnant women supported by Holt donors. Through the program, Thuong received food and nutritional support for the duration of her pregnancy, as well as baby essentials such as clothes, diapers and formula — gifts for new mothers provided through Holt’s Gifts of Hope program. The costs of her pre- and post-natal doctor exams were also covered, as were her hospital fees for the birth of her child.
In November 2021, Thuong gave birth to a healthy baby boy she named Thanh. After leaving the hospital, she and her son returned to her family home, where her parents and grandparents helped care for them. As needed, Thuong’s social worker also dropped in from time to time to offer support.
A Gift of Hope for a New Business
In 2022, as the pandemic began to subside and Vietnam reopened, Thuong started working at her mother’s food stall. With her 7-month-old baby at her side, Thuong washed vegetables, grilled pork paste and meat, and helped her mother sell food. Though the women worked long hours, they earned roughly 8 U.S. dollars a day. Although this amount stretches much further in Vietnam than it does in the U.S., it was still barely enough to feed the entire family.
That’s when Thuong decided to supplement the family income by learning to make Vietnamese-style “hot dog” cakes, filled with cheese, sausage, pork or salted eggs. She took orders for the hot dogs online, then delivered them herself to customers around the city. Lacking the funds to make large quantities of food, Thuong sold about 25 hot dogs a day. After deducting her expenses, Thuong earned less than 4 U.S. dollars per day — but this amount increased her income enough to meet some additional needs, and she began to grow excited about having her own business!
And then another wonderful thing happened! The generosity of Holt donors came through again. This time, Thuong received a food cart through Holt’s Gifts of Hope, as well as funds to purchase an LED sign for her business and money for baking ingredients, such as flour, baking powder, whole milk, cheese, sausage, salted eggs and butter.
These days, Thuong operates her food cart in front of her grandparents’ house. It’s open from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Although her income is still modest, at about 5 U.S. dollars a day, Thuong believes that over time, more and more customers will learn about her delicious hot dogs, and, through word of mouth, her business will grow. In the meantime, Thuong uses part of her earnings to pay for her son’s daycare and meals at school, and this makes her very happy.
Moving forward, Thuong has two dreams in life. The first is that Thanh grows up to be a healthy, kind, helpful and capable little boy. And the second is that her business becomes stable enough to support her family and her son’s needs. Despite her hardships in life, Thuong has always had a strong, positive attitude, a willingness to learn and a drive to overcome challenges, her Holt social worker shares. But thanks to your support — and Gifts of Hope — Thuong was able to welcome a healthy baby into the world, become more independent and have a dream for the future. For these things and others, Thuong sincerely thanks her Holt donors!
Give a Gift of Hope
Give a lifesaving or life-changing tangible gift to a child or family in need. And this holiday season, give in honor of a loved one and they’ll receive a free card!
