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