It Costs $5000 To Marry Your Daughter?!?!
17 December 2008 at 05:55 Sanjaya P 5 comments
In Cambodia there is a popular song called Tov Dondung Kon Key by Khemarak Sereymon. The song is VERY catchy and we hear it EVERYWHERE. The best part of the song is the story. It’s about a guy who has this crush on a girl who he meets at the market. When he goes with his mother to meet the girl’s parents so that he can ask them to marry her, the girl’s family asks for $5000 as a dowry. Unfortunately, even if he sold his rice field and cows he would not have enough money, so he sings about his agony.
Here’s a question for you Kiva lenders, if he asked for a loan would you support him?
I used the song to make a video of our recent visit to Takeo Province:
This was my first overnight trip and it was amazing. We went into areas that were much more remote than I had ever been. On our second day, we had to walk a kilometer just to reach the Village Bank meeting. It’s also harvest time so we saw many farmers and farm workers harvesting the rice.
The best moment of the trip was when Kieran asked one of the borrowers what they would do if they couldn’t get a loan from AMK. We then asked the same question to the other clients we met. Many of them said they would turn to private lenders who charged 10-20% interest a month (compared to the 3% a month AMK charges). Cambodia has 18 microfinance institutions, but AMK goes into the most remote areas where other MFIs don’t go because of the costs involved to service these borrowers. For many borrowers, if AMK didn’t go out there they would either turn to loan sharks or they would not borrow the money necessary to improve their lives. AMK chooses to serve these clients because of their mission:
“To help large numbers of poor in Cambodia to improve their livelihood options through the sustainable delivery of appropriate and viable microfinance services”
If you think AMK is doing great things you should definetely check out their loans that are currently fundraising on Kiva. Also if you think AMK is awesome as much as Kieran and I do, you should join the AMK Fan Club!
Entry filed under: Angkor Microfinance Kampuchea (AMK), Cambodia, East Asia & the Pacific (EAP), KF5 (Kiva Fellows 5th Class). Tags: .
1. John Robbins | 18 December 2008 at 10:18
If AMK approved him, I guess I would (assuming the girl is willing). I’ve funded loans to people who want to upgrade their homes, why not to those who want to create a family?
Thanks for the pictures and video.
2. milena08 | 18 December 2008 at 01:31
Awesome post, pictures, and video. I think I would lend to a borrower if I was funding love. Wouldn’t expect to get paid back, though..
~Milena (KF6, Bosnia)
3. miss j | 17 December 2008 at 22:44
i miss cambodia. i’m sitting in a bar faux-cambodian dancing to this while looking at it on my laptop.
love love love
4. Jinja | 17 December 2008 at 19:02
About $2000 – $5000, that’s right. A number of my friends do a stint as a ‘pagoda boy’ in Phnom Penh: studying in the evening, working during the day. (Sleeping god knows when.) With free accommodation and a job, they can save the dosh so that when they finish college, they have a nest egg to afford to get married.
In older times the prospective son in law might work for the family for two years to provide his labor in exchange for the bride’s hand in marriage.
When I told one friend about how Indian custom provides dowries, he was pretty game to move there.
5. Joe Lane | 17 December 2008 at 07:46
Wow! $5,000? I’ve read that similar scenarios require trading the daughter for a cow! I would lend the money (if I had it). Makes me thankful we have enough to support our 5 children.