Le Minh Thai - A typical example in overcoming difficulties

 In front of me was a large yard, covered with a dome-shaped roof made of tol, colloquially known as the Minh Thai bonsai pot casting workshop, Thanh Hung hamlet. With a small, bent body, Thai was busily building sand mounds to prepare models for the next batch of pots; inside the workshop were more than 30 newly formed cement pots.

When we arrived, Thai warmly welcomed us and smiled brightly. I was told that Thai is currently enjoying the level-2 disability allowance whose family lives in the resistance zone. In 2007, a delegation of the province  was going to survey the situation of the victims when they saw him crawling to school. After finishing the 6th grade and preparing to enter 7th grade, he was constantly sick and had frequent headaches. Because of this, Thai was unable to continue his schooling. With large areas of garden and grassland, the Association gave him a cow to raise. Thanks to the capital from raising the cow, Thai raised frogs and snakes. But then he found it hard, dangerous and risky to follow the job, so he quitted it.

Sympathizing with his circumstance, his friends in the neighborhood taught him the craft of casting cement bonsai pots. This job was appealing to him and brought him a stable income. So for the past 10 years, Thai has stuck with it. He learnt to make bonsai pots from rudimentary tools elsewhere he found around.

Thai expressed that he makes 10 pots every day, divided into 3 stages. Each pot is sold for 100,000 to 500,000 VND, depending on the customer's order. he uses a 3-wheel motorbike for the disabled for transporting the products to his customers every day. With a stable income, Thai has built his own house and a workshop. Although his production is not yet large in scale, it shows his determination to overcome difficulties and deserves more investment in and support from the community.

Le Minh Thai added that without the capital from the Provincial Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin and the support of benefactors over the years, his life would have been at a dead end because of  his disability, lack of knowledge and capital. His production grows bigger as more and more customers are coming to him each day. He needs more capital investment.

Thai's business runs well and effectively, so the Tay Ninh Provincial Association provided him with supportive capital for 5 times, each worth from 10 to 20 million VND. In this visit, Ms. Vo Thi Dep, Chairwoman of the Tay Ninh Provincial Association, was very excited, promising to increase support for Agent Orange victims in the province, including a 10-million VND capital for Thai to buy more materials for his production./.

Pham Thi Nhi