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