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Income Generation and Revolving Funds

I was very excited to meet with members of two SHGs during my co-mentoring and co-monitoring visit in Viet Nam from January 8-13. The first SHG was formed in 2007 and the second in 2009. All the group members were so excited to tell me about the changes in their lives since joining the Heifer project.
	“Our family income has increased from day to day because of the support from Heifer. Besides a cow we received from Heifer to use for farming purposes, we used revolving funds to buy chickens, feed, and some vegetable seeds. With the skills that
we gained from training conducted by the Community Animal Health Worker (CAHW), we take care of our animals very well. The money we earned from selling our animals and vegetables plus our savings with the group gave us a chance to buy more animals including chickens, swine, and cows,” said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung, group leader in Trung Ngai commune. “Within three years, our incomes have increased from around $100 per month to $200-$250 a month. ... Thanks to Heifer for helping us,” he added with a smiling face.
	“Before joining Heifer, I had no idea how to improve my living condition as we were dependent on rice farming. With the skills I gained from the training and with the revolving funds received from the project, my family has a brighter idea on how to improve our
income generation. We used our funds to do integrated farming - we raise poultry, swine, cows, fish, and do rice farming and home gardening,” said Ms. Lang, group member of the Huyen Hoi commune. “We stopped buying foods from others as we have all the foods we need, and therefore we can save more and earn more compared to before. In just one year, our incomes have increased from $50 to $100 per month. Thanks so much to Heifer for helping us to phase out from hunger and have a better life,” she proudly added.
I was so impressed by how the SHG members turned the gifts received from Heifer into sustainable sources of income through their love and strong commitment to the projects. In talking to the members and visiting some of their homes, I learned that in three years the project participants increased their incomes by an average of 100-150% from their livestock and agriculture activities, in which they gained much from the revolving funds. By adding only around $100 per family to the project, great changes can be made in the lives of the people and the community as a whole.
“We cannot do much without the revolving funds as we don’t have money to buy more animals, feed, and vegetable seeds to grow our business. I believe that the next POG groups will also benefit from the gifts we pass on to them, both livestock and revolving funds,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Giau, group member of Trung Ngai commune.
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