Trip to Kampong Cham Province

Job Training Project

Adventure in
Kampong Cham
1 September 2009

Scenes: Commerce

There are no Wal-Mart Supercenters in Kampong Cham Province and most people will seldom travel more than a mile or two beyond their villages. A trip to a provincial center with its markets and shops is looked forward to. The people don't travel to shop so the economy is built around small shops and mobile pedlars who bring to the people what they need for daily life.

This woman works from a shed built in front of her house. She sells fruit drinks made from the fresh fruits in her little cabinet and mixed with the ice in the cooler. Roadshop shop

This unfinished house has an unfinished little shop in front of it. The kids use the platform for playing but just in case someone needs some convenience items, there is some shampoo and other toiletries hanging from wires. Roadside shop with minimal stock

This little shop doesn't seem to have any stock unless there's something in the woven baskets on the counter. But even with nothing to sell, it's a good place for the village women to meet and catch up on the news. Gathering at a village shop

On isolated stretches of roads, there are occasional little stands set up like this one to sell fruits and vegetables or foods gathered from the forest. This girl sits waiting in the rain--although there's little traffic--probably because there's nothing better to do. Little stand on isloted section of road

The proprietor of this little fruit stand decided it wasn't worth the wait in the rain and headed into the house until conditions improved. Fruit stand abandoned in the rain

This woman was selling some sort of tuber that she gathered in the woods or grew on her home plot of land. Selling from a bicycle

This girl has loaded her bicycle with a variety of vegetables and was certainly not going to let the rain and mud keep her from selling what she could on this day. After all, rain or no, people still have to eat so someone has to sell the food to them! Selling fruits and vegetables

This man, selling khramas and pieces of cotton cloth from his bicycle, checks the front tire before heading to the next village cluster. Selling cloth items

This family has a small rice mill used for grinding the hulls off rice grains. A mill requires a fairly hefty investment of money, but the family will grind rice for their neighbors to recoup the money they've put into setting up the mill. A rice mill

This family engages in a more settled local business, making fish traps to be used in the Mekong River running 50 meters behind their house.

Go to Kampong Cham Trip page
Go to Projects page on DDP website
Go to Charlie Dittmeier's home page

This woman works from a shed built in front of her house. She sells fruit drinks made from the fresh fruits in her little cabinet and mixed with the ice in the cooler.
This unfinished house has an unfinished little shop in front of it. The kids use the platform for playing but just in case someone needs some convenience items, there is some shampoo and other toiletries hanging from wires.
This little shop doesn't seem to have any stock unless there's something in the woven baskets on the counter. But even with nothing to sell, it's a good place for the village women to meet and catch up on the news.
On isolated stretches of roads, there are occasional little stands set up like this one to sell fruits and vegetables or foods gathered from the forest. This girl sits waiting in the rain--although there's little traffic--probably because there's nothing better to do.
The proprietor of this little fruit stand decided it wasn't worth the wait in the rain and headed into the house until conditions improved.
This woman was selling some sort of tuber that she gathered in the woods or grew on her home plot of land.
This girl has loaded her bicycle with a variety of vegetables and was certainly not going to let the rain and mud keep her from selling what she could on this day. After all, rain or no, people still have to eat so someone has to sell the food to them!
This man, selling khramas and pieces of cotton cloth from his bicycle, checks the front tire before heading to the next village cluster.
This family has a small rice mill used for grinding the hulls off rice grains. A mill requires a fairly hefty investment of money, but the family will grind rice for their neighbors to recoup the money they've put into setting up the mill.
This family engages in a more settled local business, making fish traps to be used in the Mekong River running 50 meters behind their house.