Battambang, KH – Garden shop helps SYP family pay for medicine – 22 Jan 2016

The SYP family are hardworking, but have recently come upon hard times. Poor rice yields, livestock disease, and illness has forced them to sell the pigs they bought with their micro-loan earlier than expected in order to pay for medicine and school fees for their children.

The rice yields were impacted in late 2015, when the fields in Ek Phnom district of Battambang were infested by thousands of rats.  This had a devastating effect on the rice growing and yields for many families, including the SYP family. They were able to salvage only one 50kg sack of rice when they normally produce approximately six 50kg sacks. This has severely impacted their earnings and food supply.

The family’s challenges multiplied when Blue Ear Swine disease swept across Cambodia devastating pig production and the price of pork. Seeing an opportunity, unscrupulous pork buyers traveled around the countryside scaring local pig farmers into selling their pigs to them for far below market price. One of SYP’s children came down with typhoid at the time and required antibiotics, so the offer of US$140 for both of his pigs (US$140 below the normal price) sounded tempting. SYP consulted the manager of the Healthy Life Garden Shop, Salee Oum, because he still owed money on the pigs and didn’t know what to do. The need for cash to pay for the antibiotics and other necessities had become urgent, so Salee offered to buy the almost full grown pigs back from SYP for the price of the loan (US$177.13) plus US$40 profit. SYP accepted the generous offer and was able to pay for the medicine and some of the school fees. The Happy Life Garden Shop has the capacity to take care of the pigs until the price of pork goes up, which is predicted to be in the middle of February when people celebrate Chinese New Year.

These challenges have done little to dent the resolve of the SYP family.  They continue to maintain a productive garden and are looking forward to participating in another of the Healthy Life Garden Shop’s income generating programs in the near future.