Empowering Change: Nui's Journey from Struggle to Stability

Nui (19) is a young mother living with her husband, Tobie (22), their 1-year-6-month-old son, her parents, and two siblings in Na Vhan Village, Viengkham District, Luang Prabang Province. At 12, she dropped school due to her family's financial difficulties, which prevented her from attending secondary school in the district. She stayed in the village to help her family by planting corn, rice, grass, and cassava, and sometimes worked for others to earn income, such as harvesting grass for cows and working in paddy fields. Despite her hard work, the income was insufficient to support her whole family, so Nui decided to start her own family, hoping her husband would help earn more.

She married Tobie at 17 and had a child soon after. Neither Nui nor her husband had full-time employment. They commuted daily to their family farm deep in the jungle to work in their corn and rice fields. However, low rainfall in the past few years resulted in poor crop yields. They also worked as freelance contractors planting rice and harvesting grass for neighbors to earn extra income, but it was not enough to save for emergencies. Nui shared a story of her newborn son falling ill, and they couldn't afford treatment immediately due to a lack of money to travel to the hospital in the district. They had to borrow from their neighbor and repay later, forcing Nui to work harder by collecting wild products in the jungle to sell. She recalled, "I felt afraid of snakes when I had to go deep to the jungle to collect wild mushrooms and rattan, but I had no choice. Last year, we had to sell all our goats and pigs to support our family." Facing these difficulties, Nui promised herself to establish her own farm to secure a sustainable income and reduce her stress about living conditions.

In September 2022, the Preventing and Responding to Child, Early, and Forced Marriage (CEFM) project, initiated by Save the Children and the Lao Women’s Union, started its intervention in four districts of Luang Prabang province, including Nui's village. Last year, Nui was one of four young mothers who received grants from the project. Before receiving financial support, Nui and the other young mothers, along with their spouses, attended crucial training courses on safe family practices, negotiation skills, financial literacy, and technical skills in animal-raising and protection against seasonal diseases.

In November 2023, with the grant and support from the project team, Nui started doing her dream by buying three female goats, two male goats, and zinc roofing sheets for a goat shed. She also allocated some of the budget to buy two cows. It was commendable how Nui managed the grant effectively and cleverly expanded her investment to benefit her family in the future.

Next year, Nui plans to expand her grass field and get more goats, so she and her husband will no longer have to work for others, allowing them to save for their children. Nui emphasized, "Now, I feel more confident and have a clear idea of what I want to do to ensure I can fully support my children so they can graduate with higher education and not marry at a very young age like me." She added, "In the next few years, we want to improve our house and make it more spacious."

Nui also shared her knowledge of effective goat rearing with others interested in raising goats. In the past, goats were reared traditionally, resulting in substandard weights and poor prices. After training, they learned to rear goats more effectively, including arranging healthy diets, providing vitamins, and vaccinating against diseases.

Additionally, Nui highlighted another crucial takeaway from participating in this project: preparing her and her husband to be nurturing and creative parents. They learned to raise their son creatively, avoiding hitting, using respectful language, reasoning with him, and supporting each other in parenting and building their family together. She also feels confident stopping other parents from mistreating or hitting their children. While some people understand and listen to her, she remains committed to educating others about positive parenting for the sake of their children.

Nui and her family sincerely thank the project for its support. She stated, "Thanks to the program, our family has become a model for other young families. We can't choose our life situation, but we can make the life we choose better by creating a sustainable income cycle and being good parents to our children. We feel proud when other young families are interested in being like us, and we are happy to share all the good things that can make their lives better too."