Attending the trip was PhD. Pham Vu Thang, Chairman of the Vietnam-UK Friendship Sub-Association of the University of Economics and Business, along with some other UEB teaching staff as members of the Sub-Association.

Unbreakable will of the person with brittle bone disease

Representatives of the Association visited Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, founder of Thuong Thuong Handmade Social enterprise (No 13, Alley 11, Luong Dinh Cua, Dong Da, Hanoi), a social enterprise specializing in producing souvenirs, especially cards and scrolls. All of the staff there were disabled, people with kidney problems or congenital abnormalities, and Ms. Thuong herself struggled with the brittle bone disease ever since her childhood. During the meeting, Ms. Thuong talked about her way to promote the products without hiring a marketing agency. She tried to post the product online and used the search keywords so that customers get to know about the enterprise. Also, actively participating in the fair, creating booths, also promoted sales, and increased their chance of meeting potential partners.

 

Make yourself beautiful and live a beautiful life

The UEBers had chance to make holiday cards themselves with support from employees of the enterprise. The biggest challenge was how to hold the needle and the roll of paper, which requires a lot of persistence and meticulousness even for normal people.

 

With small hands like children, Ms. Thuong and her staff were good at using smartphones to update the model, taped to the model in the software. Each person had one holder for his/her smartphone that made it easy for them to communicate, update the latest trends in Vietnam as well as the world, and create meaningful, quality products. In addition, thanks to the Thriive Hanoi Fund of the Hanoi National University of Economics and Business, Thuong Thuong Handmade was provided with additional investment funds to purchase more machinery and improve labor productivity. With this fact-finding business visit alone, teaching staff as members of the UEB’s Vietnam-U.K. Friendship Association gained more experiences to deliver to their students in the upcoming Christmas season.

PhD. Pham Vu Thang said Thuong Thuong Handmade Social Enterprise was a home filled with a sense of warmth of many people with disabilities, where we can see the will to rise and the desire of all of you to join the community. The UEB’s Vietnam-U.K. Friendship Sub-Association will try to link social organizations, charities to help the business grow sustainably, and a small part of it will help to buy products as souvenirs. Hopefully, this story can reach many young people, so they will probably be given more motivation and faith in life.