This month Cufa is pleased to report that 14 village entrepreneurs supported by individual Community Investors in Australia, under Cufa’s Village Entrepreneur Program in Cambodia have reached sustainability with their businesses. Businesses ranging from pig, duck and chicken farmers to grocery sellers are now generating profits that enable them to run a viable business and help them change their circumstances for the better providing improvements to their house, affording education and health care for their children and being able to provide regular and better quality food for their families.

An example of the success of the Village Entrepreneur Program can be seen through Ratha Kung’s experience. Ratha is a 28-year-old Cambodian mother of two whose husband sadly passed way three years and now lives with her elderly parents. Ratha was a grocery seller earning around $4.50 a day as the family’s main income. In late December 2016, Ratha expressed the desire to participate in the Cufa program to help her develop the skills and knowledge to expand her grocery business to better support her family and give her children more opportunities in the future. Before the support of the Village Entrepreneur program, Ratha sold a small range of products. Today, she now sells a greater variety of products, and recently she has built a big new stall, and sells coffee and other drinks based on market demand. Ratha’s business income has been increasing over the past 3 years and she is now earning around US$ 823.20 a quarter. Ratha said that “I am happy that I now earn more money from my business and I have used the profits to pay for my family’s needs including building a sanitary toilet, making a vegetable garden to provide better quality food for us, constructing a fence around our house, purchasing stationery and new bikes for my children’s education.” Ratha added “it is with many thanks to the program and the support, that I am able to learn a lot of business skills and I am also happy to share this new knowledge and skills with other village entrepreneurs, and I am so proud now that my business now is built up well to support my family”.

Just like Ratha’s story, Cufa’s Village Entrepreneur program empowers rural villagers in Cambodia, who normally earn less than USD$2 a day, to build and manage a sustainable small business, usually within 3 years. The program encourages, people like yourselves to select a local villager from the profiles on our program website (www.ve.org.au) and commit support of $39 AUD a month. This support provides the training and education, monitoring, ongoing support and guidance from Cufa project officers, and financing that they need to establish, run and grow a profitable micro-business and contribute to the strengthening of their community’s micro-economy. They are also supported with a business plan and taught marketing skills along with financial skills like bookkeeping.

Many people from rural areas, for example, complement their existing skills and learn new techniques to become successful chicken, pig or vegetable farmers. Among other topics they learn about how to take care of their animals and vegetables, vaccination processes, and hygiene in their work areas. Other villagers choose to become tailors, hairdressers, bicycle repairers and many other occupations for which they receive specific training.

Through this program you can assist participants to be able to provide the essential services to their families such as healthcare, education for their children, sanitation, electricity and water; services that were not affordable for them before joining the program.

Support a village entrepreneur today, for only $39 a month you can make a positive impact that will be experienced for generations to come. Visit www.ve.org.au to find out more.