Update on Hok Ly

Update on Hok Ly
Entrepreneur:
Location: Muk Kampoul district, Cambodia
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=20184

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Hok Ly lives in a small village along the Mekong River about twenty kilometers north of Phnom Penh. His loan is being paid off on schedule.

Hok, age 54, and his wife have seven children, three of whom still attend school in their village. He used the funds from this loan to buy a new diesel generator and a replacement battery charger for his battery recharging business. Hok has been recharging batteries for almost thirty years. He learned the business in 1979 after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime and it’s been his main source of income since. He lost his right leg fighting in the civil war of that time so farming was not open to him as an option for making his living.

The homes of most people in rural Cambodia are not connected to the electrical grid. As a supplement, a growing number of people use 12-volt automotive batteries to power lights, radios or televisions. Hok explained that, depending on the amperage of the battery and its uses in a home, a charge can last from one to three weeks. He charges from 1000 Riel (US $0.25) for a 40 amp battery to 2500 Riel (US $0.63) for a 150 amp size. He says he charges between 60 and 100 batteries day.

Apart from equipment, his major cost is for diesel fuel which costs $ 0.85 per liter. With one liter he can charge about 60 mid-sized batteries. He’d like to buy a larger capacity charger that would allow him to charge up to 300 batteries at one time. Longer-term, he’d like to open a shop selling batteries, televisions, spare parts for electrical appliances and tools. He said he feels that such a shop would be successful because more people can buy small appliances now and he already has a loyal group of customers.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Muk Kampoul district, Cambodia
Dec 5, 2007