Born in a rural village in Da Nang’s Hoa Vang District, Phan Mai Thien Tam has clearly understood about the hardship and the poverty of local residents since she was a child.

Visitors making wooden products at the An Nhien Farm

The majority of the villagers have earned money from their odd jobs such as clearing forests for the cultivation of acacias, collecting firewood, and harvesting fruits.

Therefore, the girl has nurtured a desire to do something to boost the socio-economic development of the village, and the district as a whole.

After graduating from university, Tam spent 3 months on travelling to such Southeast Asian countries as Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar and Laos in a bid to find out more about farming.

After her trans-ASEAN trips, the 26-year-old girl developed a startup idea to run a homestay business.

With her own money, she rented a full house in the city to run her own homestay business. She and her friends decorated the house in a freestyle manner and called it ‘An Nhien Home’.

“At the An Nhien Home, guests can share kitchen, washing machine, bathroom and dining room with the hosts so they can feel like they are at home” Tam said.

After only 6 months of operation, the An Nhien Home became very popular with travellers, especially foreigners, thanks to her many years of experience in working as a manager in homestays, hostels, and bars, plus the house’s unique decorations.  

After that, Nhien opened more homestay services in the city under the help of her family members and friends.

However, Tam then stopped running her homestay business because she found it very difficult to operate this type of business forms for a long period.

In mid-2017, Tam rented 3ha of land in Hoa Vang District’s Hoa Ninh Commune to build a farm named ‘An Nhien’.

To date, the farm has a decent infrastructure including a common house, a vegetable growing area, a rustic-style furniture processing factory, and more.

Currently, An Nhien Farm is still a private space for its members to make wooden household appliances and souvenirs so it has yet to open to visitors frequently.

Over the past 6 months, her products have gradually won trust of customers.