Before entering the 10th grade, Hoang Manh Hoai faced the most difficult decision of his young life. A horrible spell of weather had just wiped out all the crops on his family’s farm. Worsening matters, Hoai’s father had fallen dangerously ill. With the family’s sources of income vanishing overnight, Hoai,
Why Women Workers are Struggling to Seize their Rights
Vietnam has made great strides to increase women’s participation in the economy over the past 30 years. Today, 72% of women are in the workforce, giving Vietnam one of the highest female employment rates in the world, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). That fact, to be sure, is
What can one dedicated doctor do to change a community?
Dr. Ratana Monprajak has moved her office outside on a cool, refreshing morning in Bangkok. It’s Constitution Day, and schools and many businesses are closed. A mobile health clinic has been set up at the end of a tucked away soi. The area is buzzing. Kids laugh and ride bicycles
Tourism Leader Stays Ahead of the Curve
Thailand began appearing on the radar of international travelers in the 1960s when a few hundred thousand people started coming each year to take in the gilded temples of Bangkok, lush valleys of Chiang Mai, and picturesque beaches of Phuket. Since that time, the Thai tourism industry has skyrocketed,
Same Heart: a seamstress, cook, caretaker and student find the pulse of financial freedom
Praphasri Chanlek flipped through her accounting notebook.
On the fifth of August, revenue from sewing was 300 Baht (9 USD). In the rows of expenses for the entire month, a single check mark adorned the column for unnecessary expenditures, captioned: “Clothes for children.”
“Actually, I’m very proud of myself,”
Young Leader Helps Community Share its Hidden Gems with the World
In 2045, exactly 100 years after winning independence, Indonesia will have one of the five largest economies in the world. That’s the future that Arsalan, a 22-year-old leader, envisions and has taken painstaking steps to make a reality since he was a small child.
Arsalan’s dream of seeing his nation
“A happiness that never ends”
One man’s mission to transform his community through financial literacy Every night before bed, no matter how exhausted, 43-year-old Thammasak Maknakorn sits down and takes out his workbooks for his daily ritual. “In the beginning, it felt tedious,” he says, flipping through dozens of pages, each one filled with the […]
How One Woman Revived Her Health and Inspired a Community
Ms. Wanla Kamnin operated a bustling beauty salon in the heart of Bangkok’s impoverished Klong Toei community for years. Her bubbly personality and proficiency as a hairdresser attracted women of all ages to her business, making the little shop a ray of sunshine in an otherwise bleak environment. Five years […]
How the Power of Saving Transformed One Woman’s Life
The bank came knocking on Ms. Somsri Khamsri’s door with a short message – her house was now theirs. After receiving the jarring news, Ms. Somsri was forced to move into Bangkok’s low-income Klong Ladpachee community, where her problems only worsened.
As a retired housewife, Ms. Somsri had no employment
The smiles of Female Sugarcane Growers under “Sustainable Business with Coca-Cola” Project
The four participants sat together on a long couch, smiling and laughing with each other as they celebrated their big win. Ms. Bangorn Tankrue (left), Ms. Lantom Jaichuen (2nd from left), and Ms. Suwanee Tongdornnoy (right) are all sugarcane growers who competed as a team in Coca-Cola’s financial literacy at