
Benedikt Ernst, M.Sc. student at HHL - Leipzig Graduate School of Management
My name is Benedikt, I am 25 years old and currently doing my M.Sc. at HHL – Leipzig Graduate School of Management.
I did my bachelor studies at the University of Maastricht and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. After that I took a year off to do internships, travel and learn Spanish. I am highly interested in sports, travelling and meeting new people. Â
This summer I decided to do a pro bono (unpaid) internship at Angkor Microfinance Kampuchea (AMK) (www.amkcambodia.com). AMK provides micro credits to the poorest people of Cambodia so that they can get an opportunity to help themselves. I am supported by the Thomas und Ulla Kolbeck Foundation, which is specialized on the topic of global responsibility.
Throughout this blog post I like to give you insights into working for a Microfinance Institution (MFI) and what life in Cambodia is like. Â
Helping the poor - A Microfinance Experience in Cambodia
This summer holidays I decided to do something completely different. Instead of writing my master thesis or doing a regular internship in Germany I felt like doing something in the social field. After some extensive research I discovered many different options. However, due to my business education background I found out that my choices are limited. After all I am not a doctor nor a teacher nor a craftsman.Â
During a former internship I learnt about the concept of microfinance. Microfinance institutions give very small loans (50 - 75 USD) to the poorest people, which otherwise would not have access to any kind of loans. By receiving this money the poor people can become active and start helping themselves instead of being dependent of foreign charity organizations. This concept has proven quite successful and the inventor of the microcredit idea Muhammad Yunus was awarded with the Nobel peace prize in 2006.
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Inspired by the idea of microcredit I found out about a Cambodian Microfinance Institute. Because of a backpacking trip two years ago I knew about the poverty and post war challenges of Cambodia, so I decided that this is what I would like to do. After a very lean application process I received the confirmation by the bank. I booked my flight and was ready to go to Cambodia helping the poor with microcredit. Â
Arriving in Phnom PenhÂ
After twenty hours of travelling and two flights I finally arrived in Phnom Pen, the capital of Cambodia. I was quite exhausted but also happy to finally be there.
In order to enter the country each foreigner has to get a visa. This can be bought at the airport for 25 USD. Even though Cambodia has its own currency, basically everything is paid for in USD. In the arrival hall taxi und “tuk tuk” driver (motorbikes with trailer) spot me as an easy prey to gain some quick money. Luckily my boss briefed me on the prices, so I was able to bargain for a good deal. By the way: good bargaining skills are essential in Cambodia!
My boss’ secretary arranged a room in a guesthouse close to the office for me (see picture). It was basic, but nice and clean and has a hot shower which is exactly what I needed after this long journey. On my way to the guesthouse I slowly began to realize that I finally arrived in Phnom Penh. The weather was hot and humid, the streets were somewhat dusty and dirty, traffic was crazy.
Because it was still morning I decided to head to the office to meet my new colleagues and introduce myself. Everybody seemed to be nice and very friendly. I learned that out of 70 employed in the head office in Phnom Penh, only six were westerners. So this will give me plenty of opportunity to meet local people and get a non-tourist view of the country.
My boss’ secretary gave me an office tour and introduces me to the staff. Luckily almost everybody spoke English; however I quickly gave up on trying memorizing all the foreign sounding names on my first day. But there was plenty of time for me to catch up with that. Â
Moving the office “Cambodian Style”
Before my actual work was about to start, I found out that the main office of the microfinance bank would be moved to a bigger location at the other side of Phnom Penh. Instead of the regular work routine, people were busy finishing up their work and packing their stuff. Moving an office“Cambodian Style” is an interesting experience.

From a German point of view it might look rather chaotic, because everything is basically loaded on trucks in a rather unstructured way and then transported (see picture). However everything worked out fine and all items found their way into the right places again. This was especially due to the bank staff’s great willingness to help.
On Monday morning the new office was officially opened. The opening party was slightly different from what I expected. At 3 p.m. in the afternoon all the colleagues gathered downstairs in the lobby and kneeled down on blankets which were spread out all over the floor. Shortly after that, three monks entered. They held a prayer for over one hour and constantly threw small amounts of water and flowers at us. My other foreign colleagues and I had a hard time to sit still, in contrary to the Khmer who can sit cross-legged for hours without any problems. The purpose of this ceremony is to bring the company and employees good luck for the future. Afterwards everybody got together to have a chat, eat Cambodian candy and have some soft drinks.   Â
A visit to the rural villages of Kompong Cham
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In order to get to know better the AMK (Angkor Microfinance Kompuchea, a licensed Microfinance Institution in Cambodia) and understand how the concept of Micro Finance really works in practice, I decided to join my colleagues for a field trip to Kompong Cham to visit the rural villages of Cambodia. Our trip started at 6:30 o’clock in the morning. Even though Kompong Cham is only 120 kilometers away from Phnom Penh it still took us more than two and a half hours to get there. The condition of the road was rough and there was a lot of traffic, mostly trucks and motorbikes.
After a bumpy ride we finally arrived in the little town Kompong Cham. It only consisted of a street crossing, a hotel, a few restaurants and some offices. From this “home base” we did daily trips to the surrounding rural villages. Luckily we had a four wheel drive car, because some of the villages were quite remote and could not be reached with normal cars.
In order to get started we met up with the Area Manager of the AMK’s local branch. He was eager to help us, however due to language difficulties we needed to use a interpreter. This mad meetings extremely long. After explaining the purpose of our visit he arranged some field visits for us for the next couple of days.  Â
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 In the villages we meet with different clients of AMK. People are extremely friendly and always invite us into their houses. These are usually small, wooden buildings and are elevated on stilts. Before entering a Khmer house it is polite to take off your shoes and leave them outside. The house is just one room. In one corner is a small open kitchen and, depending on the wealth of the family, they may even have a TV. Through our translator we learn about their lives and the circumstances of their loan. Most of the clients are poor farmers, who need working capital to purchase inputs for their agricultural activities (e.g. to cultivate rice, raise livestock). Even though we discuss their financial matters with them, it is absolutely not uncommon that some neighbors would join us and actively discuss with us as well. Many AMK loans are given to client groups of four or five people, which monitor and mutually insure each other in case of repayment problems. It can be noticed that a large portion of our customers are women. After a long but very interesting day we return to the hotel.
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