BATDAMBANG
- Aek
Phnom District
-
Battambang District
-
Sang Kae District
Mr.
Hum Seath
Prey
Chdau Village
Age – middle aged
The
initial part of the interview was conducted with Seath,
but the latter part includes the story of the daughter who
was sitting nearby.
She
had 7 children but 3 of them died, and is now left with
1 son and 3 daughters. Her husband left her and has a stepwife
in the village. Her son-in-law has left to go and live with
his parents as he cannot afford medical treatment for his
liver problem which resulted from his drinking she said.
Her daughter lives with her and suffers from kidney problems.
Every
day she cuts morning glory with her daughter for food and
pig food. She can sell it at the town market if it is very
good, but the town is very far away.
When
she first moved here in 1979, she had 4/6 of a hectare,
and she sold it to pay for the children’s medicine.
She bought 1 hectare of land for 60 chi of gold 2 years
ago. She earned the money by selling rice from the piece
of land that she sold to pay for the medical treatment.
She bought the new field from an owner who was short of
money. From her 1 hectare she only got 1 sack ( 100 kg)
of rice this year. The cost of inputs to the field were
60,000 riel for ploughing, 2 sacks of seeds to plant and
she did not use pesticide or fertilizer because it was too
expensive. For 1 day of labour on the field it costs around
3000 or 4000 riel.
One
of her daughters works as a maid and she is paid around
60,000 riel per month. Her son went to work as a guard for
the fishing lot, but there was a lot of conflict there,
and recently they erected a high voltage electric fence,
and he was scared to see people die on it, so he returned
home. Her youngest daughter has brain damage from when she
was a child, whilst her mother was out collecting morning
glory she caught a fever and by the time her mother returned
it was too late.
The
daughter with kidney problems has over 1,000,000 riel of
debt because of her illness and the illness of her husband.
They both borrowed 200,000 riel from AS at an interest rate
of 10% per month. They had taken out loans before with AS
and tried to sell her land to pay. AS did not force her
to pay and they cancelled the interest. She has sold one
of her boats for 3000 baht and 1 plot of land for 4000 baht
to try to pay the debt. She has two children who live with
her husband in the parents’-in-law place. They have
nothing left.
Her
husband ( of the daughter) is a fisherman who used to go
to Kompong Sam to help the Vietnamese to sell the food.
She
said she also owes money to the nurse ( who had come and
joined in the conversation). She said she borrowed some
money from her sister-in-law, 6,000 baht, but did not have
to pay any interest.
The
mother earns an income of 3,000 to 4,000 riel per day. She
says that life is harder than before because it is more
difficult to grow rice, and she cannot stop work for a day
otherwise she will have nothing to eat. She collects morning
glory the whole year round, in the wet season close to the
village, in the dry season she has to go far away, sometimes
further than the distance to Battambang.
She
collects morning glory from 5 in the morning until 6 in
the evening. Today ( the day of the interview) she said
that we were lucky to catch her because she was borrowing
rice from someone in the village. This year she hasn’t
farmed rice and rents her field for which she received 1
sack of rice but had to pay it to the people she had borrowed
rice from. She said that she collects enough to survive
, but if there is a problem with the bicycle or something,
she would not have enough money to pay for it nor would
she be able to get money on credit.
There
is no interest on the rice that she borrows because she
borrows the rice from her brother-in-law. She also borrows
money from relatives or others who do not charge interest
on their loans. She owes 50kg of rice to her relatives but
they do not ask her to pay it back because she has nothing.
Last
year she suffered from a temporary paralysis but did not
go to the hospital, instead she went to the kru khmer, which
cost about 3000 baht. She sold her son’s moto to get
the money and gold.
She
does not raise animals because she does not have enough
money to buy feed nor the animals.
Her
husband left when her daughter was young, about 10 years
ago. Since then he has had 2 more stepwives and 7 more children.
He also drinks a lot. He is only a farmer. Seath is illiterate
and her eldest daughter dropped out of school when her father
left. Two of her other children stopped as well once her
husband left.
She
has not borrowed money from the money lender because she
is too poor and the interest rate is too high ( 10-15% per
month). She owes 200,000 riel to AS at an interest rate
of 4% a month. She borrowed the money on the behalf of an
elderly couple in the village, who fell ill and could not
borrow the money for themselves. Unfortunately the died
before they could pay back the loan and now she has to pay.
They have no idea how they can pay the money back, all they
can do is collect morning glory and try to sell that. She
said people at the end of the village are in a similar situation.
Mr.
Gnuon
Ta
Kum Village
In
the Ta Kom village Peam Aek commune. to have a family to
live there 32years ago , the husband name Gnuon Veouk he
has 36 years .
There
are 7 members in his family 2boys and 5 girls, his older
son has age 10 year a go he learn gate 1 and his youngest
child has 3 years, his children go to study 3 and don’t
to study 2, he live has been here 1979 (Because it is his
home town).
He
has the farmland 1,5 hectare, the personal farmland 1hecta
and buy 0,5hecta , in the year 2002 he make the rice 15sack
few years a go he often to borrowed the money by the organization
20000Riel until 50000Riel with the interest only 40% in
a month , Now he return already.
He
say that this program that the origination to me maybe 4
years, beside to work the make rice he make to sow mushrooms
sell, so that he can sold the 1kg is price 2000Riel to 3000Riel,
and he gate the haulm by the owner farm but to depend the
year , if the year have a good rice and have a lot of haulm
so that to take it.
If
to make lot of haulm he take it to sold at market or to
have a salesman to take it at his home, the way to make
mushrooms to know some one to some one , no the some body
to teach it , in to make the mushrooms is to pay the owner
money 20000Riel to 30000Riel not to borrow some body .
He say that “ if I want to borrow the money from the
organization I can go to borrow, without to make the group
and to put the anything think to pawn. And before to have
a lot of people in debt of organization, I don’t hear
the organization to confiscate the land , so that the people
haven’t got the money to return of organization ,
the organization to give the chance for they’re to
reduce the money step by step .
The
organization to exchange cow and 1calf and after they’re
pull back cow, Now I less 2cows to used to easy to do farm.
To have a lot of moneylenders in the village maybe 5to 6
families, before to haven’t the organization they’re
gate interest 1500Riel if the people to borrow the money
10000Riel but the later is 10% in the month, when to have
the organization to be payable ,
To
have the people to borrow a lot of money by the money leaders,
if to has some one haven’t got the money to return
the moneylender confiscate anything , the anything is price
equal the money is debt. When the rain season they’re
go to pick of water convolvulus and condition fish to sale
( To easy to live than hot season )
The
later day to have a lot of families, maybe 10 families to
suffer by the moneylender is confiscate lend farm , and
the organization to pay back they’re families and
these families to return back to them .
This
another point to have a lot of investment and his job to
do rice is not good so his have got a money to return his
lose farm .
In
his family used to gate the boat form organization to equal
the price is 100$ and he pay capacity litter by litter is
pay back every days, but he have got the money to pay back
since 2000.
Mr.
& Mrs.Hain
Paoy
Yung Village
Age – 34 and 38
There
are 7 members in the family. She has five children, 3 girls
and 2 boys, the eldest is 15. 3 children go to school and
the other 2 are too young. The main income is from agriculture
and fishing. They fish only to feed the family rather then
to sell. Also they earn an income from growing koor that
they sell at the village.
The
seeds for the koor trees cost 100,000 and they were bought
on credit. The interest from the loan was about 30,000 to
40,000 riel. The capital for the fruit she borrowed from
a money lender in the village which was about 1000 baht.
The interest rate was about 7% per month. When she cannot
pay back the money, the interest is moved to the next month.
They sell the fruit at the market for 1,800 riel per kg.
They
don’t have any work when they don’t sell the
fruit and they don’t know what else to do. This year
they had the flood and before that they had a drought. They
have no land of their own to grow rice but they rent land
in order to grow rice. The landowner rents the land and
gets 600kg per hectare after harvesting. When the harvest
isn’t good the rent isn’t collected.
They
were not given any land because they were married in 1987,
and the Vietnamese only allocated land in the period between
1980-85. They said that they are very poor because they
do not have any land.
When
a family member gets sick they take them to the doctor.
Their daughter caught dengue fever but had no money to pay
so they sold rice and other things to pay for the treatment.
At the district hospital they charged 30,000 riel to treat
her. The local doctor charges 300 to 400 baht per consultation
and for medicine.
There
are a few NGOs in the village, TPO that deals with mental
health problems, and an agricultural organization that is
fairly new. The new agricultural organization gives chickens
or pigs to people to raise, and gave them 4 chickens and
a rooster. When the chickens are born, they will give 5
back to the organization. The other activity is a credit
programme, that loans US$25 and charges 2,000 riel per month.
The
life conditions are different now. In the past things were
bad because of the wars, the people did not go far from
the village because they were scared of the Khmer Rouge,
but now they are able to leave the village to find work.
Before they had no work but now she has a small business,
she is able to sell fruit at the market or plant rice.
The
family sells labour for rice harvesting and they earn 180
baht for labour, harvesting 40 m2. They get paid 100 000
riel to harvest 1 hectare. ? ( bad notes)
Now
the family still owes to the money lender 2000 baht. He
said he was going to send the children to Siem Reap to be
vaccinated as part of a free programme. The travel will
cost 100,000 riel, interest of 10,000 baht per month. He
will owe more than 300,000 riel in total. When he owes money
he doesn’t sleep well and he is getting sick because
of it.
Life
conditions are very bad, he may try to go to Thailand to
earn money as a construction worker, to farm or to harvest.
Now because the Khmers and Thais have problems, many people
have to come back and have nothing to do.
They
don’t raise pigs because the feed is too expensive
now. They used to in the past but now they don’t have
the money. One pig costs about 800-1000 baht.
For
water they pay 500 riel for one jar of water. They spend
500 riel a day for water, only used for drinking. They plant
some vegetables in the wet season, but cannot in the dry
because there is no water.
Every
day they use 3kg of rice and the vegetables they get from
the garden or from another place which costs 400 riel per
day.
In
the rainy season she got sick and her arms and legs lost
feeling. They need more during the wet season especially
when they get sick. They don’t pay for school, but
they pay 300 riel per day for after school education, for
three children. They don’t pay any money for the secondary
education.
Mrs. PICH
In
O Sralau Village
Her
name is PICH and 24 years old, her husband is 26 years old.
She has two sons and daughter. She lives in Oh Sralao village,
Oh Tamim commune, Sangker district, Battambang province.
She
has 2ha of farmland, this year that she college the rice
produce is not enough to eat (25sack of rice) because of
no water, If the rice produce that she get 30sack it’s
enough.
In
the rice season her husband plough with their cows, they
only rent for harvesting, one person 4000R/day and If the
all other villager need to harvests, the rental is expensive
5000R/day, Total in the yield she spent money among 1000-2000B.
She use 3-4 sack of fertilizer, 1sack=380B-480B and pesticide
but still not good produce in last 2-3 years. For the fertilizer,
If she buy on credit is 500B-600B/sack, but if pay 4000B/sack.
When she finished rice season, her husband make plant like
corn, mango and some vegetable to sale. These produce that
she collage, she take to sale at Oh Sralao railway station.
In the yield she can get money from 5 mango palm nearly
1000B.
The
main job in her family is farming, the other way her husband
go to the forest for fine firewood to sale. He always went
with team villager and stayed in there one night. He can
sold one of ox card of firewood is 12000R.
About
the water, If in channel have the water all the villagers
can use, but if no water, everyone in village must be bought
the water from the rich in the village that they dig the
well in the channel for divide the water to villager, the
well owner use machine for water pump to sale and they calculate
depend on petrol, when someone need water must pay 1h=5000R
to the owner.
Village’s
chief has announcement to villager about channel’s
repair and water pump in to the channel, the villager must
pay 3000R/family, but few time ago it’s quiet, the
money that she paid not result.
Her
idea about the cost of basic need in family is expensive
than before, and she never had debt, she afraid can’t
pay the money to the owner because she doesn’t know
how to work for repay debt.
