Update on Chamrouen Noem

Update on Chamrouen Noem
Entrepreneur: Chamroeun Noem
Location: Muk Kampoul district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $125.00 of $300.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=10905

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Chamroeun lives on an island in the Mekong River north of Phnom Penh. Her loan is being paid off on schedule. Chamroeun uses funds from the loan to purchase supplies for her store. She’s able to cut her costs by traveling to Phnom Penh and buying at one of the large markets – a trip she makes two to three times per month. She sells from the front of a small wooden building with an awning to shelter people from the rain or sun. When we visited, it appeared to be the social gathering place for the village.

Her business supports four children (two boys and two girls ranging in age from three to fourteen years old), herself and her husband. The two middle children study in school in Phnom Penh where they live with an aunt. Her eldest child no longer attends school. Interestingly, she was not certain of her own age. She thought she was 44 or 45 but had no official document.

Chamroeun also grows and sells some vegetables – tomatoes and cauliflower.

As with almost all other loan recipients we’ve met here, she says that she and her husband don’t worry about themselves or their future. Their only goal is to help provide the opportunity for their children to become what they want to be.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Muk Kampoul district, Cambodia
Nov 1, 2007