Mary was waiting when John reached the markets. She pointed down an alley to three men drinking coffee. "Some cadres are waiting for you," she whispered, "what have you done?"
He looked at Mary she was a tough old fighter. She had changed dramatically since he started to help her daughter and her friends. She used to be his greatest critic. Now if any one said a word against him she jumped to his defense.
He embarrassed her by kissing her on the cheek. "Don't worry, we have nothing to hide." She followed him down and stood close by as he joined the cadres and ordered coffee. The youngest one welcomed him. "Hi my English name is Charles. My colleagues Bao and Duc don't have English names but they understand English."
"We want to talk to you about cooperatives. We have read a lot about co-ops overseas and like what we have read. We understand that they have brought great benefits to farmers in some countries."
"In the past we have suggested to the ministry that we trial co-ops in our rural area but all of our recommendations have been ignored. They say co-ops won't work here because there were some bad experiences in the past."
"We had given up and had forgotten about co-ops when your Provincial Party Secretary Mr. Treet contacted our research institute looking for officers who were interested in cooperatives. Because of our previous recommendations our director has seconded us to Mr. Treet's staff."
"We arrived here a few days ago and have spent some time talking to local officials. They tell us you support co-ops and have a few farmers who want to buy cattle working at your feedlot." John looked around at Mary who had edged closer. He took her hand and drew her into the circle. "You should talk to Mary she will tell you what her daughter and her friends are doing."
John sat back as they talked in Vietnamese. He had dropped the co-op idea after the Peoples congress meeting. Working on the basis that the provincial program would lend farmers money to buy dairy cattle he concentrated on showing farmers the pitfalls of not providing creature comfort and good food.
The few farmers that had joined Mary's daughter on the first morning had grown to twenty-two after some intervention from Rose. She had walked in one day when the farmers were eating lunch with her staff.
She stood with her hands on her hips and demanded to know what their families were eating at home. Dissatisfied with their answers she told them to bring the whole family to the feedlot in future. "We'll provide a meal for them all."
That night as they walked home she explained. "Most farmers have to work every day to scratch out a living and enough food for the family. When they are here learning from you they are not producing anything. They would have been happy for a while and then they would have started to worry and leave."
"Everyone watches what you do. If they all leave, people will say you have failed. If they do not learn everything, you will know we have failed. It will cost very little to feed their families but will bring benefits as they will all learn something."
When the cadres finished talking to Mary, he drove them down to the feedlot to meet the farmers and inspect the whole operation. "Bring them back to the amenities room for lunch," he told Kim as she led them away.
At lunch, they talked to the farmers and their families before asking John how could they help him set up a co-op. He was ready for the question having thought about it while they inspected the farm. "I think a full blown co-op is beyond us at the moment. Until I met you this morning I thought it was a dead duck now I think we may have a chance."
"We will have to take it a step at a time. I can buy heifers in calf in Queensland at a price that will land them in Vietnam for $AUD 1400 per head. The province is prepared under their current plans to lend that amount to each farming family. The families will have to spend more money making provision for the cows well being. The cow will not milk until after she calves, so there will be no money coming in for a while."
"I think that is too big a load for many families. I have thought it over. To help reduce their repayments I could personally help finance the purchase of twenty-five cows for the current twenty-two farmers working here."
"I would want them to borrow half the landed cost of that cow. I will lend the co-op the rest of the money. The co-op will own half of each cow and use the returns from milk to build up a fund to help farmers in need."
"We would have to ask the province to agree and not charge interest until the cow starts to milk. You three young ones will have to draw up a business plan. We need contracts for the farmers and for both the province and myself."
"The farmer's contracts with the co-op would have to commit them to deliver milk to the co-op and accept payment in both money and sustenance for their cow. If they will not sign that then we cannot make it work. It would be no different to what is happening down south."
"You will have to talk to each family and convince them to join the co-op. I think they will listen to you .They might not trust a foreigner. So go to it. I'm off to Halong Bay for the weekend. I expect you to have the business plan and draft contracts when I get back."
Shauna had booked the best cabin on the paddle wheel steamer plying world heritage listed Halong bay. "Remember you promised me you would slip away when I let you go and meet your lady-friend," she whispered down the phone as he felt a stirring in his pants.
Sitting on their private balcony while the attendant remade their bed he admired Shauna's magnificent body. She was full of fun and mischief. "I have given them a good tip and told them we are here to make a baby." She had said when she closed the cabin door and stripped off her clothes.
She laughed at the surprised look on his face. "Don't worry my love, I am on the pill and don't want any snotty nosed brats. My little white lie will ensure our complete privacy for the weekend."
