December 18, 2025

“Home in Every Transfer” Book Launch

Today, I’m very happy to share that my book, Home in Every Transfer: The Human Stories Behind Migrant Remittances, is now published.

This book grows out of my research and fieldwork on remittances, financial inclusion, and financial literacy among labor migrants and their families, especially in Vietnam and across the Asia–Pacific region. It weaves together economic insights with real-life stories of families who rely on monthly transfers as “lifelines across oceans” to pay debts, send children to school, cover healthcare, and slowly build a more secure future.

Behind every number in a remittance statistic is a sister working twelve-hour shifts in Japan, parents in Taiwan quietly funding their children’s education back home, or grandparents caring for grandchildren while navigating rotating savings groups and bank loans. The book follows these human stories behind the money that crosses borders and binds families together.

Along the way, Home in Every Transfer explores:

• How families decide to send a member abroad and take on large debts (“the decision to leave” and “the price of opportunity”)

• How monthly remittances become “monthly lifelines” and hidden economic engines for households, communities, and entire countries

• How migrants and their families creatively combine formal and informal financial tools—from banks and digital transfers to savings groups and trust-based lending

• Why trust, community networks, and financial literacy are as important as products and apps in building true financial security, not just access to accounts

The book is published by UPCorp Global, a social venture developing financial literacy tools for labor migrants and their families. All proceeds from this book support UPCorp Global’s programs to create practical resources and training.

You can:

• Explore a free preview here: https://books.google.se/books/about/Home_in_Every_Transfer.html?id=bqybEQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y

• Find more information and ways to get the book here: https://book.upcorpglobal.org

If the themes of migration, remittances, financial inclusion, social equity, or child and family wellbeing are important to you or your organisation, I would be deeply grateful if you would:

• Consider getting a copy for yourself or your team

• Share this post within your networks

• Tag someone who works with migrants, remittances, or financial health

With heartfelt thanks

This book would not exist without the generosity and support of many people and organisations.

• Research and academic support – Dr. Anders Ögren, whose supervision and a small grant made my fieldwork across Vietnam possible.

• Early belief in UPCorp – the team at VentureLab by LU Innovation, for backing the early development of UPCorp Global.

• Expert insights and consultations – Magnus Persson (ex-Red Barnet / Save the Children Denmark), Dorothy Kipsang (We Effect), Sophie Paine (a+b=3), Steven Beck, Roberto Leva, Phuong Do (Passerelles Numériques), Phuong Tran (BIDV), Mai Luong (Techcombank), and Dominic Broom (ETR, ex-BNY), for sharing regional, banking, and financial inclusion perspectives that deeply shaped this work.

• Community access and field research – David Knight (IOM), Ha Do (ex-Oxfam), Sam Le and Mdm. Nhung Trinh, Anh Le and Thinh Le, for opening doors to households and communities and making case studies possible.

• Mentorship and guidance – Dorothy Nduku K. Kipsang, Olof Hugander, and the late Claes Persson, for their knowledge, ideas, and encouragement throughout the UPCorp journey.

• Editorial support – my editor, Deegy Dallong, whose work helped the book say what it needed to say.

I will tag as many of you as I can here and in the comments so that others can discover and follow your important work.

Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to the families who welcomed me into their homes and shared their stories of migration, money, and hope. Their courage and honesty are at the heart of this book.

Thank you for celebrating this launch with me today, and for any support in helping this book, and the stories within it, reach those who might need it most.