Put Kim

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Put Kim by CREDIT, a partner of World Relief in Cambodia. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 18 months, CREDIT, a partner of World Relief will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Dear Kiva lender,

As a Kiva Fellow I have the privilege of bringing borrowers’ stories to you from the field, and I recently had the opportunity to visit Put Kim to see how her business and family were doing. The area we visited that day is named Damnak Trayoeng, and is on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

I came to find during my interviews that day, Damnak Trayoeng is a community that was forced to relocate by the Cambodian government from downtown Phnom Penh so the government could sell the land they were living on for a premium price to private land developers. The dislocation began about 8 years ago and still continues today. Damnak Trayoeng received state owned electricity last year, but not every house has access, and it is expensive at $0.30 per kilowatt. The area lacks clean water and proper sanitation. The area is flooded year round causing health problems for the community. Beyond their living conditions, the dislocation devastated their livelihoods leaving them with few options.

Put Kim requested a loan of US$800 to purchase unfinished garments in bulk getting a better price for each kilogram and also to repair her home. Put Kim is a contract piece seamstress. She buys unfinished clothes as a contract seamstress from garment factories for about 100 reil (about 2.5 cents) per 1 kilogram. Once she has fixed and finished the clothes items, she sells them back to the factories for 200 reil (about 5 cents) per kilogram. The factory then sells them to overseas buyers. She makes about $0.50 per day. Her husband works as a motortaxi driver and earns about $3 per day.

Put Kim has developed allergies to the chemicals in the clothing which has affected her health. She has developed rashes on her arms and respiratory problems. With the loan, since she can’t work as a contract seamstress as much, she has re-lent the loan to people at the factory her three children work at 20% interest. She knows that some people at the garment are unable to get loans or need only a small amount, but they do not have collateral. Since Put Kim has her house, which was given to her by the government when she was forced to relocate, she is able to use this collateral and relend to people. With the interest, she is able to pay back the loan and buy food for her family and send two of her grandchildren to school.

Put Kim has not had problems paying back her loan so far. I do worry about her payments since she has decided to take a big risk by relending, and the garment sector in Cambodia has taken a huge hit due to the economic crisis.

As a Kiva Fellow, I was concerned when I learned that Put Kim re-lent the money she borrowed since it is incredibly risky for her and her family especially since the garment sector in Cambodia has taken a huge hit due to the economic crisis. Also, re-lending is considered loan mis-use, so I inquired at CREDIT-MFI regarding their policies and procedures. CREDIT was disappointed when hearing about the client.

According to their practices, CREDIT looks badly upon clients that re-lend, and consider the clients a risk to themselves and the institution. Being transparent about micro-finance though, CREDIT said that despite their due diligence this does happen once in awhile. When it does happen they do not re-lend to that client. This means, once Put Kim has finished paying off the loan, she will not qualify for another loan in the future.

I have supplied some articles to provide you with a more complete story regarding Put Kim’s situation. I have included recent articles regarding the garment industry in Cambodia, and evictions still taking place in Put Kim’s old community. I hope you enjoy this further research, and hope it adds context to this borrower’s journal.

Garment factories hunker down for a miserable 2009 – Phnom Penh Post, January 19, 2009

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009011923690/Business/Garment-factories-hunker-down-for-a-miserable-2009.html

Phnom Penh Post: Saturday, January 24th, 2009

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009012423816/National-news/City-developer-demolish-Dey-Krahorm-homes.html

I have included a picture of Put Kim with her three children.

Regards,

Teresa Dunbar

Kiva Fellow, Class 5