Mr. Phon Choem, a 43 secretary of the savings group at Khnar Krao village, Kantuot commune, Svay Leu district, Siem Reap province. His savings group is called Khnar Krao Community Hope.
He said, “In the past, there were no savings groups in the community. Most villagers borrowed money from microfinance and private loans with high interest rates. The loans were very difficult because they required collateral, many documents, and took a long time to get the money.
After the promotion of the savings group by FH staff, the villagers were interested and joined the savings group. The savings group was established in 2017 by FH Cambodia and received support from many training courses to strengthen the savings group.
With the support of FH, the savings group currently has 102 members with a total group capital of 248,111,500 riel. The group has a large number of members and capital, which makes all the members afraid that the savings group will face problems with microfinance institutions and private lending institutions because the capital in the savings group needs to be recognized by the Ministry of Rural Development. All the members of the group feel bad and think that the savings are not safe.
Recognizing the concerns of the savings group, FH Cambodia coordinated the savings group to register with the Ministry of Development and received a certificate that allows the savings group to be legally operated. I am very happy and feel safe because the savings group is recognized by the department, local authorities and district level. After registering with the Department of Rural Development, my group received monitoring, training lessons from the department and strengthening the savings group. All group members and the savings group committee are stronger: regular savings, respect for group rules and respect for roles. Most group members repay loans on time and increase their shares through monthly savings.
As the secretary of the savings group, I am committed to working hard to cooperate and report to the Department of Rural Development regularly and strive to strengthen the group to make it stronger, which makes the group members confident. All members of the group and I want to thank FH for supporting our savings group. I signed up with the Department of Rural Development before the project ended in the Svay Leu district by the organization. The group and I are committed to keeping our savings, enhancing our communication with the department, and providing timely reports to them.”