Battambang, KH – SYP’s large family halves food bill – 8 May 2015

SYP, his wife, four children, four nieces and nephews, and his parents all live together in a rural village outside of Battambang, Cambodia. Feeding twelve mouths is no easy task, but with the help of his organic vegetable garden, he has been able to cut his food bill in half.

Last year, SYP went to Thailand where he looked for work to support his large family. Unfortunately, the work he found paid him very little and often would not pay him at all. Feeling defeated, he returned home to Battambang where he found work cutting firewood and growing rice on a small plot of land. These small jobs earned him little income and were not enough to pay for school fees for his four school aged children.

One day, he noticed that his neighbor had built a productive vegetable garden on land that normally lay fallow. When he enquired about it, he was told to contact Salee Oum from the Happy Life Garden Shop. He called Salee and learned about the garden shop’s organic vegetable garden program. Feeling excited, SYP applied and was approved for a garden the next week.

After three weeks, his garden exploded with healthy green vegetables and he was already eating and selling morning glory almost every day. SYP said that the garden has helped him cut his food bill in half.

He has now maintained a garden for six months and has applied and been approved for a pig fattening micro loan. He hopes that this loan will be the beginning of a profitable small business for him and his family.

He dreams of being able to improve his family’s lives with better income and a more secure home.