Le Thi Thanh Nhan (R) working with a staff member at Lavin Home through sign language.

Born in 1993, Nhan has possessed a passion for flowers since she was a little girl. “I was hypnotised by the moment when flowers bloom.” She then learned to make paper flowers in order to keep the charm of flowers forever.

After graduation as a foreign language student, she worked as a manager at several restaurants and businesses operating in tourism and traditional culture, which helped her earn rich experiences.

In 2018, she decided to quit her jobs and follow her childhood dream by founding Lavin House in a small alley off Le Ngo Cat Street, Thuy Xuan Ward.

Lavin is the abbreviations of “lavender”, Nhan’s favourite flower, and “vintage”, her style of flowers. Following the slogan “Bring soul to paper”, Nhan has worked to provide her customers with realistic looking and vivid paper flowers.

To make her gorgeous paper flowers, Nhan has to research the shape and colour shades of each type of flower, which helps her to apply the proper kind of papers and techniques during the making process.

In addition to paper flowers, products on sale at Lavin House also include glass vases, recycled decorative items, and souvenirs.

A corner at Lavin Home (Photo: conglyxahoi.net.vn)

What makes Lavin House different from other flower shops is that most of Nhan’s staff are people with disabilities. Two of them have osteomyelitis while the others have hearing or speaking-impairments.

Tran Thi My Phuong, 24, from Quang Tri Province is one of them. Phuong has been in Hue City for nine years and she had worked many jobs before settling in Lavin Home. “I had many difficulties in life and at work due to obstacles in communication. Fortunately, I met Nhan and now I have an interesting job with a stable income,” Phuong recounted through sign language.

“I couldn’t communicate much with my work partners in my previous jobs, but here in Lavin Home, I feel like I am at home where I can communicate with my colleagues and teach sign language to others,” Phuong said.

Le Thi Thanh Nhan (L) joins a staff to teach sign language to children during a community activity at Lavin Home. (Photo: visithue.vn)

Visitors to Lavin House can not only try their hands at making paper flowers by themselves, but also participate in workshops on learning sign language and flower arrangement.

Nguyen Thuy Trang, a student from the Hue University of Foreign Languages said that she loved visiting Lavin Home, where she could learn to make paper flowers and make friends with the lovely staff through sign language.

Nhan said that after every community activity at Lavin Home, she always joined her staff to review and listen to their comments on the organisation of the event, through which she can create closer attachment with her staff and create an open and warm working atmosphere.  Nhan Dan

Thanh Tien paper flower making village

Over its 300-year history, the Thanh Tien paper flower making village is one of the attractive traditional craft villages in the ancient imperial city of Hue.

Imago Work and a story of an American family in Hanoi

An American woman whose son was born with Down syndrome has set up Imago Work project in Vietnam, to provide vocational training and job placements for young people who suffer from developmental disabilities.