VietNamNet Bridge – Le Van Liem was born into a poor family and had to quit school in the 9th grade to earn a living.

Le Van Liem (right) teaches a trainee at his workshop. — VNA/VNS Photo Huynh Phuc Hau

When he was 21 years old, after finishing military service, Liem returned to his hometown in Tan Hoi Commune, in the southern province of Ben Tre to work as a bicycle repairman.

Seeing that more and more people were buying motorbikes, he saved money so he could learn to fix them.

Once Liem opened a motorcycle workshop, he studied one last skill – welding, to repair simple tools for local residents.

At that time, local residents spun coconut fiber with simple machinery. When the spinners broke, they asked Liem to repair them.

One of them asked Liem, “Why don’t you create a machine which can spin coconut fiber automatically to make it easier for us?”

After that, Liem began to brainstorm the machine.

“The most daring decision in my life was closing the motorbike workshop to develop a coconut fiber spinning machine,” said Liem.

Most of his family’s valuable items were sold to fund his research.

Every member of his family, including his wife, opposed the plan. They thought Liem had gone mad.

After five years of research, Liem successfully built the first prototype of the machine.

Liem said that the machine helped increase working capacity by 24 times compared with the traditional method.

Liem’s machines are now sold not only in Ben Tre Province, but also neighbouring provinces including Tra Vinh and Vinh Long.

So far Liem has sold 400 machines.

Liem’s reputation spread and soon many families were asking Liem to train their children.

Nguyen Thanh Vu, 22, from Tan Hoi Commune, studied at Liem’s workshop for three years. Now Vu is skillful and is paid a monthly salary of VND5 million (US$220) by Liem.

Liem said, “My only request when taking on trainees is that they have a passion for mechanics.”

Now Liem has eight trainees, all from poor families.

Over the past 10 years, Liem has given free training to nearly 50 young people.

They learned a variety of skills, including welding. Although they don’t have official certificates, all were employed by private workshops and companies. Six of Liem’s trainees travelled to work in Japan.

Vo Van Khac Diep, deputy chairman of the Tan Hoi Commune People’s Committee said that Liem’s vocational training had brought effective results in building a new rural lifestyle in the commune.

Liem’s work also helped promote young people’s determination to start their own enterprises, said Diep.

The commune and local authorities would help resolve difficulties with the workshop so that it could develop even further, he said.

Source: VNS