Yen

Loan description:

Yen Nhao is 36 years old and married with six children. The eldest is 18 and the youngest is 6. The five younger children are attending a local school. They live in Prek Chdor village which is in Ek Phnom district in Battambang province. Yen has been a member of Ek Phnom Credit Union for over six years. Yen and her husband, Sor Dy, who is 38, are farmers. They own one hectare of rice paddy located around 10 kilometres from their home. It gives them a yield of around two tonnes which is kept for the family's own consumption. Rearing cows is another source of income for family. They have raised cows for around ten years and now they have three cows. During the rainy season, her husband also catches fish near their village. Sometimes he can catch about two or three kilograms which he then sells to villagers and he can earn from US$2.5 to US$3 a day. During the dry season, they also grow some vegetables for sale such as melons and Chinese green beans which they then sell in bulk to merchants. Yen has borrowed a loan, repayable over three months, in order to buy fertiliser as well as fish hooks (the photographs show her husband, Sor tying fish hooks).