Yean, age 60, and husband Kat Taa, 70, welcomed us into their home the other day. She sat spinning silk thread on to a spindle in preparation for weaving while we talked. Yean was a weaver for around 40 years, but has now passed on her knowledge to her daughters - one of whom has been weaving for 10 years now. Her husband still farms and raises cows and buffalos. Their 7 children are all grown, but 5 still live at home with them in addition to a granddaughter.
Yean's loan of $1,000 is being repaid on schedule as of October. This is first time she has taken out a loan through Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. Previously, she had been borrowing money from a local bank but switched because it was time-consuming to go to Phnom Penh to make payments. She is very happy now borrowing through Maxima as they make house call's to collect the monthly payments. This has been an invaluable time-saver for her so that she can stay home taking care of the family and assisting her daughters. This new loan, funded through Kiva, has enabled Yean to buy her raw silk in bulk and thereby increase her profits.
She went into a bit of detail with us about her weaving process as she's become quite a master of the craft in her lifetime. The incomplete pieces of silk she has on her looms are quite unlike the other weaving we've seen. Her patterns are much more intricate, and one even extends the entire 3 meter width of the cloth! For these intricate works of art, she is able to sell them to the local buyer for between $40 -70 USD a piece. It's a premium over the basic weaving, but she says her profit on each piece is still only $5-8 USD each.
Yean's greatest hope for the future is that her family can provide better for the next generation than she was able to. All of her children were forced to stop studying early and begin working for lack of money. She hopes that in the future they will all have good jobs and will all be able to send their children to school.
MAXIMA Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd.
Posted by Tami Rowan from Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia
Nov 4, 2007
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