Siem Reap, KH – CWC family maximizes productivity of scooter and trailer loan – 17 Feb 2017

CWC received a loan for a scooter and trailer with the aim of starting a vegetable selling business. He has already expanded his business to: material and product transporting, a taxi service and emergency response for his community. The added mobility also helps the family by reducing the time it takes for his children to go to and from school, this giving them more time to study and for Mr. CWC to spend more time tending his productive garden and livestock.

CWC started by selling his own vegetables at the market. He then discovered that many families in his area would sell him vegetables for less than he could sell them at the market; so he started buying up vegetables from his neighbors and selling those as well. He then realized that many people in his community did not have adequate transport for goods and materials, so he started spreading the word that he and his scooter and trailer were for hire. Last month he was able to earn a net income of US$150 from vegetable selling and transporting goods for people in his community.

CWC is a member of the western equivalent of a neighborhood watch and has been giving rides to sick people in his community to the major hospitals in the Siem Reap City center. He requests that people reimburse him for his petrol cost but if they do not have the money, he does it anyway. Helping his community is important to him, so he has made himself available twenty four hours a day for people with emergencies.

So far the scooter has not had any mechanical problems but in anticipation of issues he has put aside some money for repairs. Sometimes, he buys too many vegetables and is unable to sell them at local markets and is forced to make the longer trip to the main city which is 1.5 hours from his house.

Mr. CWC dreams of saving enough money to buy another scooter and trailer so that he can expand his transporting business and hire his brother, CC. He would like CC to be able to earn additional income as well.