Chiev Lay's success story

Delighted future for my family
Living in urban area of Svay Pak village, Reussey Keo district’s Svay Pak commune, Mrs. Chiev Lay, 46 years old and her two sons -- Chhoeung Piseth, 11 years old and Chheoung Pisa, 10 years old, make their living through selling local-made breakfast, disserts and some other snacks.

When asked about her past, Mrs. Chiev Lay turned very sad. Talking with tears dropping from her eyes she told us how she had lived before getting loan from VisionFund.

After the death of her husband in 2005, Mrs. Chiev Lay took full responsibilities for the family including taking care of the two sons who were just eight and nine years old. Her husband left nothing for the family except an empty broken house with one bed and one cabinet for clothes since he was only selling his labor for the daily expenses of the family when he was alive.

“Our house was so broken.  Whenever there was a rain, we all got wet. Sometimes we could not sleep for the whole night because of the rain” Mrs. Chiev Lay recalled her past with tears.

With nothing on hand except a very little amount of money, Mrs. Chiev Lay was so depressed as to what to do to earn enough for her living as well as for the study of her sons.

“After spending for the funeral of my husband, I only had KHR 15,000 (USD3.75) left, I could not do anything with that money. I wanted to sell some local-made snacks in front of my house but I could not do that with the KHR 15,000 (USD3.75) I had”, said Mrs. Chiev Lay.

Mrs. Chiev Lay wanted to borrow money from local moneylender but could not afford paying back as the interest charged was so high, at about 10% monthly. She could not think of any way to make her living with the left money. Fortunately, World Vision staff who were working in the area and her neighbors introduced VisionFund Cambodia to her. She attended the promotion program about VisionFund Cambodia loan products and then decided to take the first loan.

Her first loan of KHR 300,000 (USD75) was spent to purchase a frying pan, plate, chairs, and some other materials for her dreamed business.

“With the loan from VisionFund Cambodia, I could earn for the daily expenses in my house and send my children to school”, said Mrs. Chiev Lay with a tearing smile.

After paying back the first loan, Mrs. Chiev Lay continued to take a bigger loan. She is now in the fourth cycle of the loan. Her latest loan was KHR 1,500,000 (USD375), which was used to expand her business. She worked very hard as she wished a better future for her two sons. Everyday, she got up at about four o’clock in the morning to go to the local market to buy ingredients and uncooked foods for her business. She made local-made breakfast such as porridge and Cambodian noodle for the morning, and then she made some dissert and snacks such as papaya salad for the afternoon. From this business she could earn KHR 5,000 to KHR 10,000 (USD1.25 – USD 2.5) net profit a day. Mrs. Chiev Lay planned to expand her business to include cooked Chinese noodle, as there is no one in the areas making this yet. She is confident that she will succeed in this area of business.

“For my children, I do not mind being tired. I have to try my best to send them to school as I do not want them to live a difficult life as I did”, said Mrs. Chiev Lay. Both sons of hers are now in school. Piseth – the oldest and Pisa – the youngest are in grade three and two respectively. Mrs. Chiev Lay wanted her sons to continue to university so that they can find good jobs for their future.

Besides sending her both sons to school, Mrs. Chiev Lay has also used incomes from her business to improve her house.

“We now have a better house. Even it is raining, we are not afraid of getting wet anymore”, said Mrs. Chiev Lay happily. She also thanked both World Vision and VisionFund Cambodia who have given her a chance for a delighted future.