The Anh Duong Center collaborates with the Thien Chi Center to establish a social enterprise called Mekong Quilts. The purpose of this social enterprise is to create jobs for rural women who have skills and time but lack employment, helping them achieve stable incomes and avoid moving to cities for work, leaving their children unattended and uneducated. This also aims to enhance the voice of women in the family and reduce their dependence on their husbands.
Profits from Mekong Quilts are used to provide scholarships and financial support for projects run by the Anh Duong Center. From 2005 to 2020, the Anh Duong Center created stable jobs for about 100 women with an average income of 120 – 140 USD per month.
Unfortunately during the Covid-19 pandemic, the company had to close all five stores in Hanoi, Saigon, Hoi An, Seam Riep, and Bangkok, and only sold products online. Employment for women decreased by nearly two-thirds. By 2023, we started reopening a shop in Saigon, with more stable incomes and more job opportunities for women. In 2024, we opened another store in Hanoi, hoping to increase product sales and provide more stable incomes for women.
