Chhorn and his wife – via Kiva
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Chhorn and his wife live in Cambodia with their two little kidlets. They run their own home-based business, making clothing, which earns them around $5 a day. Their kids are not yet school age, so they are juggling the care of their kids and their business, under pretty difficult economic circumstances. The current Global Financial Crisis has meant even tougher times for their family.
Chhorn has registered with Kiva for a business loan so that he can buy quality fabric and supplies to make high quality garments. He reckons that improving the quality of his product will improve the family’s income and circumstances and I think he’s right.
What the heck is Kiva? Kiva is a non-profit person-to-person micro lending site which provides funds to unique entrepreneurs around the world. Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending : to alleviate poverty and empower skilled, hard working people.
You can register with Kiva and contribute a small amount to Chhorn’s business loan. Kiva’s website will help you track your loan (and also the loan repayments), as well as keep you up to date on Chhorn and his family’s progress. So far 10% of the loan amount has been raised – and there are 29 days to go. We’ve contributed to Chhorn’s loan – and we’ll do so again towards the end of the month. I know how hard it is to run a business and work together as a couple – I can’t imagine how hard it would be with toddlers to care for and very little financial reward. I think it’s really important to support people that are working hard and doing good stuff to support their family.
Register with Kiva here
Make a business loan to Chhorn here
Find other Kiva businesses to support here
(Kiva accepts Paypal and credit card payments)
Thanks to our sponsors for helping make this possible. AND thanks to you for reading!! Maybe you could help Chhorn and his family too? It’s a one-off loan – which will be repaid – and there is no commitment to provide continued support (although you might like to!) I think it’s important to do something for the community on a weekly basis. I reckon this internetty community is most certainly a global one, so let’s try and support someone else on our lovely globe when we can!
xx Pip
“Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life” – Dalai Lama