micro-enterprise/life skills
Living on a Dollar a Day
CBN.com – The winters had been colder than normal in this part of northern Laos. And a worn blanket that a mother and daughter were forced to share never seemed to keep Yumey or 15- year-old Phon warm.
Yumey makes a living by cooking and selling tofu in the market. But her sales only net about a dollar a day.
There are many days when this single mother and her daughter must rely on the kindness of neighbors who give them leftovers for supper.
“It may not be obvious, but my mother cannot hear or speak. She uses hand signals which we made up, in order to try to communicate,” says Phon
When we asked Phon where her father was, she began to cry.
“My father abandoned my mother when she was two months pregnant with me,” she says. “Then we were left at the mercy of distant relatives who treated us very harshly.”
To help Yumey and Phon improve their financial situation, Operation Blessing gave them a grant to expand their tofu business. And CBN bought them two piglets, to start a small livestock business. Next, we gave them enough rice to last until the next harvest, a new warm blanket and a mosquito net. Then we did something they never expected-- we took mother and daughter shopping and bought them the first new clothes they had ever owned!
“I am so excited,” says Phon. “Nobody has ever been this kind to us.”
And because of these gifts, 15-year-old Phon can now go back to school. “My mother and I are very grateful for all your help. We know that our lives will never be the same again. "
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