The charcoal factory of Tran Quang Huy (Photo: tienphong.vn) Quang Binh (VNA) - Tran Quang Huy, 36, wearing protectiveclothing, loads activated charcoal onto a truck for delivery.
Huy, of Truong Xuan communein the central province of Quang Binh province’s Quang Ninh district, was alecturer at Dong An Technology College in the southern province of Binh Duongfrom 2005 to 2014.
But he quit his job afternearly a decade of work. He sold his house for 600 million VND (26,000 USD) andreturned to his hometown at the end of 2014 to run a small factory producingactivated charcoal.
Things were not as easy ashe thought they would be. Difficulties waited ahead. At first, Huy’s parentsstrongly disagreed with his sudden decision.
“They thought my decisionwas too dangerous and crazy, because I already had a house and stable income,”he said.
“My parents did not believethat I quit my job. They thought I was fired and then made up the reasons toreturn to my hometown,” he said.
Additionally, the amount hereceived from selling his house was not enough to run the factory.
He soon sank into troubles.Nevertheless, he did not give up. Huy tried to borrowed money, but failed forseveral months.
But things changed when hemet several friends who had been interested in producing activated charcoal.
“Some of my friends agreedto join with me,” he said.
Finally, he received about 2.8billion VND (123,000 USD) for his start-up. His dream factory has beenoperating since November 2014.
Huy spent nearly all of histime in the factory.
During the first days, Huyand his colleagues had to do all of the work, from managing, producing, loadingand unloading, to transporting charcoal to customers.
Now, he sometimes stillloads charcoal onto trucks when the factory does not have enough workers.
At present, the factoryemploys 30 local people, with a monthly wage of 6 million VND (264 USD), andpurchases timber from local forest growers.
The charcoal is not onlysold in the domestic market, but also exported to countries, including Japan,at a price of 1.8 USD per kilo.
Huy said his dream startedafter he visited a factory in the Mekong Delta province of Long An in the 2000swhen he was still a lecturer at the college.
He found that the bachdan (Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn) tree and tram bong vang (AcaciaAuriculiformis) tree were the main materials to produce activated charcoal.
In the meantime, hishometown was home to these trees.
“Moreover, my biggest dreamis helping local poor people to escape poverty,” he said.
After the visit, Huythought of his dream every day and eventually found ways to turn his dream intoa reality.
The factory is located in aremote area and workers had to cross a local stream to reach the factory.
Huy said the location wasselected because it was very near the forest, so timbers could be easilytransported to the factory.
But troubles came when itwas raining, as the factory became isolated after heavy rains.
Huy and his colleaguesoften had to stay at the factory for several days when a torrential rain occurred.They could not go home due to there being no bridge, and water ran too quicklythrough the stream.
“I remember one time it wasraining hard and we had to stay there. We ran out of food and had to sharecassava that we found in the forest,” he added.
To fix the problem, Huysaid he asked a contractor to build a small bridge, but the price was about 5billion VND (220,000 USD). “I could not afford that,” he said.
He hoped the localadministration would partly assist him.
In response to thesituation, Pham Manh Hung, secretary of the district’s Party Committee, said hewould submit to the provincial People’s Committee to provide infrastructuresupport for Huy.
This was one way toencourage young people to create start-up businesses and contribute to thelocal socio-economic development, as Huy did.-VNA
Huy, of Truong Xuan communein the central province of Quang Binh province’s Quang Ninh district, was alecturer at Dong An Technology College in the southern province of Binh Duongfrom 2005 to 2014.
But he quit his job afternearly a decade of work. He sold his house for 600 million VND (26,000 USD) andreturned to his hometown at the end of 2014 to run a small factory producingactivated charcoal.
Things were not as easy ashe thought they would be. Difficulties waited ahead. At first, Huy’s parentsstrongly disagreed with his sudden decision.
“They thought my decisionwas too dangerous and crazy, because I already had a house and stable income,”he said.
“My parents did not believethat I quit my job. They thought I was fired and then made up the reasons toreturn to my hometown,” he said.
Additionally, the amount hereceived from selling his house was not enough to run the factory.
He soon sank into troubles.Nevertheless, he did not give up. Huy tried to borrowed money, but failed forseveral months.
But things changed when hemet several friends who had been interested in producing activated charcoal.
“Some of my friends agreedto join with me,” he said.
Finally, he received about 2.8billion VND (123,000 USD) for his start-up. His dream factory has beenoperating since November 2014.
Huy spent nearly all of histime in the factory.
During the first days, Huyand his colleagues had to do all of the work, from managing, producing, loadingand unloading, to transporting charcoal to customers.
Now, he sometimes stillloads charcoal onto trucks when the factory does not have enough workers.
At present, the factoryemploys 30 local people, with a monthly wage of 6 million VND (264 USD), andpurchases timber from local forest growers.
The charcoal is not onlysold in the domestic market, but also exported to countries, including Japan,at a price of 1.8 USD per kilo.
Huy said his dream startedafter he visited a factory in the Mekong Delta province of Long An in the 2000swhen he was still a lecturer at the college.
He found that the bachdan (Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn) tree and tram bong vang (AcaciaAuriculiformis) tree were the main materials to produce activated charcoal.
In the meantime, hishometown was home to these trees.
“Moreover, my biggest dreamis helping local poor people to escape poverty,” he said.
After the visit, Huythought of his dream every day and eventually found ways to turn his dream intoa reality.
The factory is located in aremote area and workers had to cross a local stream to reach the factory.
Huy said the location wasselected because it was very near the forest, so timbers could be easilytransported to the factory.
But troubles came when itwas raining, as the factory became isolated after heavy rains.
Huy and his colleaguesoften had to stay at the factory for several days when a torrential rain occurred.They could not go home due to there being no bridge, and water ran too quicklythrough the stream.
“I remember one time it wasraining hard and we had to stay there. We ran out of food and had to sharecassava that we found in the forest,” he added.
To fix the problem, Huysaid he asked a contractor to build a small bridge, but the price was about 5billion VND (220,000 USD). “I could not afford that,” he said.
He hoped the localadministration would partly assist him.
In response to thesituation, Pham Manh Hung, secretary of the district’s Party Committee, said hewould submit to the provincial People’s Committee to provide infrastructuresupport for Huy.
This was one way toencourage young people to create start-up businesses and contribute to thelocal socio-economic development, as Huy did.-VNA
VNA
