Natural disaster and its tragic statistics
Quảng Nam province is a typical hazard prone area, usually affected by extreme and unpredictable weather. Year after year, some typical natural disasters keep plaguing the area.

(Nguồn: Báo Lao Động)

15/17

types of natural disasters of astro-meteorological origin in Quảng Nam province*

*Including tropical depressions, storms, whirlwinds, lightning, heavy rains, floods, flash floods, inundation, landslides and land subsidence caused by rain, flood or runoff, water surge, saline intrusion, sunshine heat, drought, hail.

(Nguồn: Báo Lao Động)

Nam Trà My district, Quảng Nam province features long mountainous terrain, with 97% of the population being ethnic minorities. In 2020, Nam Trà My was the most heavily damaged area as a result of natural disasters in this province.

84 houses collapsed and were buried

718 households had their roofs blown off

(Nguồn: Báo Lao Động)

Bắc Trà My district is also an impoverished mountainous area of Quảng Nam province, with 60% of the population belonging to minority communities. The area witnessed catastrophic earthquakes, subject to floods and landslides all year round.

73

is the number of people injured in the two terrible landslides in Nam Trà My district in 2020

Villagers resorted to evacuation for fear of falling rocks

It is not easy to convince a community to leave their village.
To them, their village is not only a shelter, but also a sacred land.
But because…

"I'm frightened to death by the constant torrential rain and strong wind in the last few days. Sitting in the house and hearing the rumbling sound, I feel as if my house was covered with rock. Things have never been so scary."
The village is gone. With the mountains falling and the earth cracking, we have to seek a refuge. If we insisted on staying there, no one would survive.”

Despite moving to a new village,
poor living conditions are still a concern of the ethnic minorities…

Daily essentials such as toilets, electrical grid, and clean water are still luxuries to ethnic minorities in rural areas and mountainous districts

72%

is the percentage of ethnic minority households that do not have a standard toilet*

1/4

of ethnic minority households live without access to hygienic water sources*

72% is the percentage of ethnic minority households that do not have a standard toilet*
1/4 of ethnic minority households live without access to hygienic water sources*

(*) According to a survey on socio-economic status of 53 ethnic minorities in 2015.

Above all, their traditional architecture is gradually disappearing, replaced by hybrid architectural styles, losing the deeply-rooted highland identity in Quảng Nam.

Establishing “Happy Village”,
to start new life

The project HAPPY VILLAGE is run to meet 4 main aims:

Reducing the damage
caused by natural disasters;

Improving the
living standards;

Preserving the
local cultural identity.

Improving and protecting
the environment
(ecology,
daily life, manufacturing,...);

Project’s scale

Nam Trà My Happy Village

Nam Trà My Happy Village

2019 - now

Nóc Lâng Loan in hamlet 3, Trà Cang commune, Nam Trà My district, Quảng Nam province is now home to more than 75 resettlement households of the Xơ Đăng people who moved from Nóc Măng Lâng for fear of natural disaster.

Bắc Trà My Happiness Village

Bắc Trà My Happiness Village

2020 - now

Nóc Ông Phong, Hamlet 3, Bắc Trà My district, Quảng Nam province is the resettlement village for more than 50 households of the Ca Dong (a branch of the Xơ Đăng ethnic group) who used to live in Nóc Ông Hiến.

SAFETY
CONVENIENCE
LOCAL CULTURE
We built the village, whether it's housing architecture, granaries, chicken coops or toilets, all based on 3 criteria: prioritizing SAFETY, while increasing CONVENIENCE and still keeping the core value of LOCAL CULTURE.

3 main activities

Adjustment
of the master plan

- View
- Basic infrastructure
- Solutions for architecture

Environment
- ecology

- Landscape improvement
- Building livelihood model
- Water/waste collection and treatment

Construction
architecture

- Architectural works
- Essential infrastructure

The JOIN-HAND approach among architects
- beneficiary communities and local authorities
is the core value behind the success of
the Happy Village project.

Architect

Research and refer to related materials
Carry out surveys on people's needs and preferences
Implement and monitor project

Beneficiaries

Accompany and contribute ideas
Participate in the construction work

Local government

Agree on the development proposals, and jointly engage in the construction work
Facilitate and support the project

Re-building the model of

“HIÊU QUẬT”*

– community house
of the Xơ Đăng people

"Hiêu Quật" is an important work of Nam Trà My Happy Village, which has been extensively researched and studied by the architects of the Resilient Housing Program in order to preserve and promote the unique traditional and modern features.

*"Hiêu" in Xơ Đăng language means "house", while "quật" means "place of worship in the praying hall".

“Now that “Quật” has been completed, the village will soon build a water trough, build a road, and do many of OUR projects together. Let's re-collect the local culture, then together protect it!"

- Excerpts from a diary of the project staff of Nam Trà My Happiness Village

Up to now, The Happy Village has:

*As of early 2023

Supported

120+

households

in two resettlement villages.

Built

15 clusters

public toilet

for more than 75 households in Nóc Lâng Loan (Nam Trà My).

Installed

8+

solar-bulb systems

for more than 50 household in Nóc Ông Phong (Bắc Trà My).

Built

xm

class-B roads

(Nam Trà My)

Built

AB

systems of lightning protection

(Nam Trà My and Bắc Trà My)

Regenerated

landscape

by planting fruit trees and decorative plants (Bắc Trà My).

Received the

“Joint Effort Project of the Year” Award

at the Ashui Awards 2021.

What do the Builders
say?

Mr. Lương Văn Hùng
Mr. Đinh Bá Vinh

The story
of Flood

Trash for milk

“Trash for gifts” took place on the weekend with the participation of the children at Happy Village in Nam Trà My aims to keep the newly built village clean, beautiful, civilized and full of awareness.

“Wow, the shower splashes like on the TV!”

The Lâng Loan villagers had their first sight of the shower. Everyone was amazed by the bathing equipment that they had only seen on TV.

Uphold from 2019 until present, on every Saturday, if it doesn't rain, Xơ Đăng students from 3 to 13 years old will take part in the collecting trash activity around their houses and along the village roads in Nam Trà My. If it rains, each child will be given a nice little pair of rubber boots to keep their feet warm on the muddy roads to continue their trash-collecting mission.

When the mission is completed, the children tidy themselves up and head to the “Trash for milk” counter to receive the rewards for their good deed. While drinking the milk, the children constantly gurgling about the next collecting trash activity, delighted our project staff.

Toilet clusters are built for 3-5 households, with wooden frames, thatched roofs, latrines, septic tanks and showers. Water supply systemssystem and sewage plumbing are also installed for each cluster. Since the day the clusters were installed, the villagers started to get used to a new way of living: cleaner and safer.

After joining hands with the team and the villagers to build the toilet clusters, Mr. Đinh Bá Vinh - an architect in Đồng Hới town, cleans the toilet everyday to set an example for the villagers. Every time the shower is turned on, the whole village is amazed, “Wow, it's like on TV!".

Join hands to "build" happiness

We will not be able to carry out the project without the cooperation and contributions of the community and companion units.
Tân Á Đại Thành

Tân Á Đại Thành

Donor of 25 plastic water tanks to help people in Nam Trà My and Bắc Trà My actively store water in the dry season, overcoming difficulties caused by natural disasters, storms and floods.

Learn more

Le Meridien Saigon

Le Meridien Saigon

Venue sponsor for the "Build the Happy Village" event, where the artworks auction took place with a fundraising amount of up to VND 2.1 billion (equivalent to the cost of building 70 houses).

Learn more

To fulfill the Happy Village with laughter…

Join hands with the Resilient Housing Program to build the Happy Village.

12.000+

people have donated,

what about you?

View other projects