Update on Vannak An
Entrepreneur: Vannak An
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $34.00 of $200.00
Entrepreneur: Vannak An
Location: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $34.00 of $200.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=16531
This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Vannak lives on the shore of the Mekong River east of Phnom Penh. This is the third loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.
Vannak, derives her primary income from making and selling noodles in two local markets. She used the funds from this loan to buy food products for re-sale and for new corrugated roofing to repair her house. She’s been selling noodles for eight years – a skill she learned from a neighbor.
Her food preparation operation under her house was quite an interesting setup. When we arrived, she was just finishing slicing a large bowl of banana flower blossoms, a common condiment here. Behind a low dividing wall under her house, her cooking area was blackened by smoke from the wood and coconut shells she burns for fuel. She said she burns as many as a dozen shells a day – a measurement of fuel consumption I was heretofore unfamiliar with. She buys all of her ingredients mainly noodles and rice. I was surprised to learn that, apart from the banana blossoms and the fish her husband catches, none of the ingredients are produced in her village. Sugar, salt, oil, curry powder, coconut, chilies, cucumber and water lilies come from across Mekong in Phnom Penh.
Vannak, with assistance from one of her daughters and, when she’s busy, her mother-in-law, sells two times a day. In the morning she sells savory noodles (called Khmer Noodles) in the small market that springs up along the road that goes through her village. She is out selling by dawn. In the evening she sells Khmer Noodles and sweet dessert noodles made of rice flour (see photo for an image of the mill used for grinding the rice into flour) noodles mixed with sugar and coconut milk. Her daughter also takes a ferry to a nearby island in the Mekong to sell the sweet noodles at an evening market there.
On a good day, Vannak can bring in about 100,000 Riel (US $25) and her daughter about 30,000 Riel (US $6.67). She said her profit on that is just over $10. A single serving sells for between US $0.08-$0.13. When I asked her about her costs, she emphatically responded that prices have been going up quickly. Three years ago she bought a kilo of rice for about $0.20. Now a kilo costs $0.45. A kilo of noodles has gone from about $0.18 to $0.30. She said she uses about 3 kilos of rice and 30 kilos of noodles a day.
Other problems she faces are volatile customer flow. The flow is more unpredictable in the evenings than the morning. If there is rain, she gets fewer customers. In the event she gets caught with leftover inventory, she trades with neighbors for non-perishables like rice.
Her business supports seven people, six of whom still live in the home. One child lives in Phnom Penh so she can study at a better school. She says the work isn’t easy. Her back hurts often. I can see why. Work areas, if not on the ground, are much lower than they should be. In the long term, she hopes to save enough to build a bigger house and to actually open a stall on the road and sell a more complex noodle meal (referred to as Chinese Noodles). Business has stayed steady for some time but the District govt. is resurfacing the road that passes through the village. When that is complete, Vannak hope it will carry more customers her way.
Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 7, 2007
This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Vannak lives on the shore of the Mekong River east of Phnom Penh. This is the third loan she has taken out with Maxima. Her loan is being paid off on schedule.
Vannak, derives her primary income from making and selling noodles in two local markets. She used the funds from this loan to buy food products for re-sale and for new corrugated roofing to repair her house. She’s been selling noodles for eight years – a skill she learned from a neighbor.
Her food preparation operation under her house was quite an interesting setup. When we arrived, she was just finishing slicing a large bowl of banana flower blossoms, a common condiment here. Behind a low dividing wall under her house, her cooking area was blackened by smoke from the wood and coconut shells she burns for fuel. She said she burns as many as a dozen shells a day – a measurement of fuel consumption I was heretofore unfamiliar with. She buys all of her ingredients mainly noodles and rice. I was surprised to learn that, apart from the banana blossoms and the fish her husband catches, none of the ingredients are produced in her village. Sugar, salt, oil, curry powder, coconut, chilies, cucumber and water lilies come from across Mekong in Phnom Penh.
Vannak, with assistance from one of her daughters and, when she’s busy, her mother-in-law, sells two times a day. In the morning she sells savory noodles (called Khmer Noodles) in the small market that springs up along the road that goes through her village. She is out selling by dawn. In the evening she sells Khmer Noodles and sweet dessert noodles made of rice flour (see photo for an image of the mill used for grinding the rice into flour) noodles mixed with sugar and coconut milk. Her daughter also takes a ferry to a nearby island in the Mekong to sell the sweet noodles at an evening market there.
On a good day, Vannak can bring in about 100,000 Riel (US $25) and her daughter about 30,000 Riel (US $6.67). She said her profit on that is just over $10. A single serving sells for between US $0.08-$0.13. When I asked her about her costs, she emphatically responded that prices have been going up quickly. Three years ago she bought a kilo of rice for about $0.20. Now a kilo costs $0.45. A kilo of noodles has gone from about $0.18 to $0.30. She said she uses about 3 kilos of rice and 30 kilos of noodles a day.
Other problems she faces are volatile customer flow. The flow is more unpredictable in the evenings than the morning. If there is rain, she gets fewer customers. In the event she gets caught with leftover inventory, she trades with neighbors for non-perishables like rice.
Her business supports seven people, six of whom still live in the home. One child lives in Phnom Penh so she can study at a better school. She says the work isn’t easy. Her back hurts often. I can see why. Work areas, if not on the ground, are much lower than they should be. In the long term, she hopes to save enough to build a bigger house and to actually open a stall on the road and sell a more complex noodle meal (referred to as Chinese Noodles). Business has stayed steady for some time but the District govt. is resurfacing the road that passes through the village. When that is complete, Vannak hope it will carry more customers her way.
Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 7, 2007
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