Update on Hing Nouv

Update on Hing Nouv
Entrepreneur: Hing Nouv
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $150.00 of $900.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=18038

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. This is her fifth loan 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. On the day we visited, she was paying off her loan on schedule.

She now has three looms one worked by one of her daughters and one worked by one of her sons, which is less common. The day we visited, many family members and a few neighbors were gathered beneath the stilt house. Several chickens and a two or three dogs roamed beneath the looms and platform sitting areas. Non Khmers (Cambodians) are a rare sight so our visit offered some unexpected entertainment.

As with each of the Maxima/Kiva clients we’ve interviewed, Hing and her family were models of graciousness offering me one of only two plastic chairs to sit and pouring me a glass of tea.

Hing’s been weaving for over thirty years, a skill she learned from her mother. That’s the way the knowledge is passed down and she’s done the same with some of her children. She prefers to buy all of her materials from a vendor who comes to the village. She could save some money if she took the time to travel into Phnom Penh but chooses not to.

Unlike other weavers we’ve visited, Hing and her children weave cloth only of 100% silk. Theirs were the most complicated patterns I’ve seen since we’ve been here. She says one piece can take a week to finish but the sales price is around US $35. Many others sell for only $8 but have a blend of cotton or nylon and take only two days to produce. One of Hing’s silks (used to make a formal woman’s skirt) will last five or six years.

Silk prices are apparently more volatile than those of cotton and nylon. Hing says that unpredictability adds some risk to her style of weaving. Some of the women watching our interview interjected that sales increase before festivals and decrease during the rainy season.

Hing still has two children studying in school and, as is typical, their continued education is her primary goal.

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