More than three decades ago, Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip, known as Aris Alip, a Filipino microfinance expert, helped lay the foundations for the Tinh Thuong Microfinance Institution (TYM), expanding poor Vietnamese women's access to capital and opportunities to develop sustainable livelihoods. Through their initial cooperation, he built lasting relationships with Vietnamese organizations and friends.

In February 2024, Aris Alip returned to Viet Nam and reunited with friends who had worked alongside him to establish TYM. The gathering brought back memories of a cooperative journey that began in the 1990s.

Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip speaks at the ceremony marking TYM's 30th anniversary on October 7, 2022. (Photo: TYM)

The Vietnamese Greeting “Tao yeu may” (I Love You) and TYM's Early Days

Aris Alip is the founder and Honorary Chairman of CARD MRI, one of the leading microfinance networks in the Philippines. Drawing on the experience of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank and adapting it to Philippine conditions, he helped develop microfinance in his home country while actively sharing his expertise with Viet Nam.

In the early 1990s, when microfinance was still relatively new, Aris Alip came to Viet Nam as a credit specialist. He worked directly with various partner organizations, including the Viet Nam Women's Union, women's associations in Ho Chi Minh City, Hue and Soc Trang, the Ho Chi Minh City Gardening Association, and the Ho Chi Minh City Federation of Labour.

In 1992, while working for CIDSE, he served as a credit adviser responsible for projects in southern Viet Nam before expanding his work to Laos and Cambodia. He lived in Viet Nam for nearly four years, witnessing firsthand the country's economic and agricultural transformations during the Doi Moi (Renewal) period.

Among the organizations he worked with was the Ho Chi Minh City Federation of Labour, which established the Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor (CEP) in 1991 to help low-income workers access capital and develop livelihoods.

As part of development programs in Viet Nam, Aris Alip supported the Viet Nam Women's Union in implementing income-generation activities combined with family planning for poor women in Soc Trang and Ha Tay. This work helped inspire the idea of establishing a credit fund for disadvantaged women, laying the groundwork for TYM.

An interesting story from his early days in Viet Nam concerns the origin of TYM's name.

According to an anecdote, during a working trip to Hau Giang, Aris Alip discussed with Women's Union officials his idea of establishing a lending fund owned and managed by the union. A friend named Trieu taught him the Vietnamese phrase “Tao yeu may,” an informal expression meaning “I love you.” The following day, when meeting the Chairwoman of the Hau Giang Women's Union, he cheerfully used the phrase to greet her.

This humorous incident inspired the project's original name: the “Tao Yeu May” Fund, abbreviated as T.Y.M.

The name also left a memorable impression at the Grameen Dialogue in Dhaka, Bangladesh. When Truong My Hoa attended the event, the organizers introduced her as a representative of the “Tao Yeu May” Fund, prompting the entire audience to stand and applaud. Aris Alip subsequently presented the project, which received US$17,800 in funding approved by Japan's Asia Community Trust (ACT).

The fund was later renamed the Tinh Thuong Fund to better reflect its meaning in Vietnamese, while retaining the TYM acronym.

TYM has gradually become a source of support, helping women improve their economic well-being. (Photo: Viet Nam Women's Newspaper)

Beyond providing technical assistance, Aris Alip connected TYM with international partners, helping it access financial and technical resources as well as professional expertise. Delegations from the Viet Nam Women's Union and TYM also had opportunities to study the Grameen and CARD models, establishing cooperative relationships that have continued over the years.

With technical support and international experience, TYM launched a pilot program in 1992 and gradually expanded its scale and capacity to serve communities. Vietnamese staff adapted microfinance methods to local conditions, developed operational procedures and organized groups of women to access loans, save money and improve their household economies.

In 1998, TYM became an independent unit under the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Viet Nam Women's Union. In 2010, it received an operating license from the State Bank of Viet Nam, becoming the country's first professionally operated microfinance institution.

From its initial small loans, TYM has grown into a microfinance institution serving hundreds of thousands of clients. This development reflects the efforts of successive generations of staff and members, together with the support of international partners, including Aris Alip. His early contributions in technical assistance, resource mobilization and knowledge sharing helped establish a lasting operational foundation for TYM.

After his time in Viet Nam, Aris Alip continued to serve as a consultant to Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the Danish Red Cross and Oxfam America. From 2009 to 2012, he served on several occasions as team leader for an Asian Development Bank (ADB) project, working with the State Bank of Viet Nam to develop microfinance and facilitate the formal licensing of microfinance institutions.

In 2012, the Vietnamese State awarded Aris Alip the Friendship Order in recognition of his contributions to friendship and cooperation with Viet Nam.

Seeds of Hope

In February 2024, Aris Alip returned to Viet Nam with his wife and her former high school friends. The trip gave him an opportunity to reflect on the changes in the country where he had lived and worked for nearly four years.

He was delighted to reunite with Do Thi Tan, TYM's first director; Pham Hoai Giang, former head of the International Relations Department of the Viet Nam Women's Union; and others who had accompanied him during the organization's early development. They reminisced about the years they had spent building a credit program for poor women.

During a dinner with TYM's leadership, Aris Alip heard from Pham Thi Thuy Linh, the organization's General Director, about its achievements. At the time, TYM served approximately 206,000 clients through 22 branches, with an outstanding loan portfolio of around VND 2.7 trillion. The institution had also begun digitalizing its operations to improve efficiency and make its services more convenient for clients.

Aris Alip expressed his delight at TYM's growth, particularly the achievements of successive generations of Vietnamese staff. From its initial small loans, the institution had expanded its operations, introduced additional savings services and developed programs to support women, families and communities.

As of June 30, 2026, TYM had 23 branches serving 228,950 clients, with an outstanding loan portfolio of more than VND 3.529 trillion. These results reflect the growth of a microfinance model that Vietnamese staff have adopted, adapted and sustained across generations.

Following his return to Viet Nam in 2024, Aris Alip thanked his friends at TYM for their continued efforts to improve people's lives. He compared development workers to gardeners who plant small seeds of hope.

“There is no guarantee that the seeds we have planted will take root. But we persevere because, like any good gardener, we nurture hope,” he wrote.

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