Reaping What You Sow

Rit Rey’s family is a family who works very hard. Rit Rey, 34 years old, and her husband, 36 years old, have 3 children. The grandmother lives with them. Both Rit Rey and her husband are farmers and have been identified ID poor 1 by the government (poorest of the poor). Although they are having difficulties in making ends meet, they still make sure that their children go to school regularly.

Her family was provided latrine with the help of Habitat Cambodia and Habitat Australia, funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Australian government. And because Habitat saw the couple’s commitment to earning money to support their children’s studies despite their challenges, a micro-grant was provided to the family.

With the micro-grant, Rit Rey’s family is able to buy 15 chickens. She and her husband attended lessons on chicken raising, and now they have 50 chickens. In the future, she can sell some of the chickens and earn about $150 more. She said with a smile that “I am happy so much when Habitat for Humanity Cambodia provided micro-grant to me, it made me have one more small business at home.”

Apart from this, Rit Rey is so active that on her free time, she goes to cut straw of rice to grow mushrooms. She said “Before I never think about small business but now I start to think and start to do it too. Although this business is small, it can be big in the future.” She is expected to earn $250 more two months after growing mushrooms. She is also willing to share her experience with other beneficiaries who want to grow mushrooms to earn more income for their own families.

Finally, she said that “I and my family thank Habitat for providing latrine micro-grant to our family. I wish your organization will continue to help vulnerable in Cambodia to help them have a good life.