Svay Khen proudly displays the soy cakes she has baked earlier this morning. Soon she will set off around the tiny village of Koh Phdau, situated on the Mekong River in northern Cambodia, to sell them.
The sprightly 70-year-old makes about 50 cakes every day, selling each one for around 100 riel (USD 3 cents). On average she earns about 10,000 riel (USD$2.60) a month and while the bulk of her income goes towards everyday expenses, for the first time in her life she is able to save a small amount for emergencies.
Mrs Khen is a member of one of the women’s self-help groups we are supporting in Koh Pdau. The groups are designed to boost women’s skills, knowledge and self-esteem so that eventually they will have the confidence to participate in community decision-making, take up leadership roles and tackle other issues such as domestic violence.
The self-help groups comprise 15 members who support each other to establish and operate small businesses such as growing and selling vegetables, bean sprouts and chickens and making and selling cakes, noodles, ‘slushies’ and traditional medicines.
Group saving, individual borrowing
Each group member invests part of their income into group savings. The women are then able to borrow money from the group to improve or expand their businesses or pay for family needs such as houses, weddings, funeral celebrations or serious illness. The group’s 3% interest rate is also easier to pay than the minimum 10% interest rate charged by other money lenders in the community.
Apart from the obvious economic benefits of the project, the women also learn how to read, write, do simple math, prepare reports, keep financial records, run meetings and manage their businesses.
They meet as a group once a month to deposit their money, discuss common problems and issues like women’s health, family violence, bird flu and HIV and AIDS, and discuss any new requests for loans.
“I am very old now,” Mrs. Khen says. “I joined the group so that I could save money to pay for health care if I get sick or for a celebration if I die.
“Before I joined the group I couldn’t borrow money from the middle men because they said I was too old. But now, as a group member, I have borrowed money to buy ingredients for my cakes. I keep some of the profits from my business to pay back my loan to the group.”
Group member Mrs. Kheng Kim, who sells soup breakfasts outside her home, says that saving money as a group is much easier than trying to do it alone.
“By being part of the group, I save money. If I try to keep it myself, I can’t. It’s too easy to spend it,” Mrs Kim says. “To borrow money [from the group] I have to go to the group leader, the deputy leader, the secretary and the cashier and then get approval from the members.”
Since the groups started, relations between women and men in the village have improved, women are starting to speak out more at village meetings and men better understand women’s rights. But there is still a long way to go.
“Being part of the group has helped to build relationships, not only between the women, but between men and women in the village,” Mrs. Khen says. ”It makes things easier.”
