Vi Thi: Life with a Motorbike

Growing up in a poor, small rural village with her family, Vi Thi was dreaming of a better future for herself.

The continuous financial difficulties Vi Thi’s family was encountering led her to pack her suitcases and migrate to another country. So she took a difficult decision, to change the continent and move to Cyprus.

With her father’s blessings and financial support, Vi Thi arrived in Cyprus in 2010 and worked as a domestic worker and carer for elderly people. Living and working on the island was not an easy task; Vi Thi found herself in a difficult economic situation and there were times where she was asking for financial aid from her father, in order to support herself.

When she ran out of options for work and money, she turned to the IOM office in Cyprus, which supported her from the first day of her registration to the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme.

Six years after her arrival in Cyprus, Vi Thi managed to return to Vietnam as per her wish. However, there was one thing that Vi Thi did not expect, which meant to change her life: the reintegration financial assistance that she received from the AVRR programme of IOM Cyprus.

Initially, she wanted to open a clothing shop but, upon her return and assessment of the local market, she decided to open a motorbike washing, repair, and maintenance business, along with her husband’s assistance.

The next day is very prosperous for Vi Thi: She has returned home, started her business and growing her family.