Update on Him Sar

Update on Him Sar
Entrepreneur: Him Sar

Location: Muk Kampoul district, Cambodia

Amount Repaid: $42.00 of $500.00

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=20173

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Him lives in a small village along the Mekong River about twenty kilometers north of Phnom Penh. His loan is being paid off on schedule.

Him, age 42, has been fishing since he was a young boy. He used the funds from this loan to buy a fishing net and to continue repair work on one of his boats. Him and his wife have five boys all of whom fish with him. Three of them study in the village school, as well.

Him explained that he does all of his fishing in the Mekong, which abuts the rear of his yard. He had two boats moored to the shore and a third, under renovation, up on supports behind his house. Like many Cambodians, Him is a model of self sufficiency. He not only fishes and maintains all his gear, he builds and, in this case, re-builds his boats himself (see photo). At about eight meters or more, the boats are not small craft either. His renovation project looked like a something a professional boatwright might spend months completing. Him said he’d have it complete by the beginning of the fishing season in January, though.

As the loan officer and I sat on the floor of his house, Him and his wife mended nets, a task that he explained is never ending. If you use a net, it gets damaged. If it’s going to work, it needs to be fixed so it has no holes. I felt like I was underdecks on an old pirate ship. Their house, like all houses in this area, is built on stilts because of flooding. Through the open, rear window we looked directly onto the Mekong. Just after we sat down, though, a fairly large bird hopped down from where it was resting on a basket handle and jumped across the nets to get a closer look at me. It seemed so curious, we wondered if even the bird could tell I wasn the sole non-Cambodian.

Him and his sons fish using large nets. He said a typical net is 150 meters long and 45 meters deep. They take two boats out into the river, float parallel and start to feed the net into the water in between. When the net is fully extended, the current bends it into a huge “C” shape. They leave it there for about two hours before closing the ends together and hauling it in. On a good day, Him said they can bring in 2000 kilograms of fish! I was astounded, but began to understand as he went on to explain. They catch three types. The largest is the size of a man’s thumb; the smallest the size of a pinky finger. For a kilo of these fish, Him can get between 200 and 500 Riel (US $0.05 and $0.13). He sells all he can at the local, district market. Whatever is left, he sells to people who make what Cambodians refer to as “cheese”. The fish are fermented en masse making an extremely pungent and long-lasting pâté called “prohok”.

Him also explained that the catch from the Mekong has been diminishing every year for the past ten years or so. He showed us what is believed to be the cause. Until the last two fishing seasons, people used nets with a mesh only 3-4 millimeters wide. Virtually no fish, including hatchlings, escaped. Fish the world over is one of the cheapest sources of protein. Cambodians, blessed with very rich fresh water lakes and rivers, get more than sixty percent of their protein from fish. When the fishermen noticed that catches continued to fall, the government outlawed the small mesh nets. Him said a new net can cost between $1,000 and $2,000. Few people here can replace such a piece of equipment at the drop of a hat so it has taken – and will take more – time before the old nets are purged. Him hopes the fish population will rebound to its old levels. (I think I now understand why hammocks and sun-shades made of fine netting are so ubiquitous here.)

When he saves enough, Him wants to re-build his house. He so far has purchased the wood but the other materials will take two more years of saving.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Muk Kampoul district, Cambodia Nov 29, 2007

Ly Tes

Ly Tes
Status: Raised
$700.00 Loan Request
$700.00 Raised
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=24512

About the Entrepreneur Name: Ly Tes
Business Name: Farming
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Primary Activity: Farming
Loan Requested: $700.00
Repayment Term: 12 months - repaid monthly
Loan Use: Purchasing seed, fertilizer and pesticide.
Date Posted: Nov 19, 2007
Date Funded: Nov 19, 2007

Mr. Tes Ly (aged 53) and his wife Chhet Srey (aged 50) got married in 1981. They have nine children, seven of whom still live at home and four who are still in school. This $700 loan is their first loan from MAXIMA. They will use this loan to purchase seed for vegetable produce, fertilizer and pesticide. They have been farming for fifteen years.
Ly and his family live on the edge of a large, shallow depression just west of the Tonle Bassac (river) south of Phnom Penh. During the wet season, the depression fills with water for about three months. As the water recedes, local people plow and plant vegetables in the very fertile soil. To make the most of the growing season, they start seedlings in protected areas in their front yards (see photo). As soon as the plots are ready, they transfer the seedlings to the open depression.

The main vegetable Ly and his family grow is a leafy green similar to broccoli. In a normal season, they can get five cuttings. Over the nine-month dry season they can plant three times. They also grow some cucumbers, cabbage and corn. They irrigate using a gas powered pump. Many people in the area still carry water in large sprinkler cans carried one to a shoulder.

They sell their produce to buyers who, in-turn, sell it in the large markets of Phnom Penh. They both say that farming has been a good livelihood and they’ll continue to do it as long as they can. Their farming future is not guaranteed. They explained that the government is considering building a large port facility along the Tonle Bassac which could encroach on their farming plot. If this happens, they would have to sell their land and move elsewhere to farm. As of now, those development plans remain speculative and the farming continues. Other than continuing to farm and save, both Srey and her husband expressed the hope of having their children study in school to the highest possible level.

La Leang

La Leang
Status: Raised
$1,000.00 Loan Request
$1,000.00 Raised
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=24510

About the Entrepreneur Name: La Leang
Business Name: Farming
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Primary Activity: Livestock
Loan Requested: $1,000.00
Repayment Term: 12 months - repaid monthly
Loan Use: Purchasing three cows and a boat & fishing net.
Date Posted: Nov 19, 2007
Date Funded: Nov 19, 2007

Mr. Leang La (aged 47) and his wife, Keat Pov (aged 39) got married in 1986. They have three daughters and two sons, two of whom still study in school and two who work in a garment factory. They are requesting their first loan from MAXIMA in the amount of $1,000. They will use this loan to purchase three cows, a boat and a fishing net.
Currently, they grow food such as rice and raise chickens and a few pigs. La also does construction work when he can find employment. As is typical here in Cambodia, we met beneath their stilt house in the area that serves as an indoor/outdoor live/work space. La explained that he actually built his family’s home in 1994 using salvaged lumber. The many tunnels and voids gnawed by termites testified to both the decrepitude of the prior dwelling that was the source of the lumber and the imminent need for replacement of this one. When they save enough money, Pov and La said they hope to replace their very modest house with a new one.

La learned to raise cows many years ago before the Pol Pot regime here in Cambodia. Because it is relatively expensive, beef has fallen down the list of sources of protein. Nonetheless, as the economy joins in the growth of the other countries in this region, beef is regaining popularity. Pov and Las's use mosquito netting to protect the animals from murderous bites and have already walled off a space beneath their house to use as a stall.

Pov and La explained that there is a breeder near their village who sells a bovine “starter pack” of sorts – one adult male and one adult female for US $400 each plus one calf free of charge. La and Pov say that it takes one year to raise a cow to maturity. In that time, it will eat approximately $200 worth of food – mostly grass and rice straw. These both need to be purchased due to high population density and to flooding during monsoon season (both factors limiting grazing space). When the cow is mature, they sell it either for slaughter or for further husbandry.

By far the most popular source of protein here is fish. This country is graced with an abundance of freshwater lakes from which Cambodians harvest two-thirds of the protein they consume. La has fished for many years but has never owned his own boat. A used boat and a net will cost them about $200.

Soy Leng

Soy Leng
Status: Raised
$800.00 Loan Request
$800.00 Raised
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=24605

About the Entrepreneur Name: Soy Leng
Business Name: Grocery Store
Location: Kandal Steung district, Cambodia
Primary Activity: Grocery Store
Loan Requested: $800.00
Repayment Term: 12 months - repaid monthly
Loan Use: To build a small shop in front of their house and to purchase groceries and other goods for inventory.
Date Posted: Nov 20, 2007

Mrs. LENG Soy (age 35) and her husband PHOM Ponlok (age 51) have been married for 12 years. They have 5 children, 3 boys and two girls. Three of the children study in school. They live in a farming area along National Road 2, several kilometers south of Phnom Penh. Her husband (third from left in photo) serves in the Cambodian Army. Soy herself (not pictured), works in a nearby garment factory. Even though monthly wages of garment workers is about US $45-$50, it is considered a good job in Cambodia. Women make up 85%-90% of the factory workforces.

She is requesting this, her second loan from MAXIMA, in the amount of $800. Her family will use the funds from the loan to build a small shop in front of their house for selling groceries and other household goods. They will use the remainder of the loan to purchase inventory for the shop. After the store, which is partially built, is finished, their eldest son (far right of photo) and Soy’s mother-in-law (far left of photo) will work there. They will travel to the district market to buy inventory such as cooking oil, sugar, rice, laundry detergent, dish soap, and children’s snacks.

Sophin Leuk

Sophin Leuk
Status: Raised
$600.00 Loan Request
$600.00 Raised
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=24604

About the Entrepreneur Name: Sophin Leuk
Business Name: Selling fish
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Primary Activity: Fish Selling
Loan Requested: $600.00
Repayment Term: 20 months - repaid monthly
Loan Use: To buy a motorbike to transport fish and to buy fish for re-sale in her village.
Date Posted: Nov 20, 2007
Date Funded: Nov 20, 2007

Mrs. Sophin LEUK (age 35) and her husband (age 34) have been married for 10 years. They have 2 children, one boy and one girl. The girl who is the eldest, studies in school in their village. They live in a fertile farming area along the Tonle Bassac (river), a tributary of the Mekong, several kilometers south of Phnom Penh. Her husband drives a multi-person motorbike taxi called a “remorque”, transporting workers to and from the many nearby garment factories. She is requesting this second loan from MAXIMA in the amount of $600. She will use the funds from the loan to purchase a motorbike for transporting fish that she resells in her village. Any remaining money she will use for buying fish for re-sale.
She has been buying and reselling fish since 1997. Fish is, by far, the most common source of protein in Cambodia. Sophin says she typically sells about three kilograms per day. Over the course of the year, she says she sells perhaps 7 or 8 different kinds, depending which type is in season. Depending on the kind of fish, the sales price ranges from 5,000-12,000 Riel (US $1.25-$3.00) per kilogram and she nets about 50% profit. Sophin usually goes to a nearby village on the edge of a large lake to purchase her fish. In the event she can’t buy what she needs there, she travels to the larger district market to buy. She then returns to re-resell her inventory at the small market that springs up along the road in her village. In the event she can’t sell everything she buys, she goes door-to-door in her village to move the remaining stock.

Sophin’s long-term hopes are to keep growing her business. She explained that the loan will allow her to travel to and from where she buys fish much more easily. She also hopes that she’ll be able to save more money to improve her family’s life.

Vary Uch

Vary Uch
Status: Raised
$800.00 Loan Request
$800.00 Raised
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=24603

About the Entrepreneur Name: Vary Uch
Business Name: Farming
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Primary Activity: Farming
Loan Requested: $800.00
Repayment Term: 12 months - repaid monthly
Loan Use: To buy a contract to purchase banana tree output from two village plots now at a specified price. She will harvest in 3-4 months and sell the bananas at the future market rate.
Date Posted: Nov 20, 2007
Date Funded: Nov 21, 2007

Mrs. UCH Vary is 39 years old, and she and her husband married in 1990. They have four children, all of whom are in school studying in grades 3-9. They live in a fertile farming area along the Tonle Bassac (river), a tributary of the Mekong, several kilometers south of Phnom Penh. She is requesting this first loan from MAXIMA in the amount of $800. She will use this loan to purchase a contract for the future harvest of two banana farms in her village. In 3 to 4 months she will sell them at a price higher than the agreed-upon price she pays today.
She has been farming since she was a teenager and buying and selling bananas for more than 15 years. Many people of Chinese descent live in Cambodia. During the celebration of Chinese New Year, bananas are used as a traditional offering and the price increases greatly. Vary also grows jasmine for use in Buddhist ceremonies and longan, a fruit similar to lychee. She sells these to retailers at one of the large markets in Phnom Penh.

Vary’s long-term hopes are to keep growing her business. She explained that the loan will allow her to buy a greater number of banana contracts for future sale, allowing her to make more income. As is typical in Cambodia, she plans to use any extra income to help her children continue their studies.

Chantorn Sorm

Chantorn Sorm
Status: Raised
$800.00 Loan Request
$800.00 Raised
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=24606

About the Entrepreneur Name: Chantorn Sorm
Business Name: Food selling
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Primary Activity: Food Production/Sales
Loan Requested: $800.00
Repayment Term: 12 months - repaid monthly
Loan Use: To purchase dishware, utensils, and food supplies for her business.
Date Posted: Nov 20, 2007
Date Funded: Nov 21, 2007

Mrs. SORM Chantorn (age 53) and her husband married in 1979. They have five children, four of whom still live at home as well as one son-in-law and two grandchildren. One daughter studies at college. They are requesting their first loan from MAXIMA in the amount of $800. They will use this loan to purchase dishware, utensils, and food supplies for her cafe/restaurant.
While Chantorn’s husband works as a security guard, his job for the past eight years, the family’s primary source of income is the food and drink stand she operates in front of their house. She’s been doing this for the past three years and her business continues to grow. She told us that she learned to cook professionally during an eight-year period in the office of a Cambodian senator. Her current clientele are comprised of people from her village and passers-by on the road that runs past her shop. On a good day she can serve up to 50 customers.

She currently prepares and sells basic noodle and soup dishes commonly referred to as “Khmer Noodles”. She hopes to refine her shop and menu so she can sell a range of more complex and expensive fare referred to as “Chinese Noodles”. The main difference between these two styles of cooking comes from the expense of ingredients, the method of preparation, and formality of dining. A typical serving of Khmer Noodles costs about US $0.25 while a serving of Chinese Noodles costs $0.63.

Chantorn’s main goal in growing her business is to better support her one child who studies at college.

Update on Chanthy Chhil

Update on Chanthy Chhil
Entrepreneur: Chanthy Chhil
Location: Ta Khmao district, Cambodia
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=16520

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Chanthy lives in a fertile farming area about fifteen kilometers south of Phnom Penh. His loan is being paid off on schedule.

Chanthy, age 38, actually has been raising pigs for six years, a bit longer than was noted in his business description. He used some of the funds from this loan to buy adult pigs for breeding and the balance to buy pig feed. Chanthy and his wife have four children, three of whom study in the village school. He supports the five of them in addition to his mother who lives in an adjacent, small dwelling.

The most recent purchase of pigs has not worked out very well. Three of the breeder adults turned out to be diseased and had to be slaughtered. While this was not a total loss as he received the normal per-kilogram price for the pork, the pigs did not survive to fulfill his longer-term goal of raising pigs for resale.

The stilt shed where he raises the animals sits behind his house on the banks of a small river that empties into the much larger Tonle Bassac (river) to the east. The concrete floors of the pens were swept clean and the pink pigs, if such a thing is possible, looked happy. I can only assume Chanthy is doing a good job. He certainly seemed proud (see photo).

Even rural Cambodia is not immune from the complicating headaches of inflation. Chanthy says the cost of pig feed has gone up by more than 20% in the past three years. Due to the burgeoning Cambodian economy, however, the cost of pork has gone up by 30%, hence his enthusiasm to pursue porcine husbandry.

In the future, he wants to continue to grow his business and, ultimately, save enough to buy some land so he can build a house. His mother owns the property where they live currently.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Ta Khmao district, Cambodia
Nov 21, 2007

Update on Soeurn Sal

Update on Soeurn Sal
Entrepreneur: Soeurn Sal
Location: Ta Khmao district, Cambodia
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=14011

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Soeurn lives in a fertile farming area surrounding National Road 2 several kilometers south of Phnom Penh. This is the fourth loan he has taken out with Maxima. His loan is being paid off on schedule.

Though, Soeurn and his family derive their primary income from his motorbike repair business, they used just over half of the funds from this loan to buy two cows. He spent the balance on spare parts and equipment for moto repair. Soeurn and his wife have six children, of whom three study in the village school.

We stopped by Soeurn’s house first to visit his wife, who takes care of the house, the children, grows some vegetables and tends the animals. She said they have been raising cows off and of for about five years. The two new beasts were tied to a small tree in their front yard. They bought the cows as calves for (US) $280 each. When they are full grown, they can sell each for slaughter or breeding for about $800. Beef is still a luxury in Cambodia but is growing in popularity in parallel with the economy. She explained that the cows (barring anything going wrong with their health) are her family’s savings.

We moved on to Soeurn’s shop – one in a long row of wall-less sheds lining National Road 2 in front of a very large wat (Buddhist temple). We picked him out by the large air compressor sitting under an orange umbrella covered in Khmer writing (see photo). Soeurn greeted us with the invariable smile and hands pressed together in prayer form used in most formal meetings. The formality might have seemed a little incongruous given his greasy appearance but Khmers (Cambodians) possess a graceful manner that most diplomats would be hard-pressed to equal. Evidently, it’s true even of Khmer mechanics.

Soeurn offered us chairs in the shade of his shed. We had to speak loudly to be heard over the passing traffic of motorbikes, buses and diesel trucks. The roads and streets of Cambodia, like much of Asia, run thick with small, 100-125 cc motorbikes. Probably two-thirds to three-quarters of the traffic in Cambodia is motos, most made in Japan, Korea, Thailand and China. Got job security? They are remarkably dependable but constant use leads to the need for periodic maintenance. He’s been repairing motos for about twenty-five years – a skill he learned (and practices with tools he bought) from a neighbor. Though it looked like he could fix most problems that happen with a moto, Soeurn said his most common were repair of flat tires and replacement of drive chains. The most common bike he repairs is a version a the classic Honda Cub made by a South Korean company called Daelim.

His business helps to support eight people – Soeurn, his wife and their six children. Three of his daughters work outside the home in a local garment factory. For the future, Soeurn hopes to maintain his business so he can continue to help pay for the schooling of the remaining children who study.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Ta Khmao district, Cambodia
Nov 21, 2007

Update on Say Ruos

Update on Say Ruos
Entrepreneur: Say Ruos
Location: Kandal Steung district, Cambodia
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=20198

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Say lives in a fertile farming area surrounding National Road 2 several kilometers south of Phnom Penh. This is the first loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Say and her family derive their primary income from raising pigs, growing rice and making low-strength alcohol from rice – referred to here as rice wine. They used the funds from this loan to buy feed for their pigs. She works with her husband, Run Hun. They have two children, the oldest of which, a daughter, studies in the village school.

They’ve been raising pigs for more than three years. Currently, their pens hold eight pigs – five being raised for slaughter and three they keep for breeding. After fish, pork is the most common source of protein for Cambodians. They sell the mature pigs for slaughter to a wholesaler buyer. They sell young pigs to other villagers to raise themselves.

Prior to this, I had never visited an example of Say’s other main business – rice winemaking. “Home brew” is a popular form of alcohol in many developing countries. “Brewers” typically use whatever form of grain is popular in a region, first boiling it to release the starches then adding yeast to convert them to alcohol. As a final step, they use a simple boiler to distill the lighter alcohols off of the water. The result is a clear, slightly sweet, slightly bready-flavored liquid that is about 18%-25% alcohol.

Say and Run have been doing this for about three years, as well. He learned from a cousin. He explained to us that he can make about 90 liters a week, the bulk of which he sells to people in his or neighboring villages. He sells the balance to retailers in the district market. I was surprised to learn that no special license is necessary for this kind of enterprise. Unlike my home country, the United States where any alcohol production and sales are very strictly regulated, an operation like Say’s is no different than any other small family business. Rice wine also incurs no extraordinary taxes as it would in most every developed country.

As Run showed us around the outdoor but covered production shed, I was impressed by the order, cleanliness and economy. His daughter pushed fuel, mounds of discarded rice husks, into the fire pit below the large clay oven on which sat a boiling rice kettle. Run removed the lid and stirred the cooking mash (see photo). In one area sat a half dozen 20-liter ceramic urns full of bubbling, fermenting rice mash. The air smelled very much like rising bread or pizza dough. Large, hand-made, wooden spatulas, coils of hose, screen filters and other tools hung from the rafters.

Apparently, this is a steady business for Say and Run. As economists the world-over have observed, products like beer, wine and alcohol have a low “elasticity of demand”, meaning that demand for the product fluctuates little relative to outside factors, even price. Run confirmed this saying demand remains almost constant year-round. They have had to adapt to rising rice prices. Three years ago he sold a liter of rice wine for (US) $0.28. Now they sell one for about $0.45 but business is steady.

When asked about his long-term hopes, he responded with typical Cambodian fatalism saying he generally hopes for the best but that his future is in the hands of someone greater than himself. He said he will, of course, continue to try to grow his business and try to save as much money for his children’s education as possible.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Kandal Steung district, Cambodia
Nov 19, 2007

Update on Phy Chheun

Update on Phy Chheun
Entrepreneur: Phy Chheun
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=14007

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Phy and her family live in a fertile farming area not far from the Tonle Bassac (river), a tributary of the Mekong, south of Phnom Penh. This is the third loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Phy (age 57) and her family, derive their primary income from growing jasmine and longan as well as buying jasmine from other growers in her village then re-selling it at one of the large markets in Phnom Penh. Jasmine is flower popularly used in Cambodia in traditional Buddhist ceremonies as well as a flavoring for tea. Longan is a small, round fruit similar to lychee.

We met beneath Phy’s house surrounded by the unfinished masonry walls going up around the first story. Phy is also a widow but she doesn’t appear to lack for family company. We were also surrounded by five of her daughters and one son-in-law (see photo - Phy is fifth from left in the polka dot pants). One of the daughters works with her as a middleperson buying and selling the jasmine.

Harvesting and selling jasmine flowers is a business unfamiliar to me. The tiny blossoms, not much bigger than a common housefly, must be collected one-by-one and they are sold by the kilogram. A kilo is more than enough to fill the volume of a basketball so one needs to spend a lot of time picking. She and her daughter buy them in the village for between (US) $2.50-$5.00. The price variation has to do with the season. They sell at one of the large markets in Phnom Penh with a markup of about 50% . In a good week, they sell about ten kilos.

Her primary expenses are gasoline for their water pump which uses about two liters a week. Gas costs $0.83 a liter in Cambodia. She also spends a lot of money on fertilizer and fungicide. As with agriculture everywhere, cyclicality is a problem. When crop yields are high, as they are currently at the end of the rainy season, they are usually high for everyone in a region so prices paid for the crops go down. Phy’s daughters complained that they could get much more per kilo if they had the same product in one month. Such is doing business with Mother Nature as a partner.

Her main goal is to finish her house. Currently, seven people live there. Apart from that, she wants to continue to build her business so she has something to pass along to her daughters.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Nov 19, 2007

Update on Sivorn Nuth

Update on Sivorn Nuth
Entrepreneur: Sivorn Nuth
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=20176

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Sivorn lives just off National Road 1 south of Phnom Penh. This is the first loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Sivorn and her family, derive their primary income from weaving and from spinning raw, bulk thread onto spools. She used the money from the loan to buy a loom and to buy thread. This was another new business type for me. One of the preliminary stages of weaving requires that thread be spun onto spools. Five years ago Sivorn and her husband bought a used, hand-built spinning machine for US $300 (see photo). This machine can spin bulk thread onto spools twelve at a time. The technology of this spinner is a triumph of garage-level engineering. It’s constructed of coat-hanger wire, salvaged bearings, some basic plate steel bars and wood.

Technical refinement notwithstanding, this machine remains a source of income for Sivorn and her family. For the service of spinning thread onto spools, they charge 600 Riel (US $0.15) per kilogram. They demonstrated the machine for us and, by Western standards, this is not easy money. An electric motor and multiplicity increase productivity but the machine, as one might imagine, demands a great deal of attention and tender loving care. The machine itself suffers from breakdowns. Thread often snaps and needs to be re-tied. Electricity supplies are sporadic so their product is at the mercy of when they have power.

Sivorn and her family face other hurdles. The price of both electricity and raw thread keeps rising. Subsequently, they have had to increase the amount they charge by about twenty-five percent over the past three years.


The newer part of Sivorn’s business is weaving. The weavers of Kean Svay District weave the all-purpose, checked scarves called “kro mah.” The kro mah is the Swiss Army knife of textiles for Cambodians. They use it for everything from a towel to a head wrap to a sarong-like skirt to a satchel for carrying things to any number of other utilitarian purposes.

Kro mah don’t demand the quality of fabric that the silk fabrics do made by the weavers we’ve visited before. Business success is more a function of volume than quantity. Some years ago, the Kean Svay weavers switched over to semi-automatic power looms. These weave much more quickly than hand looms. Sivorn’s business helps support eight people. Her husband also works for the government. One of her children works with her when she isn’t studying.

Sivorn buys raw cotton and nylon thread from one of the large markets in Phnom Penh. She sells all of her finished “kro mah’s” for about $0.33 each to a middleman who comes to her house. She can make about 25 pieces per day.

Of Sivorn’s six children, four still study in school. She and her husband expressed the dual hope that they could continue to expand their business as well as help their children continue to study. They would like them to learn English and, if possible, attend university.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Nov 12, 2007

Update on Sok Lin Loeurng

Update on Sok Lin Loeurng
Entrepreneur: Sok Lin Loeurng
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=11838

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Sok lives just off National Road 1 south of Phnom Penh. This is the second loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Sok and her family, derive their primary income from weaving. They used the funds from this loan to buy thread for weaving and to buy a second loom. Unlike the weavers I’ve visited prior to Sok, she uses a power loom – a fact made apparent by the clatter that filled the village as we approached her house through little lanes barely wide enough for our motorbike. For more than fifty years, the weavers of Kean Svay have weaved the all-purpose, checked cloths called “kro mah.” Cambodians use the kro mah for everything from a scarf to a towel to a head wrap to a sarong-like skirt to a satchel for carrying things to any number of other utilitarian purposes.

Kro mah don’t demand the quality of fabric that the silk weavers we’ve visited before. Success is more a function of volume than quantity. Some years ago, the Kean Svay weavers switched over to semi-automatic power looms - hence the clatter in teh village. These looms not only weave much more quickly than a hand loom but one person can operate two at one time. Sok’s been weaving for seven years. She learned from her mother. Her business helps support eight people – herself, her husband (he is a policeman), their three children as well as her mother and father. She also employs one person to work with her.

Sok buys raw cotton and nylon thread from one of the large markets in Phnom Penh. She uses a large separator and spinning wheel apparatus (see photo) to wind the thread onto a large spindle that can be used for continuous weaving. All the equipment I saw looked hand-made and Sok said breakdowns were the biggest ongoing management issue with her business. People who can repair the wooden looms must have some special combination of rustic engineering skill and voodoo power over the forces of entropy and wear. These machines are the definition of “rickety”. . . but they work.

Sok also has problems with sporadic electricity supply and with employee turnover. Many workers come from rural areas. Often, when they’ve saved some money, they leave without notice to return to their home provinces. Replacement employees can take time to find and train.

Sok tells me that she sells a finished kro-mah for 1,550 Riel (about US $0.38) and she can make about 500 pieces per week. Like many business operators we’ve interviewed, Sok’s costs have been rising. She says that in only the past year the cost of cotton thread has increased from $200 to $315 per 100 kilograms – the standard lot size. A hundred kilos makes about 1,250 pieces. Since the year 2000, electricity has also increased in cost from $0.13 to $0.18 per kilowatt hour. As mentioned above, Sok also just bought a second loom. She paid $300.

She currently sells all her production to middlemen. When she saves enough money, she wants to buy a stall at the closest large market so she can sell directly herself. Stalls don’t come cheaply. The current rate is about $8,500. Meanwhile, she wants to continue growing her business and get her children as far in school as she can.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Nov 12, 2007

Update on Kim-heak Chhim

Update on Kim-heak Chhim
Entrepreneur: Kim-heak Chhim
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=15619

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Kim-heak lives in a fertile farming area not far from the Mekong River south of Phnom Penh. This is the second loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Kim-heak and her family, derive their primary income from farming. They used the funds from this loan to continue construction work on their family’s house and to repair their tractor. Our ride to Kim-heak’s took us along narrow lanes of packed red dirt through walled-off plots of land filled with many kinds of agricultural produce. Plots vary in size from a couple hundred square meters to two or three hectares. Kim-heak’s looks to be toward the smaller end of that range – perhaps 40x120 meters.

Kim-heak’s husband greeted us with the common, tepid but nonetheless welcome cup of tea as the day was HOT. We sat down in the shade of their new house and started our interview. They’ve been farming for about 15 years and the range of produce that comes from their plot is impressive. Over rolling seasons they harvest jasmine and tuberose for use in traditional Khmer Buddhist offerings, longan (fruit similar to lychee), mango, jackfruit and bananas among others. They sell much of what they grow but the land also provides food for the family.

I asked how they learned to grow, care for, harvest and sell such a range of products. They replied that farming is the traditional work of their area. Sometimes, even with the help of a capable translator, concepts can be tough to communicate. Kim-heak and her husband manage a complex farming operation dealing with seasonality of water supply, multiple crop rotations, pest control, demands of the market in terms of products and price, labor issues, logistics in terms of harvest and delivery and other factors that I couldn’t take the time to summarize. As they smiled in response to my impressed questioning, the most they could say that their operation is all just a function of “tradition.” My hat is off to them.

As I said, their lot is large. They said it costs them about 300,000 Riel (US $67) to pay workers to cut the grass (by hand) between the trees and planted plots – a task that’s necessary to do twice a month during the rainy season. When there is a lot to harvest, they employ up to five people from the village. One of their sons also helps when he’s not studying. They sell all their product to a buyer who comes to the farm once a week. That buyer in-turn sells everything at one of the large markets in Phnom Penh. A kilo of jasmine flowers sells for $6.67 and tuberoses sell for $0.50 for ten stems. For additional revenue, they also use their tractor to plow neighbor’s plots during the dry season.

From what I could see, Kim-heak and her husband run a very organized business. Everything within their walls was neat and orderly. The growing plots were green and weed-free. The newly constructed house looked well built. It didn’t surprise me that Kim’s husband shyly asked me if he should change out of his soiled work clothes before I photographed them. After this season, they say they would like to take out another loan to finish the kitchen of their new house. Longer-term, their main goal is to keep growing their business.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Nov 12, 2007

Update on Kong Chhin

Update on Kong Chhin
Entrepreneur: Kong CHHIN
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $65.00 of $150.00

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=11720

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Kong lives on the shore of the Mekong River east of Phnom Penh. This is the third loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Kong’s primary moneymaking business is weaving. She used the funds from this loan to buy cotton and nylon thread. She learned to weave from her mother when she was in her teens but spent several years selling sweets in the local market. Four years ago she took up weaving again. Apparently, she plans to pass the skill down in her family. Beneath her wooden stilt house they had set up another loom where her seventeen year-old daughter is learning to weave when she is not studying.

Twice a month, Kong travels to Phnom Penh to buy her supplies and sells her finished cloth. The trip takes time out of her production but she gets better prices than buying and selling with middlemen in the village.

With the first loan she got from Maxima, she purchased a plot of farmland. Like much of the world, the price of land has been going up in Cambodia. She sold the plot for a nice profit and, for US $1,800, bought a smaller one with a house on it where she and her family now live. She proudly pointed to a charcoal graffiti on one of the floor beams: “May 17, 2004” (not in English, of course) – the day they moved into the house. Prior to that, they lived with her mother. Multi-generational living situations are the norm here.

With the additional profit from the farmland sale, Kong also bought two cows. She still raises those with the help of her son. They also continue to farm on another plot of land. Her husband’s main source of income is construction. His work is sporadic but, when he can find it, he makes about 15,000 Riel (US $3.75) a day. Kong sells her weaving for $6-$7 and she can make about ten pieces a month. Her daughter, combined with her schooling, can finish about three pieces.

Kong and her family sound prosperous on paper but the four of them live in a house so small most Americans wouldn’t accept it as a medium-sized bedroom. I asked what problems she and her family faced with respect to making money. Apart from her husband’s work being sporadic, she said the cost of her weaving materials continue to go up while the price she can get for finished goods goes down – a common lament of businesses the world-over these days. She also says that long days of leaning over the loom leave her arms and back sore.

When I asked her about her hopes for the future, she gave the pat Khmer (Cambodian) response: the best education possible for her daughter, hopefully even university.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 7, 2007

Update Sokhom Suon

Update Sokhom Suon
Entrepreneur: Sokhom Suon
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $34.00 of $200.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=17427

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Sokhom lives on the shore of the Mekong River east of Phnom Penh. This is the third loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Sokhom, 29 years old, derives her primary income from weaving. She used the funds from this loan to buy silk and cotton thread for her loom. When she was fifteen, she commuted to a nearby island in the Mekong known for weaving to learn the craft. The apprenticeship took a year and she paid for it with the output of her work. Learning in this way, while unheard of, is not common. Weavers usually learn the skill from their mothers. Sokhom explained that beginning weavers always start using only nylon thread because it’s both the cheapest and easiest to work with. They move up to cotton and finally silk thread – the latter after about six months.

Out of curiosity I asked if Sokhom was still in contact with her teacher. She and the other gathered ladies broke into giggles. She then politely said she hadn’t been back to that island in many years. I asked if she continued the tradition by teaching anyone else and she replied that she’d taught one of her younger sisters to weave.

As noted above, interviews often turn into impromptu neighborhood gatherings. We invariably talk with people in the open live/work spaces beneath their stilt houses. While the Maxima loan officer and I spoke with Sokhom the crowd of women, men and children grew from three to at least fifteen. As the loan officer recited my questions in Khmer (Cambodian), many observers offered enthusiastic responses. It would be quite an understatement to say that these villages don’t see many non-Khmers. With the entreeof the loan officer, the people warm up very quickly and the interview can become a fun event.

Sokhom travels to one of the large markets in Phnom Penh to buy her raw materials. She sells her finished pieces to a middleman in the village. One of her finished pieces sells for $9.00 and she can make about fifteen in a month. Like most weavers I’ve interviewed, she explained that costs of raw materials like cotton and silk keep going up but the price for her finished goods keeps going down. She said she never with withholds her finished goods even if she doesn’t like the price. She needs the money too much. I asked if the weaving styles changed over time and what she does accommodate that. She replied that she tries to weave whatever demand dictates.

Sokhom and her husband also farm rice. In about three weeks, after the official end of the rainy season (demarcated by the very large “water festival”) they will begin preparing the fields for planting. She says they can harvest up to 5000 kilograms in a good season. What the family does not keep to eat, they sell. She said paying a buffalo owner to plow the field costs 100,000 Riel ($25.00). They also have to pay for the seed, fertilizer and pesticide. The un-milled rice sells for about 500 Riel (US $0.13) a kilo – slim profit for a lot of very hard physical work.

Three people live from the proceeds of her weaving and the family’s farming – she, her husband and their two year-old daughter (see photo). Her husband also does construction work when he can find it. In the future, Sokhom would like to have more children and, with luck, give them a good education.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 7, 2007

Update on Savy Kech

Update on Savy Kech
Entrepreneur: Savy Kech
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $68.00 of $400.00

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=17433

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Savy lives on the shore of the Mekong River east of Phnom Penh. This is the second loan he has taken out with Maxima. His loan is being paid off on schedule.

Savy, 22 years old, derives his primary income from weaving. He used the funds from this loan to buy silk and nylon thread for his loom. Male weavers, while not unheard of, are a distinct minority in this area – especially those who work on their own i.e. not with their mothers. Savy has been weaving for six years. He learned the craft from an older sister. Of his six siblings, all weave to make their livelihoods.

Also rare for his community, Savy and his young wife live in their own house, not with either set of parents. When we visited, they had a second loom set up in the live/work space under their house on which she will weave. Ironically, she learned to weave five years ago from her uncle. They purchased the second loom from a neighbor for US $75. he says a loom will last for about ten years.

Before taking out loans with Maxima, Savy worked on a barter system with a middleman in the village. He would take weaving materials on consignment. When finished, the middleman would take two finished pieces and pay Savy for a third. This arrangement gave all the leverage to the middleman. Savy says he is making more profit now. On the downside, his cost of materials – especially silk, continues to climb. There also seems to be more supply than before because the sales price of finished cloth continues to go down. This situation is similar for many weavers we’ve interviewed. This time of year, finished goods prices are even more depressed. Many festivals coincide with the end of the rainy season. It is also the official beginning of the wedding season. People need money for things like donations at pagodas, wedding gifts or other costs. Consequently, the weavers make and sell more cloth now than at any time paradoxically running the price for their goods down when they need money the most.

Savy and his wife, typical in this area, farm enough rice for their family. They also have three cows. Savy’s mother lives in the house with them and helps with their child and with housework. He says he plans to continue weaving. When he saves more money, he wants to buy and raise a few pigs, as well. Longer term, he and his wife want to have one more child and save as much as possible for both children’s education.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 7, 2007

Update on Vannak An

Update on Vannak An
Entrepreneur: Vannak An
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $34.00 of $200.00

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=16531

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Vannak lives on the shore of the Mekong River east of Phnom Penh. This is the third loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Vannak, derives her primary income from making and selling noodles in two local markets. She used the funds from this loan to buy food products for re-sale and for new corrugated roofing to repair her house. She’s been selling noodles for eight years – a skill she learned from a neighbor.

Her food preparation operation under her house was quite an interesting setup. When we arrived, she was just finishing slicing a large bowl of banana flower blossoms, a common condiment here. Behind a low dividing wall under her house, her cooking area was blackened by smoke from the wood and coconut shells she burns for fuel. She said she burns as many as a dozen shells a day – a measurement of fuel consumption I was heretofore unfamiliar with. She buys all of her ingredients mainly noodles and rice. I was surprised to learn that, apart from the banana blossoms and the fish her husband catches, none of the ingredients are produced in her village. Sugar, salt, oil, curry powder, coconut, chilies, cucumber and water lilies come from across Mekong in Phnom Penh.

Vannak, with assistance from one of her daughters and, when she’s busy, her mother-in-law, sells two times a day. In the morning she sells savory noodles (called Khmer Noodles) in the small market that springs up along the road that goes through her village. She is out selling by dawn. In the evening she sells Khmer Noodles and sweet dessert noodles made of rice flour (see photo for an image of the mill used for grinding the rice into flour) noodles mixed with sugar and coconut milk. Her daughter also takes a ferry to a nearby island in the Mekong to sell the sweet noodles at an evening market there.

On a good day, Vannak can bring in about 100,000 Riel (US $25) and her daughter about 30,000 Riel (US $6.67). She said her profit on that is just over $10. A single serving sells for between US $0.08-$0.13. When I asked her about her costs, she emphatically responded that prices have been going up quickly. Three years ago she bought a kilo of rice for about $0.20. Now a kilo costs $0.45. A kilo of noodles has gone from about $0.18 to $0.30. She said she uses about 3 kilos of rice and 30 kilos of noodles a day.

Other problems she faces are volatile customer flow. The flow is more unpredictable in the evenings than the morning. If there is rain, she gets fewer customers. In the event she gets caught with leftover inventory, she trades with neighbors for non-perishables like rice.

Her business supports seven people, six of whom still live in the home. One child lives in Phnom Penh so she can study at a better school. She says the work isn’t easy. Her back hurts often. I can see why. Work areas, if not on the ground, are much lower than they should be. In the long term, she hopes to save enough to build a bigger house and to actually open a stall on the road and sell a more complex noodle meal (referred to as Chinese Noodles). Business has stayed steady for some time but the District govt. is resurfacing the road that passes through the village. When that is complete, Vannak hope it will carry more customers her way.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 7, 2007

Update on Vang Neav

Update on Vang Neav
Entrepreneur: Vang Neav
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $295.00 of $700.00

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=11496

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Vang lives on the shore of the Mekong River east of Phnom Penh. This is the third loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Vang, derives her primary income from making woven fabric and buying fabrics in the village and re-selling them in Phnom Penh. She and her son used the funds from this loan to buy fabrics for resale. She’s been weaving for many years but buying and selling for only three. They buy only within about two kilometers of their village. Her son travels into Phnom Penh about twice a week to sell. Some people bring their fabrics to sell but the son also travels to weavers to buy.

Vang has quite a setup under her house. I counted four looms in the live/work space under the stilt dwelling and all of them were in action. Vang herself was winding thread onto small spools during our interview (see photo). I got the impression she was a smart businesswoman. She asked my loan officer as many questions about me as I did about her businesses and the impact of her loan(s). The whole time she never stopped her focused work.

Longer-term, Vang would like to open a small shop in the village to sell weaving materials to local weavers.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 7, 2007

Update on Sophal Sim

Update on Sophal Sim
Entrepreneur: Sophal Sim
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $252.00 of $1,000.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=15616

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Sophal lives on an island in the Mekong River north of Phnom Penh. This is the first loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.


Sophal’s primary moneymaking business is weaving. She used the funds from this loan to buy materials for weaving and for a motorbike so her husband can go to and from his job. She has only been weaving for three years. She learned from a neighbor which is out of the ordinary. Most weavers learn from their mothers. Sophal travels to Phnom Penh to buy her supplies and sells all of her finished cloth to a buyer who visits the village.

She weaves all-cotton cloth as opposed to silk or cotton/silk blends. She can finish a piece in one-and-a-half days and sell it for US $5.00. Her mother used to weave with her but has had to stop because of pain in her forearms (see photo). As far as I can tell, they were describing some kind of tendonitis. I was shocked to realize this was the first time I’d heard anyone mention a repetitive stress injury. Weavers do the same motions all day, day-in and day-out. I’m surprised this isn’t a common complaint.

If Sophal can save the money, she’d like to open a grocery/supply store in front of her house.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 5, 2007

Update on Tharch Nov

Update on Tharch Nov
Entrepreneur: Tharch Nov
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $92.00 of $1,100.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=20180

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Tharch lives on an island in the Mekong River north of Phnom Penh. This is the second loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Tharch and her husband are in a unique business – recharging automotive batteries for use in homes. There is no electricity on the islands in this area. To supplement, people use car batteries for lighting, radios and, occasionally, televisions.

Their house/business was easier to find than many. The sound of a loud gas generator could be heard from a long distance. It never stopped during our interview, either. Even though they say they dont run the generator at night, I would not want to be a close neighbor.

Tharch used the funds from this loan to upgrade their gas-powered 15 Amp generator/charger to a 22 Amp. They've been re-charging batteries for just over a year and the business seems to be going very well. As of the time of our interview, no one else in the village offered the service but virtually everyone needed and used it. Most houses have at least one battery and many have two or three. Tharch's husband learned how to run the business from a friend who has a similar one in Kampot Province to the south.

The new generator can charge up to 120 batteries at a time. Batteries typically take eight hours to charge. Fees for charging are US $1.00 for a 150 amp battery, $.50 for a 70 amp and $.28 for a 50 amp. A charge on a 150 amp battery lasts about two weeks unless it’s used for television which cuts usage time in half. They say they currently use between 70 and 80 liters of gasoline a week. Gas costs about $.83 a liter in Cambodia.

Tharch says she plans to take out another loan when this one is paid off. With that they want to buy fill-dirt to raise the area where they charge the batteries and to build a better cover over it. Water and electricity, especially during the wet season, make work difficult and dangerous. Longer-term, they wants to buy a small truck or tuk-tuk so they can pick up and deliver the batteries.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 5, 2007

Update on Thuon Kh-Chorng

Update on Thuon Kh-Chorng
Entrepreneur: Thuon KH-CHORNG
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $125.00 of $300.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=11843

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Thuon lives on an island in the Mekong River north of Phnom Penh. This is the second loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Thuon and her family used the funds from this loan to buy more stock for her small grocery store, bricks and mortar to enclose the ground level of their house and fill-dirt to raise the level of their yard immediately surrounding the house to help keep it dry during the rainy season. She’s been selling groceries and supplies for just over three years.

I hand it to her for staying in business. Her house/shop is down a small footpath fifty meters off of the closest lane. The only houses I could see were the five that belonged to her mother and her siblings that comprised a small compound just in front of hers. Other than that, the area was trees or open grass. She says her customer base is comprised of about twenty families. Apparently people are willing to walk to buy from her.

She buys all of her supplies from the big markets in Phnom Penh. When I asked which one she replied as if it were obvious, “Wherever I can find the lowest prices.” He husband drives a motorbike taxi in Phnom Penh and he can also bring supplies she needs when he comes back to the island. She says her most popular items are in order: cooking oil, sugar and candy/children’s snacks. She use to sell more rice than anything else but the price has gone up so much and people use it in such quantity that they travel to the district market to buy it themselves. She no longer even stocks rice to sell. Rising prices are a continual problem for her. She says that every time she travels to the city to buy now, prices increase on every item.

Oddly, she stocks nothing in her store that comes from the island. However, when you think about the economic diversity (or lack thereof) on the island, her decision makes sense. Anything that comes from the island that she could sell; any potential customer could either make themselves or get directly from the maker cutting out Thuon as middleperson.

Longer-term, Thuon hopes to build a better house and save money so her two young children can study and get a high qualification.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 5, 2007

Update on Chantha Thou

Update on Chantha Thou
Entrepreneur: Chantha THOU
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $42.00 of $500.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=20192

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Chantha lives on an island in the Mekong River north of Phnom Penh. This is the fourth loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Chantha’s primary moneymaking business is weaving. She’s been weaving since 1982 and says she started because there was no other way to make money in the village. This situation hasn’t changed much. She has three daughters all of whom weave with her (see photo). Four looms sit under her stilt house in a pleasant indoor/outdoor workspace. Oddly, when I asked her which of her daughters was the best weaver, she broke out into a big grin and unhesitatingly pointed to the one on the middle loom. Usually when I ask this question the mother will say all the kids are equally talented because she taught them. Not so in this case. The pattern on the work cloth of daughter in question was perhaps the most complex I’ve seen with two colors highlighted by gold thread. This piece would sell for at least US $50 and take from ten to fifteen days to complete.

The time variation depends on how much uninterrupted time the weaver can get on the loom. Many of the weavers are mothers and the demands of children are the same the world-over. Time management is a common problem cited by weavers. Between interruptions, they have to work quickly to make enough money for income. Chantha also told me that only one person works on a piece at a time. Two or more people never contribute their time to the same piece. Only the person who starts a piece knows the unique qualities of the cloth.

The other problem Chantha mentioned was increased costs combined with decreased selling prices. In ten years, her material costs have gone from $48-$50 up to $60. She or her daughters can make three pieces from a $60 lot of materials. Over the same time, the price she gets for her finished goods has gone down by about 50%. She thinks this is because there are more people weaving now.

Chantha says that the weaving that takes place under her house supports ten people. Other income for the family comes from one son-in-law who helps to build houses and her husband who drives a motorbike taxi. When she saves enough money, she hopes to move her house from the back of her lot to face the lane that runs in front.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 5, 2007

Update on Chuon Srun

Update on Chuon Srun
Entrepreneur: Chuon Srun
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $59.00 of $700.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=20185

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Chuon lives on an island in the Mekong River north of Phnom Penh. This is the third loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

Chuon’s primary moneymaking business is weaving. She used (US) $500 from a $700 loan to purchase materials for weaving. She shared $200 with her relatives who also weave and they used those funds for the same purpose.

Chuon thinks she is about 48 years old but isn’t sure because of lack of documentation. Of her four children, two remain in school. They study in Phnom Penh. All the money she saves from weaving goes toward paying for their education.

On one of two plots of land, Chuon and her husband also farm a small amount of papaya and tomatoes. The second plot she rents to someone else as it’s too far to tend. She sells most of the produce to a buyer who comes to the village. She also sells some directly to fellow villagers.

As for her weaving, Chuon prefers that to farming because she can convert her work into money more quickly. She’s been weaving for about 17 years. Unlike many weavers in this area, she uses only cotton. She travels to a large market in Phnom Penh once over 3-4 months to buy materials. She’s able to sell a finished piece to a wholesaler for about $4.50. She said she can sell everything she makes.

She says the biggest issue she faces is the combination of increasing materials costs and decreasing finished goods prices. Ten years ago she paid $30 for weaving materials and was able to sell a finished piece for $35. Now, the same materials cost about $55 and a finished piece sells for $20. (She can make about four finished pieces from the standard lot of materials.) This is the reason she changed from silk to cotton.

On a more personal level, she says it’s more difficult to see her weaving because of failing eyesight.

Chuon finds the loans from Maxima/Kiva very helpful. Even though she has to pay interest, the payments she makes give her discipline for setting something aside every month where she would not do so otherwise.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 5, 2007

Update on Pov El

Update on Pov El
Entrepreneur: Pov El
Location: Pon-Nhea Leu district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $252.00 of $1,000.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=14003

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Pov lives northwest of Phnom Penh in a village not far from the outflow river of the Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest lake. This is the third loan she has taken out with Maxima. Prior to borrowing from Maxima, Pov had taken out loans from a Cambodian bank called ACLEDA. She switched to Maxima because Maxima offered a lower interest rate and better service i.e. Maxima makes house calls to collect payments instead of her having to go to the bank once a month. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.


Pov’s primary moneymaking business is selling firewood. She uses the loan solely to purchase and re-sell wood, something she and her husband have been doing for two years now. During the rainy season in this area, there is a period of about two months where the countryside is flooded by backflow from the Mekong River to the south. Firewood, already difficult to find during the dry season, becomes unavailable. Pov and her husband drive to the neighboring province, Kampong Speu. There, they buy scrap wood from people who make lattices. A round trip to buy wood takes one day and one truck load contains enough wood for about ten days of selling.

An unavoidable hurdle of doing business in Cambodia is greasing the wheels of the omnipresent bureaucracy – the police. Transporting any goods along the national highways requires passing a number of checkpoints. Depending on the value of the goods, the police extract their own version of a tax – in this case something like US$5 a trip. From what we understand, almost no business in Cambodia escapes these levies.

Their main market consists of their village of about 300 families. Some, but very few of the villagers, cook with propane. Some also cook with charcoal. Both of these alternatives are better because they smoke less but they’re also more expensive. Pov sells the wood in small bundles called “baat” (see photo). One of her baat sells for 250 Rial – about 6.25 cents in US currency. She first cuts the wood then ties four to eight small, short sticks into a bundle using a flexible vine. Pov says some of her customers come to her house to buy wood and sometimes she delivers. Currently, there is no one else in the village competing with them.

Pov’s business supports herself, her husband, her six children and a brother-in-law. The children range in age from two to nineteen years old. All of them live at home. Five of them attend school in the commune/village. Her husband also does some construction jobs. She says she will probably take out another loan to buy more wood. In the longer term, she hopes to keep growing the business to support the family and to buy a power saw.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Pon-Nhea Leu district, Cambodia
Nov 1, 2007

Update on Run Kann

Update on Run Kann
Entrepreneur: Run Kann
Location: Pon-Nhea Leu district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $84.00 of $1,000.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=20175

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Run lives northwest of Phnom Penh in a village not far from the outflow river of the Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest lake. This is the third loan she has taken out with Maxima. Prior to working with Maxima, Run had never borrowed money. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.

With the proceeds, Run and her husband bought a pig and, for their main business, firewood, which they’ve been selling for seven years. During the rainy season in this area, there is a period of about two months where the countryside is flooded by backflow from the Mekong River to the south. Firewood, already difficult to find during the dry season, becomes unavailable. Run and her husband resurrect their old truck and drive about 80 kilometers to the outlying districts of the neighboring province, Kampong Chhnang. There, they buy firewood from people who gather it in the countryside. They used to be able to buy wood in their own district for stockpiling and reselling in the wet season but now, not enough trees remain.

A round trip to buy wood takes about three days and it sounds like quite an adventure. They have to sometimes search to find sellers of wood. They contend with bad roads, some even impassable. A bridge on the road they normally use has been washed out. They’ve made five trips so far this season but can’t make any more for maybe a month until the bridge is repaired.

Another unavoidable hurdle of doing business in Cambodia is greasing the wheels of the omnipresent bureaucracy – the police. Transporting any goods along the national highways requires passing a number of checkpoints. Depending on the value of the goods, the police extract their own version of a tax – in this case something like US$5 a trip. From what we understand, almost no business in Cambodia escapes these levies.

The Cambodians are resourceful and looking at Run and her husband’s truck, you can see a 3-D manifestation of their ability to survive. On an old truck chassis, he has cobbled together out of old pipe, re-bar, wood, sheet steel, water tanks and whatever else he could find, a Franken-truck that’s served them for years. He said he often has to pay additional “fines” to the police because the vehicle is not licensed or incapable of conforming to vehicle regulation specifications.

They sell through their stock of wood in two months. Their main market consists of their village of about 300 families. They sell the wood in small bundles called “baat” (see photo). One baat sells for 140 Rial – about 3.5 cents in US currency. They add value to the product by first cutting the wood then, literally tying two to four small, short sticks into a bundle using a flexible vine. It is a simple operation but it’s what allows this family to survive. Currently, there is no one else in the village competing with them. They also sell some wood to re-sellers along the highway closer to Phnom Penh.

Run and her husband have four children ranging in age from four to seventeen years old. All of them live at home. One child, a nine year-old girl attends school in the commune/village. In the longer term, they hope to keep growing the business to support the family.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Pon-Nhea Leu district, Cambodia
Nov 1, 2007

Update On Channak Morn

Update On Channak Morn
Entrepreneur: Channak Morn
Location: Pon-Nhea Leu district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $42.00 of $250.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=17436

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Channak lives northwest of Phnom Penh in a village along the outflow river of the Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest lake. This is the second loan he has taken out with Maxima. Prior to working with Maxima, Channak had taken out one loan from a Cambodian bank called ACLEDA. He switched to Maxima because of their better service. Maxima makes house calls to collect payments instead of him having to go to the bank once a month. His loan is being paid off on schedule.

With the funds from the loan he purchased an old Honda Cub 70 cc motor scooter. He also started a small business beside the highway that passes near his village cleaning motos and cars. Channak, 33 years old, also cuts hair, which he’s done for more than ten years and farms.

If Channak sounds like a busy person, he is. On the day we went to interview him, we were always one step behind. Someone at each place we asked said he’d just left. We had to make three stops – his home, the place where he’s set up the cleaning business a few kilometers up the highway and finally, a couple kilometers further, out in a rice paddy.

He and his 67 year-old father were bringing in an early harvest of rice. They said it would take about eight hours to cut, bundle and carry the sheaves to the moto. The area they harvested was smaller than many residential lawns in the United States. Even though he wore a broad-brimmed straw hat, you could see his smile from thirty meters away. Like many Khmers (Cambodians), Channak had a calm, smiling visage that Buddha himself would envy. Instead of me putting him at ease about the interview, his smile made me feel like I’d just reunited with an old friend.

His business cleaning motos and cars, though new, is doing well. On a good day he works on ten motos and three cars bringing in about 20,000 Rials/US $5 a day. He expects this to get better. His input costs come mainly from cleaning supplies and rent on the outdoor area where he set up the business. Up front investment included sign made and built a low, drive-up masonry platform so he can clean the undersides of vehicles. Water, from the Tonle Sap, is free. He employs one teenage-boy to work with him.

Channak has one son and one daughter, both of whom attend primary school in the commune/village. Also typical of Khmers, Channak helps to take care of his mother and father both physically and financially. As his businesses grow, his main goal is to make sure his family is secure financially and that his parents don’t have to work anymore.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Pon-Nhea Leu district, Cambodia
Nov 1, 2007

Update on Tha Sann

Update on Tha Sann
Entrepreneur: Tha Sann
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $26.00 of $150.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=18034
This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. This is the fifth loan she has taken out with Maxima. Hing lives in a village on the east shore of the Mekong River across from Phnom Penh. With the funds from the loan she purchased silk, cotton and nylon thread for weaving as well as corrugated, galvanized steel to repair the roof on her house. On the day we visited, she was paying off her loan on schedule.

Tha differentiates her loom production by making scarves instead of the more common wide silks used for making skirts. She can weave two scarves a day which she sells to a middleman/buyer for US $1.20. Business appears to be good. Tha seemed happy saying she can sell everything she produces. She’s been weaving for about ten years, a skill which she learned from her older sister.

She buys her raw materials – mainly bulk, raw silk – usually from a middleman in the village. Occasionally, she crosses the river to go to one of the large markets in Phnom Penh where she gets a better price. Weavers buy the raw silk by the two-kilogram lot. In the village, Tha pays about $65 per two-kilos. In Phnom Penh she can get the same amount for $50-$60.

I still have not seen the entire process but they tell me they first boil, dye then spin the silk into thread before they weave anything. Given that all the neighboring countries also produce the raw silk, it’s surprising they don’t in Cambodia as well. I have not been able to verify it yet but they weavers tell us that the silk comes from Vietnam or China.

Prior to taking her first loan out with Maxima, Tha had never borrowed money before. She wants to continue weaving and building her business. Her husband works on construction jobs (remember, this is village construction, not high-rises or suburban tracts) and sometimes cooks at weddings, funerals or ancestor celebrations. As is the near-unwavering goal of all Khmer parents we’ve interviewed so far, Tha’s main goal is to get the best possible education for her daughter.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 1, 2007