Phalla, 25, sat smiling behind her table of produce for sale when we arrived. She rose and left a neighbor in charge as she ushered us back to her home. Her home is on Koh Dach, the largest of the three islands in the Mekong outside of Phnom Penh. Phalla has been selling groceries for the past four years. She also farms and raises pigs and cows with her husband for added income. They have two children, ages 4 and 6, and another one on the way. Phalla's mother also lives with the family. She is a weaver and rice farmer.
Phalla's loan of $600 is being repaid on schedule as of December. This is the seventh time she has taken out a loan through Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. This new loan, funded through Kiva, has enabled Phalla to keep her small store stocked. She carries a variety of vegetables, noodles, eggs and other products which she buys in Phnom Penh and resells in the village. It's a good business for her as it allows her to be at home taking care of the family and pigs. A portion of the loan was also used to purchase packaged food for the pigs. Phalla's husband drives a moto the half-hour trip to Phnom Penh every day to buy leftover slop from two different restaurants. They then boil this down and mix it with the expensive packaged food. Phalla tells us that she bought 18 pigs with the profits from her previous loan, but that 7 died from illness. She hopes to grow the remainder of the pigs over the next 4 months to 70 kilos each which will earn her 7,000 Riel ($1.75 USD) per kilo.
In the future, Phalla hopes that business will continue to grow so that she can provide a good education for her children. She would also like to begin stocking additional items to continue expanding her small store and better compete with others in the village.
MAXIMA Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd.
Posted by Tami Rowan from Muk Kampoul district, Cambodia
Dec 16, 2007
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