“No interest is charged and mine accidents are prevented.”
Chhork Roka is a very small village just 100 meters off the main road that leads from Samloat district to the Thai border. The half-destroyed wooden bridge and narrow gravel path that run through the village are clearly marked with red “danger” signs. Most people in the village are migrants who arrived six or seven years ago, mainly from Pursat province. The village sprang to life about a month ago when 17 mine-clearance operators came to perform their tasks.

The family of Reo Chhan, 45 years old, is one of 40 in the village. Reo is a former soldier. His right foot was amputated in 1985 after he stepped on an anti-personnel mine.

“I am still entitled to 90,000 riels ($22) in compensation from the army every month, but it always arrives late. I have not received any money from them for the last four months. We are farmers, but the small piece of land we have never yielded enough food. So I started collecting scrap metal from a camp once used by the Vietnamese in order to sell it to scrap dealers. My wife was afraid for me but there was no alternative. It was only after we received a loan from the Cambodian Red Cross that I stopped searching for scrap metal.”

Reo used the loan to buy raw materials and tools for making mats. “We chose this activity because we had some previous experience. We can produce four small mats a day and sell them for $1 each. But if we (my wife and I) work together we can finish a big mat in three days that we can sell immediately to a middleman for $15.”

Reo and his family have already repaid $150 of the $200 they were lent. “We plan to buy a buffalo next year because we can rent it to other people. The loan project is a success because no interest is charged and it prevents mine accidents.”