Village Fund: Overview

A Village Fund is a fairly new concept in Cambodia and has been implemented in other villages in the country with success.

Trailblazer Foundation believes this type of management gives the recipients pride and ownership of their project and allows them to build a future beyond subsistence farming without losing their culture.

A central Village Fund gives residents of a village an opportunity to save money as individuals and start a loan program which will provide capital development funds that build equity and sustain projects. Repayment of private loans is made to the Village Fund and used to establish finance capital whereby money can be loaned to other villagers at the discretion of the Bank Committee at a low interest rate.

After two years, Village Funds are growing in five villages. Enough money has developed so that 30 families were able to borrow funds at a 2% interest rate. Village funds are being used to purchase rice, grocery shop supplies, medical help, and livestock. Families are now raised above the World Bank poverty line definition of "very poor" because they own livestock. This is a wonderful example of economic growth.

These monies come solely from village-based contributions: repayments of a small business set-up, and the $2.65 per water filter fee and $3 or $5 per well fee charged to the villager for agreeing to acquire a donated water filter or well. There is no international money contributed to these village funds.