Having faced difficulties that once seemed impossible to overcome, Nguyen Hong Ha – Chair of the Hoai Duc District Association of People with Disabilities (Hanoi) – has confidently risen up. He completed his university education and became the owner of a garment business employing more than 20 people with disabilities.
Efforts
After-effects of Agent Orange from his father – a veteran of the war against the United States – left Nguyen Hong Ha (born in 1981, Yen So Commune, Hoai Duc District, Hanoi) growing up with withered legs.
Nguyen Hong Ha (centre) with fellow people with disabilities at the company
Overcoming his physical impairment and poor health, Ha studied well throughout his 12 years of general education. In 2000, the young man with a disability confidently joined other young people in entering Hanoi University of Foreign Studies. “At the time, many of my friends thought I was taking the exam just for fun. But to their surprise, my exam result was above the entry score” – Ha said. So for four years at university, Ha went to school on a three-wheeled motorbike his parents had saved up to buy for him.
In 2004, after graduating from university, Ha applied for a job at a business employing people with disabilities in Thai Binh Province. Ha recalled: “Working in this community, I felt as if it were my world, full of empathy and love”.
Each workplace gave Ha more lessons in behaviour and management. In 2005, Ha returned to his home town of Hoai Duc to open a small sewing workshop, teaching trades to people with disabilities. “Every beginning is difficult”.
All the pressure over sales, raw materials, relationships and capital fell on the 24-year-old young man with a disability. Ha was worried but determined not to give up.
In difficulty, Ha calmly solved problems one by one, setting clear goals and drawing on relationships and the help of many good people. Gradually, the subcontracting workshop got steadier work and became the Hong Ha Garment Co., Ltd. model.
Many hands needed
In early November, Hong Ha Garment Co., Ltd. was providing stable employment for nearly 50 young people, 50% of whom are people with disabilities.
With subcontracted garment work, many young people have truly come to love and feel attached to the company as a second home: “Phung Thi Yen, 35, who has hearing and speech disabilities, has worked here for more than a year and is skilled in the trade, earning more than 2.5 million VND. Nguyen Thi Khuyen, 26, who has a mobility disability, has also earned more than 1.5 million VND after nearly a year of learning the trade” – Ha said.
According to Ha, although wages only range from 1.5 – 2.5 million VND per person per month, they are a source of pride for people with disabilities. “If you could see how difficult it was for them, having to depend on their families, and now they earn their own money, you would treasure these small but precious achievements” – Ha said.
At present, Hong Ha Company provides sleeping accommodation and meals during working hours. People with disabilities who do not yet have a trade are taught one free of charge.
This director with a disability said that teaching a trade to people with disabilities cannot produce immediate results, because people with disabilities are slower to learn, often lack confidence and have unstable health. Businesses entering this field need dedication and must put profit second.
However, creating sustainable employment for people with disabilities is much harder still. Explaining the lack of job opportunities for people with disabilities, Ha said: Many vocational training providers for people with disabilities are mainly spontaneous, with poor facilities and little change in technology.
After training, there is no way to issue vocational certificates. People with disabilities who finish training also have limited chances of finding work. As Chair of the Hoai Duc Association of People with Disabilities, Ha is actively creating equal opportunities for people with disabilities.
He shared: “I hope that more and more people with disabilities will confidently integrate into the community through their own work. Through this, they can support themselves and contribute to society”.
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