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