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A disabled woman becomes a successful entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City
Disabled Entrepreneur Helps Others
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Photo: VNAH
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"Four years ago, I was only a timid girl with disability," says Yen (center).
"I never thought that one day I would spend my life outside the sheltered home. I am now
running my own small shop and so happy because it can help not only myself but also other
disabled people."
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Four years ago, Tran Hoang Yen was a timid young disabled woman with no savings who
rarely left her church-sponsored shelter in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Today, she is
a successful entrepreneur who employs 17 disadvantaged young people — more than half
of whom are women with disabilities — at her small sewing shop.
Yen's vision for her future completely changed after she attended USAID-sponsored
leadership training courses, which taught her how to start her own business and provided
her with small grants to help it get off the ground.
Now Yen's products are distributed in markets and department stores in Ho Chi Minh City,
Hanoi, Hai Phong, Danang and provinces in the Mekong delta. Her annual sales exceed 1 billion
dong (around $70,000) — an especially amazing accomplishment considering that she earned
an average of just $30 a month before entering the USAID program.
"Four years ago, I was only a timid girl with disability," says Yen. "I never thought
that one day I would spend my life outside the sheltered home. I am now running my own
small shop and so happy because it can help not only myself but also other disabled people."
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