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Little talented student Mai in female hairdessing profession

date_range2021-02-05

Coming from Dong Thap, Xuan Mai has a great interest in female hairdressing profession then enrolling in the Nhan Dao Intermediate school. She is one of the hardest- working and talented students in saigonchildren’s Getting Ready For Work Programme. Mai is a student who was voted and rewarded for her academic achievements and efforts in searching for a job during the COVID period.

Her hometown is in My Long Commune, Cao Lanh District, Dong Thap province. Her parents have no farmland and have to rent land to work as hired labour every year.

When Mai finished 12th grade, she could not afford to pursue higher education; so, she decided to apply for an apprenticeship to get a job. She fell in love with the female hairdressing profession and went to the Nhan Dao Intermediate school. While studying there, she met Ms. Tuyet Mai – a teacher of female hairdressing – this teacher empathised with Mai’s family circumstance and introduced her to saigonchildren’s Getting Ready For Work Programme. Mai has received support for tuition, learning equipment’s fee, and travel expenses during the apprenticeship.

Mai is extremely hardworking. Every day she goes to her hairdressing class in the morning, then works as a shopkeeper at a clothing shop in the afternoon to earn enough income to cover her stipend payment and rental costs. The special thing about Mai is her resilience. Despite studying and working at the same time, she always maintains incredible grades in class. She completed the Hairdressing course in October with excellent grades (9/10).

When the social distancing order was issued, Mai had to go back to her hometown due to the loss of her job – as social restrictions had led to the closing of the shop and the temporary closure of the school. Despite the difficulties that Mai was facing, she still persevered to return to class once the pandemic was under control.

More impressively, 1 month after graduating Mai immediately found her first job at a salon in Go Vap District with a salary of 4.5 million / month (excluding tips). But since her rental house is too far away from that salon, and she doesn’t have any transportation to commute to work, Mai decided to move to another salon in District 5. Currently, Mai is working at a salon in Phu Nhuan District with a salary of 6 million, not including lunch and tip.

We believe in Mai potential and hope she would keep developing and be able to build a better life

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