Reference :
V-P-KH-E-00390
Date :
17/09/2016
Caption :
Battambang, physical rehabilitation center. Ngov Chreb, a patient who benefited from the ICRC micro-economic initiatives (MEI) program when she decided to have a mobile tuk tuk coffee shop, is also a member of the Cambodian women wheelchair basketball team.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
Ngov Chreb and her husband would like to own a small restaurant in the future and work hard to make their dream come true.
Before joining the ICRC program, this woman has to live with 40 US dollard per month, but currently she earns 400-500 US dollars per month. This amount of money is for her monthly expenses, new coffee ingredients and saving for the future.
ICRC website article, 04.03.2016: “Cambodia: New livelihoods for people with disabilities. Ngov Chreb and Laim Sophara both suffered spinal injuries that changed their lives for ever. After years of suffering the effects of disability, they have both found new lives and livelihoods thanks to a project providing financial assistance to disabled people. Until an accident in 2003 damaged her spinal chord, Ngov Chreb ran a small business from her house which earned enough money to support the whole family. Her injury meant she could no longer work and all her savings were spent on treatment fees. Without a regular income, Ngov's family had to depend on her husband's meagre five dollars a day earned from casual construction work. A year after the accident, Ngov went to the ICRC-supported Regional Physical Rehabilitation Centre in Battambang where she was fitted with an orthotic that allowed her to walk again, albeit slowly, without the aid of walking frame. In 2012, after more than seven years of treatment at the centre, Ngov decided to take a risk and join the Cambodian Women's Wheelchair Basketball team. "I'm happy to have joined the basketball team and practice regularly. I've made new friends and can talk about the problems each of us has to face. More importantly, my health has become a lot better," she said.
A dream fulfilled. Ngov's life changed again for the better in December 2015 after hearing about the ICRC's micro-economic initiative (MEI) programme that helps people in need start their own business. She applied and won a grant which she used to set up a mobile coffee shop. Each day both she and her husband wake up at 4 a.m. to get the shop ready for customers by 7 a.m. "It's no bother waking up so early. What matters to me is that I can work again. It has long been our dream to have our own business," she said while riding on a scooter specially designed for people with disabilities. Ngov's business is doing well, selling up to 50 cups of coffee per day. "Some of my clients are even foreign tourists," she said with a smile. The family can now rent a proper house and send their ten-year-old daughter to primary school. Ngov's future plans include adding other kinds of drinks to the menus, such as fruit juices and soft drinks, to attract non-coffee-drinking customers. [...]"
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
5472x3648
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
