Thi Be, age 50, and Thi Tam, age 57, have a lot in common. Both live in communities near Hue City, Vietnam, earn incomes as farmers and are single mothers who work tirelessly to support their families. 

They are also participants in the Empowering Single Mothers project, which Rise Against Hunger implements with in-country partner Children of Vietnam. The project equips 156 single mothers with safe farming training, microloans, producer groups, market linkages and education programs for their children. 

Thi Be’s community is rural and Thi Tam’s community is peri-urban, but both areas face similar challenges. Climate-related shocks, decreases in agricultural land and shifting labor dynamics that require adaptation to technology-driven production systems hinder income stability and food security. Women also face challenges with traditional gender roles limiting their autonomy. 

While Thi Be and Thi Tam have many similarities, they each have unique, powerful stories to tell. Keep reading to learn about each woman’s background, determination and resilience, and the positive changes they’re experiencing through the Empowering Single Mothers project. 

Thi Be’s Story

After going through a divorce in 2014, Thi Be moved in with her sister while raising her young son. The sisters are vegetable farmers, a profession passed down through generations in their family. 

Thi Be is extremely hardworking, waking up at 11 p.m. to harvest and wash vegetables to bring them to the market at midnight. After selling out around 1 or 2 a.m., she heads back to her garden, headlamp on, to harvest more vegetables and returns to the market to sell again until the early morning hours. By 6 a.m., she’s back in the garden, sowing seeds, applying fertilizer, watering and weeding. Throughout the day, she’s also caring for her son. 

But her income has remained highly unstable. She typically earns 200,000–300,000 VND ($8-12 USD) per day, and production costs take up nearly half of that. She, like many farmers, didn’t have recordkeeping or financial planning; everything was instead “calculated in her head.”

She began participating in the Empowering Single Mothers project in February 2026. Through a financial management training course, she learned how to record income and expenses, plan household spending and use available resources more effectively. 

She is already seeing positive impacts. “Before, I thought financial management was very simple, something anyone could do,” she said. “But after joining the training, I realized that managing finances effectively is something completely different. Thanks to that, I now know how to make more reasonable financial decisions for my family and avoid falling into deeper debt and accumulating interest.” 

Thi Tam’s Story

Since her husband died 14 years ago, Thi Tam has been raising four children by herself. She said, “At that time, it felt as if the whole sky had collapsed.” 

Her determination remains steadfast, though. Even though it has been difficult for her to earn enough income as a farmer, she has always encouraged her children to stay in school. Her youngest daughter is now in grade 11, and all of her older children have jobs. But Thi Tam’s income remained unstable. She often had to buy fertilizer and seeds on credit. After harvesting and selling her crops, a significant portion of her income was used to repay these debts. 

Like Thi Be, Thi Tam participated in financial management training sessions through the Empowering Single Mothers project. She is already seeing noticeable changes. She previously did not record income and expenses. Now, she is making financial plans to allocate her spending and minimize her need to take on debts. She said, “[The project] is not only support, but also an opportunity for change — for myself, my family and my community as well.”

After seeing improvements within the first few months of the Empowering Single Mothers project, both women are now hopeful that they will build a bright future for themselves and their children. Thi Be said, “Raising a child alone and making a living from farming is truly hard. But I believe that with more knowledge and the proper support, I can change my life.”