WaterSHED’s sanitation marketing network includes more than 160 enterprises in Cambodia. Here are profiles of some of the dedicated local business owners that help to make the program successful.
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CHEANG Pros – Kampong Cham provinceCheang Pros is a 30-year old sculptor-turned-toilet salesman with high hopes for his new toilet business. In his early 20s, Pros left his hometown in Svay Rieng and together with his brother set out in search of employment and opportunity in Kampong Cham province. Pros began learning the sculpting trade, pre-casting concrete sculptures of Buddhist deities to sell to local pagodas. After 2 years as an apprentice, Pros was able to start his own sculpture business in Kampong Siem district. It was not easy: Pros could…READ MORE… |
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CHAK Sok Pheng – Kampong Cham provincePerched under the sunroof of his shop on his sprawling property in Kampong Cham province, Chak Sok Pheng cuts an imposing figure. At just 24, he is one of Cheung Prey district’s largest wholesalers of construction materials and the owner of a giant roof tile factory and successful pig-raising enterprise. He speaks fluent English, which he learned while earning his Bachelor of Business in Singapore. He is young, motivated and very wealthy by local standards. But none of this stopped him from getting into a very unlikely…READ MORE… |
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LAY Hengheng – Kampong Cham provinceSince 1983, Lay Hengheng has owned and managed a construction material company on the main road in Prey Chhor district, Kampong Cham province. Over this time, she has seen it grow from a small road-side shop to one of the biggest wholesale and retail construction companies in the district. In addition to raw materials like sand, rock and cement, Heng estimates she was able to sell about 30 toilets per month to customers who came directly to her shop, but toilets were never part of her core…READ MORE… |
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GOV Seang Loy – Kampong Speu provinceAt over 50 years old and with 6 grown children, many Cambodian women Gov Seang Loy’s age would be thinking about retirement. But Seang Loy has always had big plans. For 10 years, she saved money from a small fish-selling business in Kampong Speu’s provincial capital, where average profits were 5 USD per day. A few years ago, using her house as collateral, she took a small loan from a microfinance institution to buy a plot of land in a good location on the national road outside the provincial town…READ MORE… |
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OM John – Kampong Speu provinceOm John has always been a risk-taker. In his mid-thirties, John has been variously the owner of a mid-sized rice milling plant, a motorcycle and car mechanic, a wholesale wood seller and most recently a pre-cast concrete manufacturer. Some businesses have had more success than others (John’s wood selling business went bust after 1 year), but all have involved a lot of hard work and willingness to take business risks. Om John moved to his current location in the remote reaches of Kampong Speu’s Phnom…READ MORE… |
