25 Kilometers from Preah Vihear Town to the east, lives 60 year old Ms Chou Thar with her husband and grandchild. Ms Thar owns a seasonal income with the 8 hectares of farmland she owns where she grows bananas and cassava. Her husband is a craftsman, bringing in a regular base income of approximately USD 375 a month.
With the need to support her 3 children overseas, as well as to build capital for farming, Ms Thar decided to borrow from AMK in 2007 after hearing about the low interest rate scheme from her neighbour.
Ms Thar’s success story not only comes from her successful repayment of her loans but how she has managed to overcome her financial challenges as an AMK client.
Her first loan request was for USD 50 and grew to USD 500 for her 7th to 12th request. Ms Thar paid off her 12th loan in September 2018. Through the loans, 2 of her children are now living and working in Japan and Korea. Her 4th loan specifically was requested to apply for her daughter’s passport, allowing her to travel to Korea. Ms Thar now receives USD 1500 from her daughter every month to build a new house.
In addition loans from AMK have allowed Ms Thar to purchase fertilizer and cultivate more bananas and cassava. On average, Ms Thar currently collects an annual USD 3000 from her harvest. With partners like AMK providing financial tools to secure credit and insure themselves, Leap is able to help strengthen livelihoods and provide solutions to issues that may otherwise hold back the development of the rural poor.