A central Village Fund gives residents of a village an opportunity to save money as individuals and start a loan program for small businesses. These loans provide capital development funds that build equity and sustain projects.

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.

Repayment of private loans is made to the Village Fund and used to establish finances whereby money can be loaned to villagers at the discretion of the Bank Committee at a low interest rate.

After two years, the Sras Village Fund had received enough monies that 12 families were able to borrow $50 at 2% interest to purchase a pig for their family. This is a wonderful example of economic growth.

Those families are now raised above the World Bank poverty line definition of "very poor" because they own livestock. These monies came solely from village-based contributions: repayments of small business set-up, and the $2 per water filter fee and $5 per well fee charged to the villager for agreeing to acquire a filter or well.