Yean Chey

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Yean Chey by MAXIMA Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. in Cambodia. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 12 months, MAXIMA Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Mrs. Yean has been a silk weaver since 1964. It is a skill she learned from her mother-in-law. In December, 2007 she requested a loan of $1,000 to purchase silk material for continuing her silk production business.

Before Micro Finance Institution presented in the area where Yean is living; most weavers did not have their own money to buy silk. So, they are all buy silk in credit from a middleman and promise to sell the finished product to the same middleman. The middlemen charged higher price though and the finished product of silk was bough lower than market price. The cost of silk per Kaly, 2 kilograms, costs about $55-$58 when it sells on credit, but it is decreased to $49-$50 when it is sold in cash. Meanwhile, the weavers who have enough cash to buy silk material, they have free choice to chose any middleman who willing to ask for higher price or they can go to the market to sell by their own. The selling price of silk product is according to the season it always increases three or four months before Khmer New Year which celebrated in April every year.

Therefore, Yean is able to make more profit margins when she borrows a loan to buy silk. Her finished product of silk is easy to sell at a higher price because she is a good weave and has a long time experience. The income from selling silk is used for household expenditures such as food, clothes, and battery charge and water fee. She also uses the income to spend for joining special event like wedding day, funeral and other religious ceremonies. Her payment of $1,000 loan is on schedule as of June, 2008.

The picture showed Yean and her husband.

Mrs. Yean Chey paid off her loan early before contract. She will ask for another loan to give to her three daughters for continue their weaving business. Yean said that her previous loan has benefit her family alot. She has saved some money for helping her son's business and some amount for repairing his house as well. She would like to say thank you to all lenders that provide her the better life.