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An aunt and her two nephews are cleaning their shop,
which sells sweets and other small things. They are making a plan
to improve their business. Each of the three, demonstrates their vision
for the development of the shop. The aunt suggests to sell noodles
because now it’s harvest time, and villagers don’t have
time to cook themselves. The first nephew shows the others his idea
of making a rice shop during times of rice shortage. The second nephew
presents his idea of selling Lao whisky. The aunt and first nephew
play guests and share some whisky with the 'shop owner'. Then they
all agree that this is the best and most sustainable idea, so all
of them celebrate by drinking more whisky and singing songs, until
they all fall asleep at the table. |
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It’s early morning, and a woman cooks breakfast,
feeds her animals and has breakfast together with her husband. The
husband discusses pig rearing with his wife. Now the family only has
one female pig and he would like to buy a male one, so they can start
breeding. His wife argues that they don’t have enough money
to buy another pig, her husband suggests borrowing the necessary money
from relatives. |
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A brother and sister are walking in the rain past
the sweet shop and see the empty whisky bottles and ask the aunt
and her nephews, what they are celebrating. The family continues
sleeping. The sister and brother are cold and wet and decide to
drop in on their relatives, the couple from scene 2.
They warm themselves by the fire. Their relative agrees to let them
stay for a few days because the brother and sister lost the roof
of their house in a monsoon storm.
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The village chief, the Nai Ban, calls everyone to
come to a meeting. Staff from a development project have arrived in
the village. The Naiban tells villagers that the project has the idea
to support this village in setting up their own bank. Project staff
explain how the banking system could work and ask what the people
think about the idea.
This idea of a village bank in which people could invest collectively
and borrow money which they would pay back with interest, is new for
the villagers. Some people don’t like the idea and say that
their old way of saving by putting money in the jar and bury it in
secret place. The project staff explain that the money doesn’t
grow that way, whereas if they put money in a community bank that
it would earn interest and grow by the end of the year.
The nephews are interested if they can borrow money to invest in developing
their shop, while the couple who want to start rearing animals ask
if they can spend the money on a pig. They are happy to hear that
they can spend the money on whatever they want. The brother and sister
are worried that they will not be able to pay the loan back and the
interest as they are poor and need the money to repair the roof, which
won’t generate any income for their family. The brothers echo
their worry and ask what will happen if someone who has borrowed money
cannot pay it and the interest back at the end of the year. The project
staff reassures them that the village will decide what to do in each
individual case. The village can decide to allow people to pay back
their loan or interest later, if they have for example had a poor
harvest.
The villagers agree to try it, especially as no one is obligated to
borrow money. They select 1 accountant and 2 members to form a village
bank committee. |
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After 3 months, there is another village bank meeting,
the project contribute 100,000 Kip to each village bank family member’s
account. The members also get their own bank account and savings books
this time and if anyone want to borrow, they have to make a request
signed by Nai Ban.
Now villagers carry out the activities they have planned before. The
couple raises pigs and the aunt and nephews buy a lot of lao whisky
for their shop. The brother and sister build a new house with the
help of all their friends and neighbours. For this festive occasion
they buy whisky from the new village whisky shop and celebrate by
singing and dancing together. |
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After 6 months, there is another meeting with the
village bank committee. This time people come to save and pay interest
of loan to the bank. The brother and sister don’t have enough
money to pay interest, so the committee discuss with villagers and
decide they can pay it back after the next harvest.
The village bank committee announces the bank credit standing, the
granting of new loan applications and the Nai Ban closes the meeting. |
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