A lifeline of hope for Bay and his family after Typhoon Yagi

The sound of laughter and lively conversations resonates through the kitchen as steam rises from a simmering stew, filling the room with a warm aroma.

Luu Ton Bay, 37, sits on the floor in a circle with his wife and four children, as they share dinner together. The walls around them bear the marks of the flood, with stains reaching over a meter high; a stark reminder of the challenges they've faced.

What looks like an ordinary evening is a moment that has been far less than a certainty over two months, since Typhoon Yagi struck Thai Nien, the mountainous village in Lao Cai where the family lives and used to farm.

“Typhoon Yagi wiped out our crops,” Bay recalls. “We had nothing left to eat, so I was forced to search for wild vegetables in the nearby mountains.”

Bay’s family is recognized as one of the most vulnerable in the commune. After the typhoon, their home was flooded, appliances were ruined and the farmland that they relied on for their livelihood was buried under a meter of mud. Fully recovering it, Bay admits, will probably take years.

Without farming, Bay can only take freelance work in the village. Aside from being less stable, the profession cut his monthly income by over half, to only 1 to 2 million Vietnamese dong. This means that accessing essential goods and services has become increasingly difficult for his family.

“Our livelihoods are affected, and we cannot do anything,” he says.

In this challenging time, UNICEF’s first-ever humanitarian cash transfers in Viet Nam have provided timely support and renewed hope for Bay's family. The unconditional cash assistance, provided in partnership with the Government of Viet Nam and with the support of UK Aid, is a lifeline for some of the most vulnerable families affected by the deadly and destructive force of the typhoon.

“With the cash I received, I’ll buy new farming equipment to replace what was lost in the flood,” says Bay. In addition, he will spend some of the money to support his children’s future. “I still haven’t been able to pay this term’s school fees,” he continues, “so, I will pay the fees to keep my children in school, and I will try get them new school supplies as soon as possible.”

The typhoon also damaged his house’s water infrastructure, so Bay is forced to rely on his neighbours’ generosity. “I also want to buy a water filter,” he adds.

The cash assistance is intended to help families rebuild and recover, as well as assist with their most urgent needs, including food, water, clothing and basic supplies. In fact, the destruction caused by Typhoon Yagi and the subsequent floods and landslides have pushed vulnerable communities further into poverty.

For many families like Bay’s, this assistance is not just about financial relief, but a chance to rebuild their lives and secure a better future for their children. And with climate change making disasters more destructive, resilience-oriented recovery becomes a matter of survival.

“I hope to move to higher ground, where we wouldn’t be affected by floods and storms,” says Bay. “I’ll try my best to work and to farm to ensure we can have a stable future.”