by Leng Thy
Recently, Cambodia has experienced the worst flooding in over a decade due to typhoons and a greater than average rainfall. The Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers are overflowing and 17 of 24 provinces are affected by severe flooding especially those by major river courses. According to government reports, many areas have been submerged in floodwaters which have affected thousands of hectares of rice paddies. More than one million people are affected and at least 100,000 people displaced. The floods have destroyed road networks, dams, and other public utilities.
The catastrophe seems to be so powerful. It can damage everything, but can’t defeat the feeling of compassion in the church people of Raksmei. The village of Raksmei is located in Kampong Thom, one of the provinces affected by this calamity. In the midst of the hunger that set in when much of the harvest was destroyed, there seemed at first to be only trouble. But the people of the Methodist Church of Raksmei have turned it into an opportunity for them to demonstrate their faith and real identity as God's children who’ve claimed self-reliance and a commitment to share love with their neighbor.
Demonstrating their self-reliance, everyone in the village starts out trying their best to find food on their own without waiting for outsider assistance like government or other relief agencies. But, despite the lack of food, they do not simply take care of their own family, but also take care of their neighbors who are unable to afford to get food. They share whatever they have, not the excess left from their need. During my recent visit with Mrs. Sophal, CHAD team member, we heard from Mr. Chok Choung, the lay leader of Raksmei church. He let us know that his church members do not ignore or leave somebody within their community to be hungry without food to eat. Obviously, when they realized that 4 families in their church were facing hunger, they collected rice from everybody and shared 13 kg to each family.
More important than helping the hungry families to deal with the immediate need by sharing food to eat, Mr. Chok Choung said that the church members have also helped each other restore their long term needs. Those whose land size is bigger and possible for dry season rice farming shared some small plots of land for the landless families to grow a dry-season rice crop as well.
As Christian leaders willing to serve their church and in the community, Mr. Chok Choung and his pastor always know the real needs of their people. With God given talent, these leaders do not limit themselves to see resources only within the church, but also see the potential resources from other sources. They have developed the ability to build links with other like-minded institutions and to gain support from them. In response to the need of rice seed for the church they went round to visit those agencies, and eventually the government provided them 600kg of rice seed. To make the visits even more productive, these faithful leaders did not only ask for resource support, but also took some time to communicate with the government agency about how the church works to serve poor people as part of helping the government strategy of poverty alleviation. Resulting from this communication, the church obtained high appreciation and recognition from the government. They then came to the church to see and take pictures of the project group and the rice store.
Mr. Chok Choung and Pastor Ing Roeurn, stated confidently that "We don’t render the disaster, but in combination with prayer we will work as hard as we can to recover our living condition." Though at the moment the rice bank members failed to pay back rice loans due this Dec/Jan because of the lost of rice crop affected by flooding, they firmly determined to pay back by this April when they harvest their dry season rice from their shared paddy-fields.
Showing posts with label Agric. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agric. Show all posts
Friday, December 23, 2011
The Transformation of Sok Nora Impacts on his Communities and Friends
by Leng Thy
Rev. Sok Nora is a pastor of a local church called Srei Sompong in Kompong Speu district, in the south-western part of Cambodia. In 2010, he was appointed to be a Social Concern Committee member as a representative of his district. Last month CHAD invited him on an exposure visit to see projects of Food For Hungry, a Christian NGO based in Along Veng, in the north-western part of Cambodia.
While traveling for hours together to reach Along Ven, Rev. Sok Nora and I had a good chance to chat, sharing experiences and feelings. In the discussion he admitted that for the first 6 years before he joined the Social Concerns Committee, he hadn’t really understood anything about the CHAD program. In 2005, his church received $900 from CHAD for a cow-raising group. That money had been misused because he didn’t spend all money to buy cows, but instead he kept some to buy loud speakers for his church. At that time he disliked the CHAD team and was not happy to work with them because he said “the CHAD staff seemed to be excessively inquisitive when they visited the project group at my church.” He viewed CHAD as a program that only emphasized on physical needs not the spiritual ones. As a pastor he wondered why he needed to spend so much time from his pastoral job in the meetings and trainings of this program.
Through his involvement with the Social Concerns Committee, with CHAD project implementation, and with CHAD team on monitoring and follow-up visits to project groups, Rev. Sok Nora learned a lot and began to understand about the CHAD program. He said “I’ve just realized that CHAD is a very useful program within Methodist Church in Cambodia. Through its projects and training, it plays a vital role in facilitating the churches to have a fresh look on its role and to keep it completely in God intention of God’s Kingdom expansion.” He found that through CHAD development project, he has an easier time to share the gospel than he previously did, when he understood evangelism only as sharing words, not as deed also.
Over these years Rev. Sok Nora has opened his heart for God to transform him. Right now he is becoming more active in carrying out his role as pastor as well as a Social Concerns Committee member. As a pastor he empowers his congregation to take initiative in establishing and implementing development project according to their needs. He said, “A sense of ownership is constantly in my mind. I fulfill my duties without waiting for any instruction from somebody else. That sense motivates me to work tirelessly.” Because of that motivation, in his role with the Social Concerns Committee he spends a lot of his time and energy to work with various levels of people.
At the church level he goes round within his district to visit them, train them how to manage resources with sound stewardship and accountability, and also to know how keep project records. As a consequence, the project groups can collect rice repayment on their own and have formed three saving groups without pushing from CHAD.
During the district meeting for pastors, Rev. Sok Nora, shares reports about CHAD projects, and he encourage the pastors to embrace a wholistic church ministries which included as well the development works, not focusing only on the spiritual realm.
For forming networking links he is highly courageous to communicate with various institutions. He visited to the Provincial Department of Information for broadcasting the church efforts in helping drought affected poor families last year, and again for the flood relief efforts. He also visited to the Provincial Department of Agriculture where he eventually received agricultural teaching materials to distribute to the churches. Since he has proved his high ability through his action of building good relationship with government, the other Christian denominations trust him, and nominated him as chairman of the inter-denominational council within his district.
In addition to the impacts mentioned earlier, Rev. Sok Nora has even influenced his friend whose position is in a high rank of government. He shared with me that he convinced him to be fair and honest and to humbly respect those he leads. That man listened to and respected Rev. Sok Nora for this. As needed, he sometime comes to Rev. Sok Nora’s house for advice.
Rev. Sok Nora is a pastor of a local church called Srei Sompong in Kompong Speu district, in the south-western part of Cambodia. In 2010, he was appointed to be a Social Concern Committee member as a representative of his district. Last month CHAD invited him on an exposure visit to see projects of Food For Hungry, a Christian NGO based in Along Veng, in the north-western part of Cambodia.
While traveling for hours together to reach Along Ven, Rev. Sok Nora and I had a good chance to chat, sharing experiences and feelings. In the discussion he admitted that for the first 6 years before he joined the Social Concerns Committee, he hadn’t really understood anything about the CHAD program. In 2005, his church received $900 from CHAD for a cow-raising group. That money had been misused because he didn’t spend all money to buy cows, but instead he kept some to buy loud speakers for his church. At that time he disliked the CHAD team and was not happy to work with them because he said “the CHAD staff seemed to be excessively inquisitive when they visited the project group at my church.” He viewed CHAD as a program that only emphasized on physical needs not the spiritual ones. As a pastor he wondered why he needed to spend so much time from his pastoral job in the meetings and trainings of this program.
Through his involvement with the Social Concerns Committee, with CHAD project implementation, and with CHAD team on monitoring and follow-up visits to project groups, Rev. Sok Nora learned a lot and began to understand about the CHAD program. He said “I’ve just realized that CHAD is a very useful program within Methodist Church in Cambodia. Through its projects and training, it plays a vital role in facilitating the churches to have a fresh look on its role and to keep it completely in God intention of God’s Kingdom expansion.” He found that through CHAD development project, he has an easier time to share the gospel than he previously did, when he understood evangelism only as sharing words, not as deed also.
Over these years Rev. Sok Nora has opened his heart for God to transform him. Right now he is becoming more active in carrying out his role as pastor as well as a Social Concerns Committee member. As a pastor he empowers his congregation to take initiative in establishing and implementing development project according to their needs. He said, “A sense of ownership is constantly in my mind. I fulfill my duties without waiting for any instruction from somebody else. That sense motivates me to work tirelessly.” Because of that motivation, in his role with the Social Concerns Committee he spends a lot of his time and energy to work with various levels of people.
At the church level he goes round within his district to visit them, train them how to manage resources with sound stewardship and accountability, and also to know how keep project records. As a consequence, the project groups can collect rice repayment on their own and have formed three saving groups without pushing from CHAD.
During the district meeting for pastors, Rev. Sok Nora, shares reports about CHAD projects, and he encourage the pastors to embrace a wholistic church ministries which included as well the development works, not focusing only on the spiritual realm.
For forming networking links he is highly courageous to communicate with various institutions. He visited to the Provincial Department of Information for broadcasting the church efforts in helping drought affected poor families last year, and again for the flood relief efforts. He also visited to the Provincial Department of Agriculture where he eventually received agricultural teaching materials to distribute to the churches. Since he has proved his high ability through his action of building good relationship with government, the other Christian denominations trust him, and nominated him as chairman of the inter-denominational council within his district.
In addition to the impacts mentioned earlier, Rev. Sok Nora has even influenced his friend whose position is in a high rank of government. He shared with me that he convinced him to be fair and honest and to humbly respect those he leads. That man listened to and respected Rev. Sok Nora for this. As needed, he sometime comes to Rev. Sok Nora’s house for advice.
“Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established” ~ Proverbs 6:3
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Flooding along the Mekong
Flood damage update. We've received several emails with questions and concerns about recent flood damage here in Cambodia. Thanks for your concern! There has been quite a bit of damage especially to many rice fields that were so close to being ready to harvest. Daneth Him just went up to visit Kampong Chhnang yesterday to assess the extent of damage to communities we work with there. The flood levels have not been as high as during the typhoon in 2009, but the water has been very slow to recede, which is why the crop damage has been extensive.
One of the difficulties is that this is the time of year when there is already seasonal hunger in Cambodia. Folks are stretching what little they have or have taken high interest rice loans to make it until the early rice is ready to harvest in November. It is often the fields that are most susceptible to flood damage that are planted early because they have more water, which is needed for those early crops. Therefore the "hungry season" will be extended this year. Additionally, many people have taken rice loans just to feed their families already and, with the reduced harvest, they may fall deeper into debt when they can't repay these loans. Many folks are already leaving their villages looking for alternative work. CHAD has been working for this past year with the Social Concerns Committee to establish "rice banks" in order to mitigate against these high interest loans, but many people will not even have rice to pay back to their low-interest community rice-banks either this year. This means that we anticipate an increase in the "hungry season" next year as well. Therefore, we hope to be able to shore up existing rice-banks and establish new ones in the effected area.
Thanks for your concern. If you would like to make a donation to be used by the Social Concerns Committee for the immediate relief effort, you can give online through The Advance and 100% will be delivered here. Please add a note/memo that this is for "flood relief" so that we will know how to channel your funds to SCC. Or, write a check to your local United Methodist Church and note in the memo "Advance #3020542 - flood relief."
CHAD will continue to fund rice banks through our ongoing development efforts. You can also give online to that effort.
by Katherine Parker
pictures by Him Daneth
Saturday, September 10, 2011
A volunteer's reflections: Rice Banks
by Amanda King
Individual volunteer from Illinois
It's amazing how one crop can so define a culture the way rice defines Cambodia — and all of Southeast Asia, for that matter.
Rice is not just a food (that happens to be consumed at least two times a day by the entire populace). It's so much more than that. It's the livelihood for millions of Cambodians. In actuality, it's a way of life.
The crop's sphere of influence reaches far beyond the rice paddies or even the dinner table and into everyday life. So strong is this country's tie to the grain that it is often used as currency to buy goods or services. Loans can be taken out in terms of kilos of rice. Even the Methodist Bible School in Phnom Penh accepts tuition payments in rice (50kg per semester, to be exact).
But Cambodia's standing as a single-crop country also makes it particularly vulnerable to droughts, floods and disease — anything that could adversely affect the rice harvest.
This is especially true of the rural population. Typically, peasant farmers can only afford to raise enough rice to sustain their own families. In this situation, a bad harvest can be devastating.
That's where rice banks come into play. These initiatives, funded by loans through the church's Community Health and Agricultural Development program, help communities build and maintain a rice storage facility, which is filled in times of plenty, then borrowed from when families run out of their own harvest.
These rice loans, given out to needy families in the community, are then scheduled to be repaid in-kind at the next harvest (usually in December). The committee in charge of the bank has the authority to set the interest rate on the loans, but it is usually just enough to help grow the supply in order to help more families the next year.
And that, my friends, is a rice bank.
Individual volunteer from Illinois
It's amazing how one crop can so define a culture the way rice defines Cambodia — and all of Southeast Asia, for that matter.
Rice is not just a food (that happens to be consumed at least two times a day by the entire populace). It's so much more than that. It's the livelihood for millions of Cambodians. In actuality, it's a way of life.
The crop's sphere of influence reaches far beyond the rice paddies or even the dinner table and into everyday life. So strong is this country's tie to the grain that it is often used as currency to buy goods or services. Loans can be taken out in terms of kilos of rice. Even the Methodist Bible School in Phnom Penh accepts tuition payments in rice (50kg per semester, to be exact).
But Cambodia's standing as a single-crop country also makes it particularly vulnerable to droughts, floods and disease — anything that could adversely affect the rice harvest.
This is especially true of the rural population. Typically, peasant farmers can only afford to raise enough rice to sustain their own families. In this situation, a bad harvest can be devastating.
That's where rice banks come into play. These initiatives, funded by loans through the church's Community Health and Agricultural Development program, help communities build and maintain a rice storage facility, which is filled in times of plenty, then borrowed from when families run out of their own harvest.
These rice loans, given out to needy families in the community, are then scheduled to be repaid in-kind at the next harvest (usually in December). The committee in charge of the bank has the authority to set the interest rate on the loans, but it is usually just enough to help grow the supply in order to help more families the next year.
And that, my friends, is a rice bank.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Water: The center of life
by Lukas Meier
Individual Volunteer from Switzerland
During all my education, I was taught that water is the origin and the basis of every life. But it wasn’t until I came to Cambodia, one of the less educated countries, that I learned exactly what that means.
The reason for my sudden understanding was my observations on a farm in Takeo.
The water source on that farm is the fishpond. The fishpond is filled during the rainy season and is used the whole year. The family uses it for cooking and drinking water, to wash their clothes and to bathe. The animals drink out of the fishpond, and all of the vegetables, which are planted during the dry season, are watered out of the fishpond. And last but not least, the fishpond is used to raise fish.
The water inside that fishpond is the basis for all life on the farm.
The advantage of this system is that the farmers are able to use their natural resources without wasting the groundwater.
But there are also problems caused by their system.
Because the fishpond the only source of water, any problems that arise with it can leave the whole farm without water — and, if prolonged, without life.
The other problems are smaller and not as obvious. There is a possibility that the chemicals in soaps and laundry detergents can cause health problems for human, animals and fish. Moreover, if the farmer uses chemicals to kill vermin or applies pesticides to his plants, the leftover can run off into the pond. And when the now-contaminated water is used to water the same plants again, the vermin can develop resistance to the chemical. This chemical resistance is a long-term problem and leads to higher chemical costs for the farmer.
There is just an estimation of the type of problems that could develop, but on the long-term, they really are serious. But there are a few simple approaches.
If the farmer tries to use as little chemical as possible, or even avoids applying it altogether, he can avoid the negative effect. By using biodegradable shampoos and laundry detergents, this effect could be stopped too. By learning about the general effects of chemicals, the farmers can better comprehend how to work with chemicals without risking the health of humans, animals and plants.
And again I understand how clean water is the foundation for all life.
Lukas is volunteering in Cambodia with the CHAD program for 6 months. When he returns to Switzerland he will enroll in university where he plans to continue his agricultural studies.
Individual Volunteer from Switzerland
During all my education, I was taught that water is the origin and the basis of every life. But it wasn’t until I came to Cambodia, one of the less educated countries, that I learned exactly what that means.
The reason for my sudden understanding was my observations on a farm in Takeo.
The water source on that farm is the fishpond. The fishpond is filled during the rainy season and is used the whole year. The family uses it for cooking and drinking water, to wash their clothes and to bathe. The animals drink out of the fishpond, and all of the vegetables, which are planted during the dry season, are watered out of the fishpond. And last but not least, the fishpond is used to raise fish.
The water inside that fishpond is the basis for all life on the farm.
The advantage of this system is that the farmers are able to use their natural resources without wasting the groundwater.
But there are also problems caused by their system.
Because the fishpond the only source of water, any problems that arise with it can leave the whole farm without water — and, if prolonged, without life.
The other problems are smaller and not as obvious. There is a possibility that the chemicals in soaps and laundry detergents can cause health problems for human, animals and fish. Moreover, if the farmer uses chemicals to kill vermin or applies pesticides to his plants, the leftover can run off into the pond. And when the now-contaminated water is used to water the same plants again, the vermin can develop resistance to the chemical. This chemical resistance is a long-term problem and leads to higher chemical costs for the farmer.
There is just an estimation of the type of problems that could develop, but on the long-term, they really are serious. But there are a few simple approaches.
If the farmer tries to use as little chemical as possible, or even avoids applying it altogether, he can avoid the negative effect. By using biodegradable shampoos and laundry detergents, this effect could be stopped too. By learning about the general effects of chemicals, the farmers can better comprehend how to work with chemicals without risking the health of humans, animals and plants.
And again I understand how clean water is the foundation for all life.
Lukas is volunteering in Cambodia with the CHAD program for 6 months. When he returns to Switzerland he will enroll in university where he plans to continue his agricultural studies.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
A volunteer's reflection: No prejudice
by Lukas Meier
Individual Volunteer from Switzerland
When I came to Cambodia, I made up my mind to look at things without prejudice. As simple as the idea sounds, it has proved difficult to implement.
I first discovered this while I was staying with a Cambodian farming family in Takeo Province in the southern part of the country.
On a walk through the village, my host family showed me some local innovations.
First, we visited a small mushroom farm. I was surprised by its simplicity and functionality. At the farm, wet straw is burned and used as substrate, and simple straw bundles are used for weather protection.
In Switzerland, I was told: "Mushrooms are very demanding. It takes about large investments.” But in Cambodia I learned they simply use the leftovers of the rice harvest to create their mushroom farms — impressive!
On the way to the second farm, we ran through a dense forest. It was musty and dirty. Along the trail there were some very simple houses. My Swiss mentality was startled by the picture I saw — undisguised poverty, dirty and unsanitary. So much for keeping an open mind, as I had promised myself.
We came out of the woods and walked between some fish ponds for a fish farm. We welcomed two young men who showed us the farm. Numerous pools and ponds are supplied with water by means of a pump. The whole construction is very simple but just as functional. Some fish are sold to other farmers and others are raised entirely on-site then sold at market.
Back at our farm, I tried to collect my thoughts. I was fascinated by how the people I met could do such great things with such simple ideas and small budgets, made possible by the willingness to learn and to follow an idea through to success.
I also see once again that my prejudices hinder me from seeing the entire picture. And I try one more time to get used to my prejudices.
Lukas is volunteering in Cambodia with the CHAD program for 6 months. When he returns to Switzerland he will enroll in university where he plans to continue his agricultural studies.
Keine Vorurteile
Als ich nach Kambodscha kam, nahm ich mir vor, die Dinge ohne Vorurteile zu betrachten.
So einfach der Gedanke auch klingt, so schwer ist er umzusetzen.
Auf einem Spaziergang durch das Dorf zeigte mir meine Gastfamilie die lokalen Innovationen.
Zuerst besuchten wir eine kleine Pilzfarm.Ich war von der Einfachheit und der Funktionalität überrascht. Nasses Stroh wird verbrannt und dient als Substrat, einfache Strohbündel dienen als Wetterschutz.
In der Schweiz wurde mir gesagt:”Pilze sind sehr anspruchsvoll, es braucht darum grosse Investitionen.” In Kambodscha wird aus den Resten der Reisernte eine Pilzfarm – beeindruckend!
Auf dem Weg zur zweiten Farm gingen wir durch einen dichten Wald, es war muffig und schmutzig.
Entlang dem Pfad standen einige sehr einfache Häuser. Mein ordentlicher Schweizercharakter störte sich augenblicklich an diesem Bild – so viel zum Thema “Vorurteile”.
Wir traten aus dem Wald heraus und gingen zwischen einigen Fischtümpeln zur einer Fischfarm. Uns empfingen zwei junge Männer. Sie zeigten uns die Farm. Mittels einer Pumpe werden die zahlreichen Becken und Weiher mit Wasser versorgt. Die ganze Konstruktion ist sehr einfach gehalten, aber völlig funktional. Die Fische werden zum einen an andere Farmer verkauft und zum anderen selbst aufgezogen und verkauft.
Wieder zurück auf unserer Farm, versuche ich meine Gedanken zu ordnen. Es ist faszinierend, mit wie einfachen Ideen und wenig Mitteln grossartige Projekte möglich warden. Ermöglicht werden sie durch die Bereitschaft zu lernen und den Willen, eine Idee bis zum Erfolg zu bringen.
Ich erkenne wieder, dass meine Vorurteile mir nur im Weg stehen. Und ich versuche ein weiteres Mal, mir meine Vorurteile abzugewöhnen.
Individual Volunteer from Switzerland
When I came to Cambodia, I made up my mind to look at things without prejudice. As simple as the idea sounds, it has proved difficult to implement.
I first discovered this while I was staying with a Cambodian farming family in Takeo Province in the southern part of the country.
On a walk through the village, my host family showed me some local innovations.
First, we visited a small mushroom farm. I was surprised by its simplicity and functionality. At the farm, wet straw is burned and used as substrate, and simple straw bundles are used for weather protection.
In Switzerland, I was told: "Mushrooms are very demanding. It takes about large investments.” But in Cambodia I learned they simply use the leftovers of the rice harvest to create their mushroom farms — impressive!
On the way to the second farm, we ran through a dense forest. It was musty and dirty. Along the trail there were some very simple houses. My Swiss mentality was startled by the picture I saw — undisguised poverty, dirty and unsanitary. So much for keeping an open mind, as I had promised myself.
We came out of the woods and walked between some fish ponds for a fish farm. We welcomed two young men who showed us the farm. Numerous pools and ponds are supplied with water by means of a pump. The whole construction is very simple but just as functional. Some fish are sold to other farmers and others are raised entirely on-site then sold at market.
Back at our farm, I tried to collect my thoughts. I was fascinated by how the people I met could do such great things with such simple ideas and small budgets, made possible by the willingness to learn and to follow an idea through to success.
I also see once again that my prejudices hinder me from seeing the entire picture. And I try one more time to get used to my prejudices.
Lukas is volunteering in Cambodia with the CHAD program for 6 months. When he returns to Switzerland he will enroll in university where he plans to continue his agricultural studies.
Keine Vorurteile
Als ich nach Kambodscha kam, nahm ich mir vor, die Dinge ohne Vorurteile zu betrachten.
So einfach der Gedanke auch klingt, so schwer ist er umzusetzen.
Auf einem Spaziergang durch das Dorf zeigte mir meine Gastfamilie die lokalen Innovationen.
Zuerst besuchten wir eine kleine Pilzfarm.Ich war von der Einfachheit und der Funktionalität überrascht. Nasses Stroh wird verbrannt und dient als Substrat, einfache Strohbündel dienen als Wetterschutz.
In der Schweiz wurde mir gesagt:”Pilze sind sehr anspruchsvoll, es braucht darum grosse Investitionen.” In Kambodscha wird aus den Resten der Reisernte eine Pilzfarm – beeindruckend!
Auf dem Weg zur zweiten Farm gingen wir durch einen dichten Wald, es war muffig und schmutzig.
Entlang dem Pfad standen einige sehr einfache Häuser. Mein ordentlicher Schweizercharakter störte sich augenblicklich an diesem Bild – so viel zum Thema “Vorurteile”.
Wir traten aus dem Wald heraus und gingen zwischen einigen Fischtümpeln zur einer Fischfarm. Uns empfingen zwei junge Männer. Sie zeigten uns die Farm. Mittels einer Pumpe werden die zahlreichen Becken und Weiher mit Wasser versorgt. Die ganze Konstruktion ist sehr einfach gehalten, aber völlig funktional. Die Fische werden zum einen an andere Farmer verkauft und zum anderen selbst aufgezogen und verkauft.
Wieder zurück auf unserer Farm, versuche ich meine Gedanken zu ordnen. Es ist faszinierend, mit wie einfachen Ideen und wenig Mitteln grossartige Projekte möglich warden. Ermöglicht werden sie durch die Bereitschaft zu lernen und den Willen, eine Idee bis zum Erfolg zu bringen.
Ich erkenne wieder, dass meine Vorurteile mir nur im Weg stehen. Und ich versuche ein weiteres Mal, mir meine Vorurteile abzugewöhnen.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
A Rice Bank Group Making Known God's Kingdom
by Leng Thy
In the minority-Christian country of Cambodia, many local churches simply long for growth, but do not want to do any work that requires them to sacrifice even a little of the assets that they have. This story of an outstanding project group, told by its leader, provides an idea of how powerful it is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
A rice bank group at Raksmey church located in a north-east province of Cambodia is one of the CHAD project groups that has been highly effective in sharing the good news of God’s Kingdom through its powerful strategy of ministering to and among the suffering.
“Everyone in my church recognizes their Christian role, actively and sacrificially caring for people, no matter who they are” said Mr. Chok Choung, the 50 year-old Lay Leader, and chair of the Community Development Committee at the local Raksmey church.
Sitting on a pile of firewood under the shade tree in front of his house, this faithful leader shared a very exciting story of the rice bank project initiated by his church and community members. A smiling face expressed his confidence; full of hope and delight Mr. Chok Choung let us know that this rice bank project was initially formed in March 2008 in response to the need of poor families who suffered from food shortages during the rainy season and who paid high interest rates to the market rice lenders. He stated that at the beginning there were only 19 people interested. The project received an initial grant of $750 from CHAD to buy 3000 kg of rice. He said what helped them to grow was the principle of learning together from the Bible. This kept them faithful and encouraged them to apply what they had learned. As a result of this endeavor, each member goes out to community to imitate Jesus, doing what he did, using both word and deed. This is a change from their previous activities of using only words in their outreach approach. Group members, for example, share sacrificially from the little resources they have to poor families when they see them hungry and unable to afford to feed themselves.
He added another example of how the rice bank group members have declared God’s Kingdom. They took care of seven families whose houses had recently burned. The fire damaged everything. Their few possessions were destroyed and they were left with no food, no shelter, and no clothes or other necessities. Seeing this, the rice bank members compassionately took 500 kg of rice from the store and collected among the members another 40,000 Riel ($10.00). They did all of this to help the victims even though they are not their immediate neighbors or fellow Christians, but live in another village a ways from Raksmey.
A few days later, Mr. Chok Choung continued, a letter from a commune (local government) office where the fire had happened came to the rice bank group. He took it out and read. It was a letter from the victims to say thank you gratefully for the immediate response to those in need. They appreciated the generous support and admitted that Christians are really good. Knowing that they were interested in understanding more about God, the group visited them and shared the gospel. Since then, a preaching point has been formed there. He emphasized that this shows how powerful it is when the church carries out its task by following what Jesus did and what he continues to do through us, using both word and deed.
Surely, since the group continues to be faithful and committed to work together, God blesses them to experience explosive growth. The amount of rice, during this three-year period, for example, has increased from 3000 kg at the beginning up to 6591 kg at this moment. As the group has been foreshadowing what God’s Kingdom would be like, there is a constant influx of people who want to join the group. Right now, there are five more non-Christian families requesting to be included in the rice bank group. “These are ways that our church is reaching out to people; we want to glorify God,” said Mr. Chok Choung, smiling.
In the minority-Christian country of Cambodia, many local churches simply long for growth, but do not want to do any work that requires them to sacrifice even a little of the assets that they have. This story of an outstanding project group, told by its leader, provides an idea of how powerful it is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
A rice bank group at Raksmey church located in a north-east province of Cambodia is one of the CHAD project groups that has been highly effective in sharing the good news of God’s Kingdom through its powerful strategy of ministering to and among the suffering.
“Everyone in my church recognizes their Christian role, actively and sacrificially caring for people, no matter who they are” said Mr. Chok Choung, the 50 year-old Lay Leader, and chair of the Community Development Committee at the local Raksmey church.
Sitting on a pile of firewood under the shade tree in front of his house, this faithful leader shared a very exciting story of the rice bank project initiated by his church and community members. A smiling face expressed his confidence; full of hope and delight Mr. Chok Choung let us know that this rice bank project was initially formed in March 2008 in response to the need of poor families who suffered from food shortages during the rainy season and who paid high interest rates to the market rice lenders. He stated that at the beginning there were only 19 people interested. The project received an initial grant of $750 from CHAD to buy 3000 kg of rice. He said what helped them to grow was the principle of learning together from the Bible. This kept them faithful and encouraged them to apply what they had learned. As a result of this endeavor, each member goes out to community to imitate Jesus, doing what he did, using both word and deed. This is a change from their previous activities of using only words in their outreach approach. Group members, for example, share sacrificially from the little resources they have to poor families when they see them hungry and unable to afford to feed themselves.
He added another example of how the rice bank group members have declared God’s Kingdom. They took care of seven families whose houses had recently burned. The fire damaged everything. Their few possessions were destroyed and they were left with no food, no shelter, and no clothes or other necessities. Seeing this, the rice bank members compassionately took 500 kg of rice from the store and collected among the members another 40,000 Riel ($10.00). They did all of this to help the victims even though they are not their immediate neighbors or fellow Christians, but live in another village a ways from Raksmey.
A few days later, Mr. Chok Choung continued, a letter from a commune (local government) office where the fire had happened came to the rice bank group. He took it out and read. It was a letter from the victims to say thank you gratefully for the immediate response to those in need. They appreciated the generous support and admitted that Christians are really good. Knowing that they were interested in understanding more about God, the group visited them and shared the gospel. Since then, a preaching point has been formed there. He emphasized that this shows how powerful it is when the church carries out its task by following what Jesus did and what he continues to do through us, using both word and deed.
Surely, since the group continues to be faithful and committed to work together, God blesses them to experience explosive growth. The amount of rice, during this three-year period, for example, has increased from 3000 kg at the beginning up to 6591 kg at this moment. As the group has been foreshadowing what God’s Kingdom would be like, there is a constant influx of people who want to join the group. Right now, there are five more non-Christian families requesting to be included in the rice bank group. “These are ways that our church is reaching out to people; we want to glorify God,” said Mr. Chok Choung, smiling.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
What happened to the cow?
by Katherine Parker
My January and February schedule are filling up fast. My target geographic region has changed a little bit this year. Our new staff member Ms. Sophal will be taking over responsibility for the Kampong Thom region and so I will be traveling up there at the end of January to introduce her and collect our bi-annual project monitoring data.
I have also been traveling for monitoring out to churches in my three target area Kampong Chhnang (where I will be working in partnership with Ms. Daneth who just returned from a year of study at the Asian Rural Institute in Japan), Kampong Speu and my new area in the Takeo district.
We had a great meeting yesterday with the cow group at Trang Tre Yeung, Kampong Speu where I had been confused for the last year about exactly what had happened to their cows and calves. We sorted things out and I am excited to report that from the initial two cows purchased in December 2005 there have been 9 calves born.
One of the benefits of a cow-bank is that it provides increased security for the group members. Chen Han was one of the first care-takers of a cow, and so after passing-on he benefited from keeping the second calf born in March 2008. When he faced some health problem in 2010 he was able to sell the calf in order to pay for his medical care.
Of course we hope that families can experience the full benefit of a cow by rearing it until it is larger so as to gain maximum benefit and additional offspring, but I am also heartened when the cows can serve their purpose to provide security to the family that can be used in times of need such as this situation to pay for medical care.
Unfortunately, one of the original cows in this group was kill in a car accident and her current calf was not able to survive the loss of its mother, but the other cows continue to produce and the group is working well together.
How to measure the "success" of a project is not always clear. Just from looking at the numbers, this group has lost 3 of its 11 cows in the last year, which on the surface is not a good thing. But the loss brings awareness to the dangers of the increased traffic as more roads in Cambodia get paved and also to the hope that comes from individuals having the resources available to make decisions and take action for positive steps in their health care.
There is so much fear and even some fatalism around availability of health care in Cambodia. To see a situation where a man felt empowered to seek medical care and felt confident that he had the resources to do so on his own and then for him to actually improve in his health give me great hope that we are on the right path. This is not an overnight success; this cow project started way back in 2005. But as part of a global church community, we keep walking together, and there are these glimmers of hope along the way.
My January and February schedule are filling up fast. My target geographic region has changed a little bit this year. Our new staff member Ms. Sophal will be taking over responsibility for the Kampong Thom region and so I will be traveling up there at the end of January to introduce her and collect our bi-annual project monitoring data.
I have also been traveling for monitoring out to churches in my three target area Kampong Chhnang (where I will be working in partnership with Ms. Daneth who just returned from a year of study at the Asian Rural Institute in Japan), Kampong Speu and my new area in the Takeo district.
We had a great meeting yesterday with the cow group at Trang Tre Yeung, Kampong Speu where I had been confused for the last year about exactly what had happened to their cows and calves. We sorted things out and I am excited to report that from the initial two cows purchased in December 2005 there have been 9 calves born.
One of the benefits of a cow-bank is that it provides increased security for the group members. Chen Han was one of the first care-takers of a cow, and so after passing-on he benefited from keeping the second calf born in March 2008. When he faced some health problem in 2010 he was able to sell the calf in order to pay for his medical care.
Of course we hope that families can experience the full benefit of a cow by rearing it until it is larger so as to gain maximum benefit and additional offspring, but I am also heartened when the cows can serve their purpose to provide security to the family that can be used in times of need such as this situation to pay for medical care.
Unfortunately, one of the original cows in this group was kill in a car accident and her current calf was not able to survive the loss of its mother, but the other cows continue to produce and the group is working well together.
How to measure the "success" of a project is not always clear. Just from looking at the numbers, this group has lost 3 of its 11 cows in the last year, which on the surface is not a good thing. But the loss brings awareness to the dangers of the increased traffic as more roads in Cambodia get paved and also to the hope that comes from individuals having the resources available to make decisions and take action for positive steps in their health care.
There is so much fear and even some fatalism around availability of health care in Cambodia. To see a situation where a man felt empowered to seek medical care and felt confident that he had the resources to do so on his own and then for him to actually improve in his health give me great hope that we are on the right path. This is not an overnight success; this cow project started way back in 2005. But as part of a global church community, we keep walking together, and there are these glimmers of hope along the way.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
UMCOR helps Social Concerns Committee respond to drought
by Katherine Parker
On January 6 and 7th we had a meeting of the Social Concerns Committee (SCC) where Rev. (Mr.) Pho Phala is the new chair (last year missionary Ken Cruz was the chairperson). This is another exciting area of increased Cambodian leadership.
The Social Concerns Committee was awarded a grant from UMCOR this winter in order to respond to anticipated food insecurities in the coming year due to drought during the 2010 rice growing season. As I have been conversing with various congregations it is apparent that this is a real concern since there has been a decreased harvest this December, in some cases 50% of the previous year yield. This is due in large part because of the variability in the rain we had last year. Some rains came early but then they stopped and so many seedlings died before they could be transplanted and heavy rains came very late in the growing season when it is typically time for the grains to be ripening. As you know from my other writing and sharing, food insecurity is already a problem in Cambodia and many families are not normally able to produce enough rice to eat for the year so the end up borrowing rice at exorbitant rates (50%-100% interest).
The Social Concerns Committee plans to use the UMCOR grant for three purposes, one is to provide rice-aid to highly vulnerable families who face severe shortfalls this year, a second is to provide rice-seed to farmers that suffered significant loss the previous year and would benefit from access to improved varieties and the other is to start about 100 new rice-banks (at about one-ton each rather than our typical three-tons), which will double the amount of rice available through rice-banks for low-interest community loans in the communities where the Methodist Mission Cambodia is working.
It is a big job for the pastors of the Social Concerns Committee to set up all of these and I have continued to meet with pastors in the districts where I am working to coach them and discuss the details of how we can quickly achieve this plan. One of the challenges to this kind of work is that the pastors will need to travel to visit communities in order to facilitate the planning meetings to initiate the new rice-banks. There are funds in the UMCOR grant to support travel to the initial meeting (about 100 meetings conducted by 18 different pastors over the next 3 months), but I am worried that there will be insufficient funds left for the pastors to travel to visit the rice-banks for the 6 month and 1 year monitoring visits, so there is a need to raise additional travel funds to support the pastors of the SCC to monitor the new rice banks. The next SCC meeting will be on February 3rd.
On January 6 and 7th we had a meeting of the Social Concerns Committee (SCC) where Rev. (Mr.) Pho Phala is the new chair (last year missionary Ken Cruz was the chairperson). This is another exciting area of increased Cambodian leadership.
The Social Concerns Committee was awarded a grant from UMCOR this winter in order to respond to anticipated food insecurities in the coming year due to drought during the 2010 rice growing season. As I have been conversing with various congregations it is apparent that this is a real concern since there has been a decreased harvest this December, in some cases 50% of the previous year yield. This is due in large part because of the variability in the rain we had last year. Some rains came early but then they stopped and so many seedlings died before they could be transplanted and heavy rains came very late in the growing season when it is typically time for the grains to be ripening. As you know from my other writing and sharing, food insecurity is already a problem in Cambodia and many families are not normally able to produce enough rice to eat for the year so the end up borrowing rice at exorbitant rates (50%-100% interest).
The Social Concerns Committee plans to use the UMCOR grant for three purposes, one is to provide rice-aid to highly vulnerable families who face severe shortfalls this year, a second is to provide rice-seed to farmers that suffered significant loss the previous year and would benefit from access to improved varieties and the other is to start about 100 new rice-banks (at about one-ton each rather than our typical three-tons), which will double the amount of rice available through rice-banks for low-interest community loans in the communities where the Methodist Mission Cambodia is working.
It is a big job for the pastors of the Social Concerns Committee to set up all of these and I have continued to meet with pastors in the districts where I am working to coach them and discuss the details of how we can quickly achieve this plan. One of the challenges to this kind of work is that the pastors will need to travel to visit communities in order to facilitate the planning meetings to initiate the new rice-banks. There are funds in the UMCOR grant to support travel to the initial meeting (about 100 meetings conducted by 18 different pastors over the next 3 months), but I am worried that there will be insufficient funds left for the pastors to travel to visit the rice-banks for the 6 month and 1 year monitoring visits, so there is a need to raise additional travel funds to support the pastors of the SCC to monitor the new rice banks. The next SCC meeting will be on February 3rd.
Monday, July 19, 2010
A Healthy Family
by Leng Thy, CHAD staff
Enjoying a healthy life, where family members live in harmony, parents enjoy bountiful harvest from their farms, children have three meals a day with nutritious food, and families willingly help their neighbors, is one of the things the CHAD program wishes to see in the villages where the Methodist churches are situated. Such an ideal picture of a healthy family can now be seen in the life of one of the members of the irrigation crop production group in a village called Phum Phnao in the Svay Rieng district.
In a wooden nice house with a clean, fairly large backyard, located approximately 500 meters behind the church, lives a four-member family: husband, wife and two children. The sizeable yard provides enough space for the family to grow fruit trees, cultivate a vegetable garden, manage fish in a pond, and raise its own animals (such as cows, pigs, ducks and chickens), thus enabling this industrious family to survive easily. It is no surprise that most of the people in their village recognize them as model farmers.
Mrs. Sam Ang, 51-years-old and the farm’s owner, reported that she and her 59-year-old husband, Mr. Em Sakhorn, have six children, of which four have already married. There are only two children remaining in her care. In retrospect, Sam Ang sadly recalls her family story. She said that before she came to know and believe in Christ she was so poor. She worked so hard that she had little time to be with her children, to give them proper care, except at nighttime when they were already asleep. During the daytime, Mrs. Sam Ang had to walk the whole day long selling noodles, in order to earn money to support her family. Since her children were very much part of running this small family business, it came to a point that all her children stopped going to school. She also tearfully told about living in a dilapidated house that was ready to collapse. She felt feel isolated and hopeless. Nobody in the village gave her any support or comforted her when she was in trouble with sickness or with no food to eat.
In 1998, she and all her family members accepted God, and since then their living conditions have improved gradually. She firmly and faithfully states that God supplies her everything she needs, like the ability to send her children to school and the resources to rebuild her house, which she accomplished in 2004. In church she has many beloved friends and is not lonely, as she was before. She was included in an irrigation crop production group, in which she was given the priority to receive the pump machine first. Having a pump machine provides her family an opportunity to cultivate a vegetable garden, from which she earns enough to support their daily needs. The garden also provides some extra resources to help her needy neighbors who come for help.
Full of compassion and kindness, she visits her neighbors and other sick people. She divides her life among her family, church, and work. She also finds time for self development, through attending training and workshops sponsored by NGOs or the government. Attending these trainings, she gaines experience that is helpful in making her farm very successful. Not wanting to keep the blessing just for themselves, Mrs. Sam Ang and her husband are eager in sharing their knowledge when meeting people at her church. She also said that because of God her life is really full of joy, since He takes care of her farm. That’s why it becomes so fruitful, enabling her family to have three meals a day, good clothes, and a nice house. She says, “I am now satisfied with everything God provides for my family; praise God for helping me.”
Enjoying a healthy life, where family members live in harmony, parents enjoy bountiful harvest from their farms, children have three meals a day with nutritious food, and families willingly help their neighbors, is one of the things the CHAD program wishes to see in the villages where the Methodist churches are situated. Such an ideal picture of a healthy family can now be seen in the life of one of the members of the irrigation crop production group in a village called Phum Phnao in the Svay Rieng district.
In a wooden nice house with a clean, fairly large backyard, located approximately 500 meters behind the church, lives a four-member family: husband, wife and two children. The sizeable yard provides enough space for the family to grow fruit trees, cultivate a vegetable garden, manage fish in a pond, and raise its own animals (such as cows, pigs, ducks and chickens), thus enabling this industrious family to survive easily. It is no surprise that most of the people in their village recognize them as model farmers.
Mrs. Sam Ang, 51-years-old and the farm’s owner, reported that she and her 59-year-old husband, Mr. Em Sakhorn, have six children, of which four have already married. There are only two children remaining in her care. In retrospect, Sam Ang sadly recalls her family story. She said that before she came to know and believe in Christ she was so poor. She worked so hard that she had little time to be with her children, to give them proper care, except at nighttime when they were already asleep. During the daytime, Mrs. Sam Ang had to walk the whole day long selling noodles, in order to earn money to support her family. Since her children were very much part of running this small family business, it came to a point that all her children stopped going to school. She also tearfully told about living in a dilapidated house that was ready to collapse. She felt feel isolated and hopeless. Nobody in the village gave her any support or comforted her when she was in trouble with sickness or with no food to eat.
In 1998, she and all her family members accepted God, and since then their living conditions have improved gradually. She firmly and faithfully states that God supplies her everything she needs, like the ability to send her children to school and the resources to rebuild her house, which she accomplished in 2004. In church she has many beloved friends and is not lonely, as she was before. She was included in an irrigation crop production group, in which she was given the priority to receive the pump machine first. Having a pump machine provides her family an opportunity to cultivate a vegetable garden, from which she earns enough to support their daily needs. The garden also provides some extra resources to help her needy neighbors who come for help.
Full of compassion and kindness, she visits her neighbors and other sick people. She divides her life among her family, church, and work. She also finds time for self development, through attending training and workshops sponsored by NGOs or the government. Attending these trainings, she gaines experience that is helpful in making her farm very successful. Not wanting to keep the blessing just for themselves, Mrs. Sam Ang and her husband are eager in sharing their knowledge when meeting people at her church. She also said that because of God her life is really full of joy, since He takes care of her farm. That’s why it becomes so fruitful, enabling her family to have three meals a day, good clothes, and a nice house. She says, “I am now satisfied with everything God provides for my family; praise God for helping me.”
Sunday, August 2, 2009
An open letter about chickens to the Vacation Church School children in Bakersfield, CA
From your missionary in Cambodia, Katherine.
To the children, youth and adults of the church in Bakersfield that gather this week for Vacation Church School: Grace to you and peace.
“I always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in my prayers, constantly remembering before our God your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For I know, brothers and sisters, beloved by God, that God has chosen you… And you have become imitators of Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 6a NRSV)
I hear that you are learning about Caring for God’s Creatures this year. In Genesis we learn that God wants us to care for God’s creatures in the same way that God cares for us. And so, I write to you again this year in the style of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians to remind you of the words from Isaiah that “The Lord is the everlasting God; God created all the world. God never grows tired or weary.” (Isaiah 40:28b NRSV)
Here in Cambodia, we raise a lot of different animals, such as fish, frogs, crickets, cows, water buffalo, pigs, ducks and chickens. Raising chickens is an important part of family life. Every family wants to be able to have a few chickens, even in the city.
One of the hardest parts of raising chickens is getting enough food for them to eat because all animals that are raised by families need to be fed by the family. This is how we take part in caring for God’s creatures. If you have a pet dog or cat or fish you need to feed it every day; the same is true for chickens. Chickens in particular love to eat vegetable scraps. What happens when you don’t eat all of your dinner? In Cambodia, the chickens get to eat all of the left over vegetables; they help to keep the farm clean. The left-over rice is dried in the sun and the chickens get to eat this too. Chickens also love bugs. They are particularly fond of termites and worms. A lot of families have a termite mound at their house, which is good for feeding both the chickens and the fish.
Last week, I went to visit the Minister of Agriculture in one province. He was very happy to meet me and to hear about the good work that our churches are doing. He encouraged me to support more families to raise chickens. It is a very good way for the church to help the poorest people in the community. Raising chickens is not too hard and it can give a family a good sense of accomplishment. The United Methodist Church, through the CHAD program is helping families to raise chicken in three ways.
First, we provide gift-loans to community groups so that they can start raising chickens. A group of about five families starts working together, and each family receives about 5 chickens. When the first flock of baby chicks grow to about bantee size, they are given to a new family. In this way, the gift of chickens from the church is passed on from family to family until everyone in the village has a small flock of chickens. Chickens get sick very easily, and this can kill off an entire village of chickens, so this is an important way for the church to help a village rebuild after a natural disease epidemic. The initial gift is not very big, just a few chickens for a few families, but because people share with their neighbor, everyone can benefit.
Another activity of the church is to start savings and credit groups. Every week, members of the savings group contribute a small amount to their savings account. Families can then take a small loan from the savings union to help them expand their farm. Many families will take a small loan of $25 for 3 months to help them buy chicken feed from the store so they can produce chickens to sell. When the family pays back the loan, the interest stays in the community, thus increasing the communities’ wealth.
The third way the church helps is to provide technical assistance about how to better raise chickens. Through our partner organizations we can share information about proper housing for chickens and improved feed such as worms. Chickens are not very smart creatures; they need the help of families, especially the children, to go in and out. In the morning, it is the responsibility of the children to shoo the chickens outside where they can hunt for bugs and vegetables. Then at night, the children need to gather the chickens back to their safe house again so they don’t catch cold or get stolen. With research from our partner CelAgric (which is funded in part by Heifer International), the church in Cambodia has distributed information about how to build better chicken houses. We have also provided information about what vegetables are best for improving chicken health. During my meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, he encouraged me to start teaching more about worm farming so that families would know how to raise worms, which can also improve the diet and health of chickens. We hope to start a pilot project about this in Methodist Amen Church in Kampong Chhnang province soon.
Learning about Caring for God’s Creatures is an important activity for the children in the church here in Cambodia and I am glad that you are also interested in learning these same lessons. We can sing praises for God’s care of creatures by saying: “You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, and bring forth food from the earth” (Psalm 104:14). We are all made in the image of God and called to continue taking care of God’s creatures. Thank you for your care. Beloved in Christ, pray for us in Cambodia as we continue to keep you in prayer as well and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
To the children, youth and adults of the church in Bakersfield that gather this week for Vacation Church School: Grace to you and peace.
“I always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in my prayers, constantly remembering before our God your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For I know, brothers and sisters, beloved by God, that God has chosen you… And you have become imitators of Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 6a NRSV)
I hear that you are learning about Caring for God’s Creatures this year. In Genesis we learn that God wants us to care for God’s creatures in the same way that God cares for us. And so, I write to you again this year in the style of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians to remind you of the words from Isaiah that “The Lord is the everlasting God; God created all the world. God never grows tired or weary.” (Isaiah 40:28b NRSV)
Here in Cambodia, we raise a lot of different animals, such as fish, frogs, crickets, cows, water buffalo, pigs, ducks and chickens. Raising chickens is an important part of family life. Every family wants to be able to have a few chickens, even in the city.
One of the hardest parts of raising chickens is getting enough food for them to eat because all animals that are raised by families need to be fed by the family. This is how we take part in caring for God’s creatures. If you have a pet dog or cat or fish you need to feed it every day; the same is true for chickens. Chickens in particular love to eat vegetable scraps. What happens when you don’t eat all of your dinner? In Cambodia, the chickens get to eat all of the left over vegetables; they help to keep the farm clean. The left-over rice is dried in the sun and the chickens get to eat this too. Chickens also love bugs. They are particularly fond of termites and worms. A lot of families have a termite mound at their house, which is good for feeding both the chickens and the fish.
Last week, I went to visit the Minister of Agriculture in one province. He was very happy to meet me and to hear about the good work that our churches are doing. He encouraged me to support more families to raise chickens. It is a very good way for the church to help the poorest people in the community. Raising chickens is not too hard and it can give a family a good sense of accomplishment. The United Methodist Church, through the CHAD program is helping families to raise chicken in three ways.
First, we provide gift-loans to community groups so that they can start raising chickens. A group of about five families starts working together, and each family receives about 5 chickens. When the first flock of baby chicks grow to about bantee size, they are given to a new family. In this way, the gift of chickens from the church is passed on from family to family until everyone in the village has a small flock of chickens. Chickens get sick very easily, and this can kill off an entire village of chickens, so this is an important way for the church to help a village rebuild after a natural disease epidemic. The initial gift is not very big, just a few chickens for a few families, but because people share with their neighbor, everyone can benefit.
Another activity of the church is to start savings and credit groups. Every week, members of the savings group contribute a small amount to their savings account. Families can then take a small loan from the savings union to help them expand their farm. Many families will take a small loan of $25 for 3 months to help them buy chicken feed from the store so they can produce chickens to sell. When the family pays back the loan, the interest stays in the community, thus increasing the communities’ wealth.
The third way the church helps is to provide technical assistance about how to better raise chickens. Through our partner organizations we can share information about proper housing for chickens and improved feed such as worms. Chickens are not very smart creatures; they need the help of families, especially the children, to go in and out. In the morning, it is the responsibility of the children to shoo the chickens outside where they can hunt for bugs and vegetables. Then at night, the children need to gather the chickens back to their safe house again so they don’t catch cold or get stolen. With research from our partner CelAgric (which is funded in part by Heifer International), the church in Cambodia has distributed information about how to build better chicken houses. We have also provided information about what vegetables are best for improving chicken health. During my meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, he encouraged me to start teaching more about worm farming so that families would know how to raise worms, which can also improve the diet and health of chickens. We hope to start a pilot project about this in Methodist Amen Church in Kampong Chhnang province soon.
Learning about Caring for God’s Creatures is an important activity for the children in the church here in Cambodia and I am glad that you are also interested in learning these same lessons. We can sing praises for God’s care of creatures by saying: “You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, and bring forth food from the earth” (Psalm 104:14). We are all made in the image of God and called to continue taking care of God’s creatures. Thank you for your care. Beloved in Christ, pray for us in Cambodia as we continue to keep you in prayer as well and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
A new rice field at Solong Kandal Church
by Katherine Parker
Last Sunday I joined worship at Solong Kandal Church, and then we continued with the Mobilizing the Church study. I brought a local translator, Nara, with me. He was a good group leader and we had a very dynamic workshop, but a bad translator since he kept forgetting to keep me in the loop. So, I just had to struggle along with my own understanding for most of the day (luckily I basically knew what we were doing). The congregation at this church is really warm and welcoming, and I always feel like a member of the family when I visit. Here is a quick update about the status of their project development.
Last time I visited Solong Kandal (church of Pastor Sophean) we talked about the past outreach activities of the church and a bit about their future plans. Currently, they worship in the house of one of the members. It is a very simple house, the type that is often translated to be a cottage (meaning it has walls made from woven palm leaves, rather than bamboo slats or wood, but it did have a mettle roof which is nicer than thatch, but not as nice and hotter than tile). They are currently looking for a donor(s) that will support them to build a brick church (about $30,000). One of the church members has agreed already to donate the land.
The church members are very active and have done a lot of work to raise funds themselves for various things and are engaged in a lot of visitation ministry (to the poor, alcoholics, etc.). This time, we were talking about "outsiders", and how we can be more welcoming to folks different from us. It really struck me about how marginalized Christians are in Cambodia when I asked about visiting people with AIDS. They said that there are folks with AIDS in their community and that, yes, they have gone to visit them. I asked if they experienced that people sometimes look down on people with AIDS. They answered yes, but also that sometimes the people with AIDS looked down on the Christians. Wow!
They have also been collecting rice through their Sunday offering and also a first-fruits offering (this village grows 2 crops of rice a year since they are close to the river and it is easy for irrigation). Recently they sold most of their rice and bought a small paddy field (50m^2) for $580 that will be used to grow rice to raise additional money for the church. They hope eventually to have about 5 hectors of land to use for supporting the church, but they are starting small according to their ability to buy rather than waiting without action until a donor materializes. CHAD has really been promoting the concept of "seed projects", and it is amazing to see a church that is really putting it into practice.
They are asking CHAD to partner with them to purchase some farm equipment (such as a hand tractor or threshing machine) that they can rent out, also as a small business venture to raise funds for the church. Since this is a much more costly investment that CHAD usually engages in (about $3000), we are moving very slowly and making sure that everything is in place first. We are continuing with group formation through Mobilizing the Church and developing a clear plan so that we do not create a situation of dependency. I have high hopes for success because the pastor is a former business woman and they keep clear records already.
Last Sunday I joined worship at Solong Kandal Church, and then we continued with the Mobilizing the Church study. I brought a local translator, Nara, with me. He was a good group leader and we had a very dynamic workshop, but a bad translator since he kept forgetting to keep me in the loop. So, I just had to struggle along with my own understanding for most of the day (luckily I basically knew what we were doing). The congregation at this church is really warm and welcoming, and I always feel like a member of the family when I visit. Here is a quick update about the status of their project development.
Last time I visited Solong Kandal (church of Pastor Sophean) we talked about the past outreach activities of the church and a bit about their future plans. Currently, they worship in the house of one of the members. It is a very simple house, the type that is often translated to be a cottage (meaning it has walls made from woven palm leaves, rather than bamboo slats or wood, but it did have a mettle roof which is nicer than thatch, but not as nice and hotter than tile). They are currently looking for a donor(s) that will support them to build a brick church (about $30,000). One of the church members has agreed already to donate the land.
The church members are very active and have done a lot of work to raise funds themselves for various things and are engaged in a lot of visitation ministry (to the poor, alcoholics, etc.). This time, we were talking about "outsiders", and how we can be more welcoming to folks different from us. It really struck me about how marginalized Christians are in Cambodia when I asked about visiting people with AIDS. They said that there are folks with AIDS in their community and that, yes, they have gone to visit them. I asked if they experienced that people sometimes look down on people with AIDS. They answered yes, but also that sometimes the people with AIDS looked down on the Christians. Wow!
They have also been collecting rice through their Sunday offering and also a first-fruits offering (this village grows 2 crops of rice a year since they are close to the river and it is easy for irrigation). Recently they sold most of their rice and bought a small paddy field (50m^2) for $580 that will be used to grow rice to raise additional money for the church. They hope eventually to have about 5 hectors of land to use for supporting the church, but they are starting small according to their ability to buy rather than waiting without action until a donor materializes. CHAD has really been promoting the concept of "seed projects", and it is amazing to see a church that is really putting it into practice.
They are asking CHAD to partner with them to purchase some farm equipment (such as a hand tractor or threshing machine) that they can rent out, also as a small business venture to raise funds for the church. Since this is a much more costly investment that CHAD usually engages in (about $3000), we are moving very slowly and making sure that everything is in place first. We are continuing with group formation through Mobilizing the Church and developing a clear plan so that we do not create a situation of dependency. I have high hopes for success because the pastor is a former business woman and they keep clear records already.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Service
Ken and Thy visited a church in Kompong Chhnang yesterday to disburse funds for a rice bank. The son of the pastor prepared the lunch meal for them. It was a wonderful and humbling experience for all. When Katherine and Thy visited last month, he was so sad and didn't engage, so it was exciting this visit to see him animated. The son is living with AIDS and lost his wife to the disease last year. Ken said, "It is very humbling; those who are supposed to be served are serving."
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Story of O Kroch Church
by Leng Thy
O Kroch Methodist Church in Sala Visay Commune, Prasat Ballaink District, Kompong Thom Province is about 30 km from the town on the bumpy road to Preah Vihear. The church was established during 1996, with about 12 people, through the evangelism of a staff of World Vision, an international Christian organization that has been working in this area doing community development projects. Under the leadership of a local pastor called Kun Koun, in 2001, the church affiliated with Methodist Mission in Cambodia (MMC).
With the aim of responding to the physical needs of poor local congregations, the church partnered with CHAD program of MMC in 2005 to start a cow raising project by providing support in terms of finance and technical know-how on how to form groups, implement projects, and monitor activities. So far the results have been good, evidenced by the cooperation and willingness of members in working together. The group has started with 12 people and so far is making outstanding progress. The number of cows for instance has increased from 3 at the beginning to 9 at the moment with 3 new calves ready to be passed on to new recipients.
Pastor Kun Koun says that the experience he gained from the cow raising group provides a wider perspective on how to effectively reach out to community people. He said that the faithfulness, encouragement, submission, and support amongst members contributes to accountability and stewardship, resulting in a strong and healthy group. This healthy group environment has attracted new members from the neighborhood. The new members have helped the group to resolve the problem of passing-on the gift by exchanging the male calves for female. The Pastor also mentioned that in the village there are two cow raising groups; one was organized within the church congregation by CHAD program and another one by World Vision for poor people within the community. Amazingly according to him, while both cow raising groups started almost at the same time, the number of cows within the CHAD-church initiated group have multiplied more (3 to 9) than the number of cows (10 to 15) in the group established by World Vision. This significant difference in the outcomes has led villagers to question why the church cow raising project has produced more cows than the community cow raising project. The pastor, who is also the village leader acknowledged that group’s attitude and performance help not only to meet his congregation needs but also give him ways in which he can reach out to more people to understand about God and believe Him.
For example, Mrs. Sok Em, a group member who was not believer when she joined the church cow raising group became a very active member of the church through the day-to-day interaction of working together with Christians in the group. During household visits and group meetings conducted every three months, she encourages other members to take care of their cows and to be good stewards. Another example is Mrs. Peuo Earn who is also a village development committee (VDC) member of their village. She always shares with people during village meetings how church members care and support one another to create a united community. Likewise, the pastor firmly says that in reaching out to the community the acts of mercy carried out by church and group members has shown God’s love and have been more effective than evangelizing. This is proven by the increase in the number of church members from 35 to 42 people last year.
O Kroch Methodist Church in Sala Visay Commune, Prasat Ballaink District, Kompong Thom Province is about 30 km from the town on the bumpy road to Preah Vihear. The church was established during 1996, with about 12 people, through the evangelism of a staff of World Vision, an international Christian organization that has been working in this area doing community development projects. Under the leadership of a local pastor called Kun Koun, in 2001, the church affiliated with Methodist Mission in Cambodia (MMC).
With the aim of responding to the physical needs of poor local congregations, the church partnered with CHAD program of MMC in 2005 to start a cow raising project by providing support in terms of finance and technical know-how on how to form groups, implement projects, and monitor activities. So far the results have been good, evidenced by the cooperation and willingness of members in working together. The group has started with 12 people and so far is making outstanding progress. The number of cows for instance has increased from 3 at the beginning to 9 at the moment with 3 new calves ready to be passed on to new recipients.
Pastor Kun Koun says that the experience he gained from the cow raising group provides a wider perspective on how to effectively reach out to community people. He said that the faithfulness, encouragement, submission, and support amongst members contributes to accountability and stewardship, resulting in a strong and healthy group. This healthy group environment has attracted new members from the neighborhood. The new members have helped the group to resolve the problem of passing-on the gift by exchanging the male calves for female. The Pastor also mentioned that in the village there are two cow raising groups; one was organized within the church congregation by CHAD program and another one by World Vision for poor people within the community. Amazingly according to him, while both cow raising groups started almost at the same time, the number of cows within the CHAD-church initiated group have multiplied more (3 to 9) than the number of cows (10 to 15) in the group established by World Vision. This significant difference in the outcomes has led villagers to question why the church cow raising project has produced more cows than the community cow raising project. The pastor, who is also the village leader acknowledged that group’s attitude and performance help not only to meet his congregation needs but also give him ways in which he can reach out to more people to understand about God and believe Him.
For example, Mrs. Sok Em, a group member who was not believer when she joined the church cow raising group became a very active member of the church through the day-to-day interaction of working together with Christians in the group. During household visits and group meetings conducted every three months, she encourages other members to take care of their cows and to be good stewards. Another example is Mrs. Peuo Earn who is also a village development committee (VDC) member of their village. She always shares with people during village meetings how church members care and support one another to create a united community. Likewise, the pastor firmly says that in reaching out to the community the acts of mercy carried out by church and group members has shown God’s love and have been more effective than evangelizing. This is proven by the increase in the number of church members from 35 to 42 people last year.
Monday, August 11, 2008
An open letter about cows to the Vacation Church School children in Bakersfield, CA
From Katherine, a missionary from California to Cambodia, and Thy our brother in Christ Jesus here in Cambodia,
To the church in Bakersfield: Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We write to you again with the words of the apostle Paul when we say that we give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters. And this is right to do, because we know that during this time together of Vacation Church Camp your faith is growing and the love of each one of you for one another is increasing.
Mr. Thy and I heard that you will be visiting a farm in Bakersfield this week. You will get to see how we grow food to eat in the United States. What did you eat for breakfast this morning? We had rice noodle soup. What will you eat for lunch? How about dinner? We will have rice with some stir-fry vegetables and fish, the same as other people living here in Cambodia. In Bakersfield, most people probably eat cereal and bread and pasta, but in Cambodia we eat rice – LOTS of rice. So, the farmers have to grow the rice. About 85% of the people living in Cambodia are farmers.
When you visit a farm in Bakersfield, you will probably get to see a tractor. Tractors are very helpful for farmers. But, a tractor is very expensive (you can ask how much one costs). Most farmers in Cambodia cannot afford to buy a tractor. Actually, I have only seen one tractor since I came here. So, how can farmers prepare their land to plant rice? They use two cows to pull a plow! But even a cow is expensive. One local cow costs about $400, and most people in Cambodia earn less than $2 a day, so it can take a lot of time to save the money needed to buy a cow. But, even if you get one cow it is not enough, you need to have two cows to pull your plow. What can you do?
One of the activities of the church in Cambodia is to start a "cow raising group" in their local village. The community members form a group to help each other raise a cow. They choose one group member to be the caretaker of the cow. The CHAD project sometimes helps by giving the group a gift-loan to buy a cow or two. Then, the group can share with their neighbors and everyone can plow their field and do other farm chores. When a baby calf if born, they choose a new member to be the caretaker of the cow. After the caretaker has passed on two baby calves to other members of the group, the cow becomes the property of the caretaker. We call this "passing-on-the-gift." One church in Cambodia told me they now have eight cows that their members share with each other!
Mr. Thy is one of the Cambodian staff members in my office. Here is a story that he told me about one cow raising group.
Living in Atsue village, Sombor Commune, Prasth Sombor District, Kompong Thom Province, Mrs. Morm Khy, a 55-year-old widow is dreaming to own a cow one day to help her family farm the small plot of land that was left in her possession after a divorce in 1995. The divorce left her only with 1000 square meters of rice land and three young children. Since then, she became the breadwinner of the family and all the heavy burden of caring for her children fell on her. To supplement the 72 kg of rice she harvested from her very small plot of land, Morm Khy has to work as farm laborer where she earns a meager wage of 5000 reils or $1.25 per day.
One year later, in 1996 her hope was restored when she joined a Christian community in her village. That group of people provides her a lot of support, even inviting her to be a member of the cow raising group project. Being one of the poorest families in the group, Morm Khy was chosen to be one of the first recipients of the cow gift-loan from CHAD.
She said that since owning a cow her situation has changed significantly. First and foremost, she benefits from building a good relationship with her neighbors who help her feel that she is not alone and who stand by her side during times of troubles and difficulties. For Morm Khy, owning a cow means she only needs to borrow one cow from her neighbor in order plow her field and transport firewood from the forest to her house. In the same way, she told that owning a cow also gives her the ability and opportunity to help her neighbors by letting them borrow her cow. According to her, she saves 30,000 riels for transporting firewood and about 1,500 riels/day for vegetables she harvests from her garden that has been fertilized by manure from her cow.
Another benefit she mentioned from owning a cow is it affords her to be more productive and to keep busy at home. For instance, with cow manure she started doing compost, cleaning the area surrounding her house, and growing a vegetable garden--watering, cultivating the soil, and fertilizing it. According to her, these activities help her overcome her boredom and also help her to be industrious. She said, "These benefits have also enabled me 'til now to keep sending my 18-year-old youngest son to school." With her smile, she expresses her joy even though she is working hard. Morm Khy said that she would like to say thank you for all the support from her church and the cow raising group that chose her to be one of the first to receive the cow gift-loan from CHAD.
To the church in Bakersfield: Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We write to you again with the words of the apostle Paul when we say that we give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters. And this is right to do, because we know that during this time together of Vacation Church Camp your faith is growing and the love of each one of you for one another is increasing.
Mr. Thy and I heard that you will be visiting a farm in Bakersfield this week. You will get to see how we grow food to eat in the United States. What did you eat for breakfast this morning? We had rice noodle soup. What will you eat for lunch? How about dinner? We will have rice with some stir-fry vegetables and fish, the same as other people living here in Cambodia. In Bakersfield, most people probably eat cereal and bread and pasta, but in Cambodia we eat rice – LOTS of rice. So, the farmers have to grow the rice. About 85% of the people living in Cambodia are farmers.
When you visit a farm in Bakersfield, you will probably get to see a tractor. Tractors are very helpful for farmers. But, a tractor is very expensive (you can ask how much one costs). Most farmers in Cambodia cannot afford to buy a tractor. Actually, I have only seen one tractor since I came here. So, how can farmers prepare their land to plant rice? They use two cows to pull a plow! But even a cow is expensive. One local cow costs about $400, and most people in Cambodia earn less than $2 a day, so it can take a lot of time to save the money needed to buy a cow. But, even if you get one cow it is not enough, you need to have two cows to pull your plow. What can you do?
One of the activities of the church in Cambodia is to start a "cow raising group" in their local village. The community members form a group to help each other raise a cow. They choose one group member to be the caretaker of the cow. The CHAD project sometimes helps by giving the group a gift-loan to buy a cow or two. Then, the group can share with their neighbors and everyone can plow their field and do other farm chores. When a baby calf if born, they choose a new member to be the caretaker of the cow. After the caretaker has passed on two baby calves to other members of the group, the cow becomes the property of the caretaker. We call this "passing-on-the-gift." One church in Cambodia told me they now have eight cows that their members share with each other!
Mr. Thy is one of the Cambodian staff members in my office. Here is a story that he told me about one cow raising group.
Living in Atsue village, Sombor Commune, Prasth Sombor District, Kompong Thom Province, Mrs. Morm Khy, a 55-year-old widow is dreaming to own a cow one day to help her family farm the small plot of land that was left in her possession after a divorce in 1995. The divorce left her only with 1000 square meters of rice land and three young children. Since then, she became the breadwinner of the family and all the heavy burden of caring for her children fell on her. To supplement the 72 kg of rice she harvested from her very small plot of land, Morm Khy has to work as farm laborer where she earns a meager wage of 5000 reils or $1.25 per day.
One year later, in 1996 her hope was restored when she joined a Christian community in her village. That group of people provides her a lot of support, even inviting her to be a member of the cow raising group project. Being one of the poorest families in the group, Morm Khy was chosen to be one of the first recipients of the cow gift-loan from CHAD.
She said that since owning a cow her situation has changed significantly. First and foremost, she benefits from building a good relationship with her neighbors who help her feel that she is not alone and who stand by her side during times of troubles and difficulties. For Morm Khy, owning a cow means she only needs to borrow one cow from her neighbor in order plow her field and transport firewood from the forest to her house. In the same way, she told that owning a cow also gives her the ability and opportunity to help her neighbors by letting them borrow her cow. According to her, she saves 30,000 riels for transporting firewood and about 1,500 riels/day for vegetables she harvests from her garden that has been fertilized by manure from her cow.
Another benefit she mentioned from owning a cow is it affords her to be more productive and to keep busy at home. For instance, with cow manure she started doing compost, cleaning the area surrounding her house, and growing a vegetable garden--watering, cultivating the soil, and fertilizing it. According to her, these activities help her overcome her boredom and also help her to be industrious. She said, "These benefits have also enabled me 'til now to keep sending my 18-year-old youngest son to school." With her smile, she expresses her joy even though she is working hard. Morm Khy said that she would like to say thank you for all the support from her church and the cow raising group that chose her to be one of the first to receive the cow gift-loan from CHAD.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Binn Im's ministry
by Katherine Parker
Binn Im is the assistant pastor at Prekedai Methodist Church in a village about an hour down some dirt roads outside the provincial city of Batambong in Cambodia. Binn Im's story begins several years back when she received a gift-loan of a pig to raise through her participation in the Women's Association of the United Methodist Mission Initiative in Cambodia. She struggled to care for the pig and overcame several obstacles, including the death of her second litter and slow weight gain, to pass on piglets to another woman in her community.
It was during this time that Binn Im was responding to the call to ministry in her life. She applied and was accepted to study at the Methodist Bible School in Phnom Penh, where her son was also a student. Last year she graduated and was appointed as assistant pastor to her current rural congregation.
Four months ago, Binn Im welcomed a medical mission team to her church through the UMVIM (United Methodist Volunteers in Mission) partnership with CHAD (Community Health and Agricultural Development). The medical mission was a success and many people in her village received care. Binn Im has been working since then to ensure that those who need follow-up care are able to make the difficult journey into the provincial hospital at Batambong or all the way to Phnom Penh and serving as a patient advocate for them.
In the meantime, Binn Im has also continued her own discipleship training by attending workshops with the CHAD partner organization "Cheas Ponleau" (Bright Light). At Cheas Ponleau she was introduced to the concept of a seed-project. This is an approach to development where pastors are encourage to facilitate a group project using local resources.
Binn Im recognized the suffering of people in her community during the rainy season when there is insufficient rice to eat and local merchants charge 100% interest for a short-term loan of rice. She had a vision to start a rice-bank on the church property. With the approval of her District Superintendent Rev. Treung Bunny, Binn Im worked with a group of 15 families in her community to construct a barn to store the rice on the church property.
One church member traveled to the mountainside for 2 day to cut the trees for the frame. Other families donated nails and bamboo slats as they were able. And all of the families worked together to weave the thatch pieces to create the roof and walls. In two weeks the community had together build a small barn to store rice, something none of them had the resources to accomplish alone.
Through several visits, CHAD staff continued to support Binn Im by facilitating community discussions about how to write by-laws to govern a rice-bank. The community discussed many potential pitfalls, and because of their experience working together to build the rice-barn, they had the confidence to devise solutions to foreseen challenges and commit to continue working together regularly to avoid those future un-foreseen challenges. Yesterday, CHAD also provided a gift-loan to enable the community to purchase the initial rice to start the bank.
Binn Im knows that this is not the end of the story; the rice-bank is not only a means to address poverty-alleviation for the current 15 families who form the rice-bank group, but also an exercise in discipleship. She is continuing to nurture the community, so that as their faith and the rice in the bank grows that new members can join and eventually (in three-four years) they we be able to split and establish a new rice bank for more neighbors.
We love because God first loved us. Through your generous gifts, Binn Im was mentored into her role as a pastor and has been able to begin her vision of a rice-bank in her community. And through your continued prayers, Binn Im and her community will grow in their faith and learn the joy of giving. CHAD staff will continue to walk this path with Binn Im and her congregation, starting with a workshop on water and hygiene in two months time and continuing as the community identifies needs and areas for partnership. We hope you will continue to walk with us too.
Binn Im is the assistant pastor at Prekedai Methodist Church in a village about an hour down some dirt roads outside the provincial city of Batambong in Cambodia. Binn Im's story begins several years back when she received a gift-loan of a pig to raise through her participation in the Women's Association of the United Methodist Mission Initiative in Cambodia. She struggled to care for the pig and overcame several obstacles, including the death of her second litter and slow weight gain, to pass on piglets to another woman in her community.
It was during this time that Binn Im was responding to the call to ministry in her life. She applied and was accepted to study at the Methodist Bible School in Phnom Penh, where her son was also a student. Last year she graduated and was appointed as assistant pastor to her current rural congregation.
Four months ago, Binn Im welcomed a medical mission team to her church through the UMVIM (United Methodist Volunteers in Mission) partnership with CHAD (Community Health and Agricultural Development). The medical mission was a success and many people in her village received care. Binn Im has been working since then to ensure that those who need follow-up care are able to make the difficult journey into the provincial hospital at Batambong or all the way to Phnom Penh and serving as a patient advocate for them.
In the meantime, Binn Im has also continued her own discipleship training by attending workshops with the CHAD partner organization "Cheas Ponleau" (Bright Light). At Cheas Ponleau she was introduced to the concept of a seed-project. This is an approach to development where pastors are encourage to facilitate a group project using local resources.
Binn Im recognized the suffering of people in her community during the rainy season when there is insufficient rice to eat and local merchants charge 100% interest for a short-term loan of rice. She had a vision to start a rice-bank on the church property. With the approval of her District Superintendent Rev. Treung Bunny, Binn Im worked with a group of 15 families in her community to construct a barn to store the rice on the church property.
One church member traveled to the mountainside for 2 day to cut the trees for the frame. Other families donated nails and bamboo slats as they were able. And all of the families worked together to weave the thatch pieces to create the roof and walls. In two weeks the community had together build a small barn to store rice, something none of them had the resources to accomplish alone.
Through several visits, CHAD staff continued to support Binn Im by facilitating community discussions about how to write by-laws to govern a rice-bank. The community discussed many potential pitfalls, and because of their experience working together to build the rice-barn, they had the confidence to devise solutions to foreseen challenges and commit to continue working together regularly to avoid those future un-foreseen challenges. Yesterday, CHAD also provided a gift-loan to enable the community to purchase the initial rice to start the bank.
Binn Im knows that this is not the end of the story; the rice-bank is not only a means to address poverty-alleviation for the current 15 families who form the rice-bank group, but also an exercise in discipleship. She is continuing to nurture the community, so that as their faith and the rice in the bank grows that new members can join and eventually (in three-four years) they we be able to split and establish a new rice bank for more neighbors.
We love because God first loved us. Through your generous gifts, Binn Im was mentored into her role as a pastor and has been able to begin her vision of a rice-bank in her community. And through your continued prayers, Binn Im and her community will grow in their faith and learn the joy of giving. CHAD staff will continue to walk this path with Binn Im and her congregation, starting with a workshop on water and hygiene in two months time and continuing as the community identifies needs and areas for partnership. We hope you will continue to walk with us too.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Cow project in Atsue village
by Leng Thy
Living in Atsue village, Sombor Commune, Prasth Sombor District, Kompong Thom Province, Mrs. Morm Khy, a 55-year-old- widow is dreaming to own a cow one day to help her family farm the small plot of land that was left in her possession after a divorce in 1995. The divorce left her only with 1000 square meters of rice land and three young children. Since then, she became the breadwinner of the family and all the heavy burden of caring her children fell on her. To supplement the 72 kg of rice she harvested from her very small plot of land, Morm Khy has to work as farm laborer where she earns a meager wage of 5000 reils or $1.25 per day.
One year later, in 1996 her hope was restored as she joins a Christian community in her village. That group of people provides her a lot of support, even inviting her to be a member of the cow raising group project. Being one of the poorest families in the group, Morn Khy was chosen to be the one of first recipients of the cow gift loan from CHAD. She said that since owning a cow her situation has changed significantly. First and foremost, she benefits from building a good relationship with her neighbors who help her feel that she is not alone and who stood by her side during times of troubles and difficulties. For Morn Khy, owning a cow means she only needs to borrow one cow from her neighbor in order plow her field and transport firewood from the forest to her house. In the same way, she told that owning a cow also gives her the ability and opportunity to help her neighbors by letting them borrow her cow. According to her, she saves 30,000 riels for transporting firewood and about 1,500 riels/day for vegetables she harvest from her garden that has been fertilized by manure from her cow.
Another benefit she mentioned from owning a cow is it affords her to be more productive or keep her busy at home. For instance, with cow manure she started doing compost, clean area surrounding her house, do vegetable gardening--watering, cultivating the soil, and fertilizing it. According to her these works help her overcome her boredom, and also make her to become industrious. She said, “these benefits also enable me to send my 18-year-old youngest son in school till now.” With her smile, she expresses her joy even though she is working hard, Morm Khy said that she would like to say thank you for all the support from my church and the cow raising group that chose me to be first person to receive the cow gift loan from CHAD.
Living in Atsue village, Sombor Commune, Prasth Sombor District, Kompong Thom Province, Mrs. Morm Khy, a 55-year-old- widow is dreaming to own a cow one day to help her family farm the small plot of land that was left in her possession after a divorce in 1995. The divorce left her only with 1000 square meters of rice land and three young children. Since then, she became the breadwinner of the family and all the heavy burden of caring her children fell on her. To supplement the 72 kg of rice she harvested from her very small plot of land, Morm Khy has to work as farm laborer where she earns a meager wage of 5000 reils or $1.25 per day.
One year later, in 1996 her hope was restored as she joins a Christian community in her village. That group of people provides her a lot of support, even inviting her to be a member of the cow raising group project. Being one of the poorest families in the group, Morn Khy was chosen to be the one of first recipients of the cow gift loan from CHAD. She said that since owning a cow her situation has changed significantly. First and foremost, she benefits from building a good relationship with her neighbors who help her feel that she is not alone and who stood by her side during times of troubles and difficulties. For Morn Khy, owning a cow means she only needs to borrow one cow from her neighbor in order plow her field and transport firewood from the forest to her house. In the same way, she told that owning a cow also gives her the ability and opportunity to help her neighbors by letting them borrow her cow. According to her, she saves 30,000 riels for transporting firewood and about 1,500 riels/day for vegetables she harvest from her garden that has been fertilized by manure from her cow.
Another benefit she mentioned from owning a cow is it affords her to be more productive or keep her busy at home. For instance, with cow manure she started doing compost, clean area surrounding her house, do vegetable gardening--watering, cultivating the soil, and fertilizing it. According to her these works help her overcome her boredom, and also make her to become industrious. She said, “these benefits also enable me to send my 18-year-old youngest son in school till now.” With her smile, she expresses her joy even though she is working hard, Morm Khy said that she would like to say thank you for all the support from my church and the cow raising group that chose me to be first person to receive the cow gift loan from CHAD.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Why we form rice banks
by Katherine Parker
Cambodia is a country still visibly struggling to rebuild community trust, stability and self-sustenance after many years of civil war and foreign occupation. A significant job for the Community Health & Agriculture Development (CHAD) program is to share about the concept of stewardship and why we, as Christians, need to nurture, sustain and expand the resources that have been entrusted to us so that we can share with others. Cambodian staff person for CHAD, Mr. Thy, talks about a time when Cambodia was rich because people worked together, but now because of mistrust people are locked into poverty. It is from this starting place that CHAD works with church and community groups to start development projects. We ask the community to identify what needs it has and then what resources it has to begin addressing those needs. CHAD works together with the community to provide a gift-loan. It is called a gift-loan because the individual who is entrusted with the initial portion of money or, say, an animal is expected to return that to the group so that the gift-loan can be re-invested in the community, rather than being paid back to the donor.
CHAD began working with a community in Swaian village in Batanmbong province starting in 2005 to establish a cow-raising group. When we visited this week (March 2008), we met a five day old calf, the second to be born to this cow! This church community has worked well together for cow-raising and so we were excited to celebrate the beginning of a rice bank with 10 families.
The economics of rural Cambodia is that the primary source of income for farmers is selling their rice, which is usually harvested in December. Some of the rice is sold immediately after harvest, and some is kept to feed the family throughout the year. However, if the family needs money (such as for medical expenses or a wedding) they will sell their stored rice. For this reason, there is a lot of hunger in the months of October through December before the new crop is harvested. The local merchants charge 100% interest on loans of rice taken at this time.
Unfortunately, no one family has the money to build a structure to store rice. In the Swaian community, the families had all contributed money to purchase the supplies for building a communal storage house for rice (about $5 per family). We observed the cement pillars that had been erected for the storage building and the palm trees selected to be cut down for further construction materials. Unfortunately, the community member who is skilled at planking palm trees has been sick with a fever and so the rice store is not completed. The community hopes he will recover soon and the families can finish building the structure in the next week.
CHAD provided the $750 in capital to purchase the initial store of rice. The group has established its bylaws and policies for loaning out the rice (at 30% interest, about 1/3 the rate offered by local merchants). The group hopes that in three to four years it will have doubled its rice and can use this to start a new rice bank in the neighboring village. I was excited to listen to the families talk about how they hoped to use this rice bank to reach out in ministry to their community. They were realistic about the challenges and were committed to continue working together, expanding upon their initial success with the cow-raising group and building the rice storage house.
Cambodia is a country still visibly struggling to rebuild community trust, stability and self-sustenance after many years of civil war and foreign occupation. A significant job for the Community Health & Agriculture Development (CHAD) program is to share about the concept of stewardship and why we, as Christians, need to nurture, sustain and expand the resources that have been entrusted to us so that we can share with others. Cambodian staff person for CHAD, Mr. Thy, talks about a time when Cambodia was rich because people worked together, but now because of mistrust people are locked into poverty. It is from this starting place that CHAD works with church and community groups to start development projects. We ask the community to identify what needs it has and then what resources it has to begin addressing those needs. CHAD works together with the community to provide a gift-loan. It is called a gift-loan because the individual who is entrusted with the initial portion of money or, say, an animal is expected to return that to the group so that the gift-loan can be re-invested in the community, rather than being paid back to the donor.
CHAD began working with a community in Swaian village in Batanmbong province starting in 2005 to establish a cow-raising group. When we visited this week (March 2008), we met a five day old calf, the second to be born to this cow! This church community has worked well together for cow-raising and so we were excited to celebrate the beginning of a rice bank with 10 families.
The economics of rural Cambodia is that the primary source of income for farmers is selling their rice, which is usually harvested in December. Some of the rice is sold immediately after harvest, and some is kept to feed the family throughout the year. However, if the family needs money (such as for medical expenses or a wedding) they will sell their stored rice. For this reason, there is a lot of hunger in the months of October through December before the new crop is harvested. The local merchants charge 100% interest on loans of rice taken at this time.
Unfortunately, no one family has the money to build a structure to store rice. In the Swaian community, the families had all contributed money to purchase the supplies for building a communal storage house for rice (about $5 per family). We observed the cement pillars that had been erected for the storage building and the palm trees selected to be cut down for further construction materials. Unfortunately, the community member who is skilled at planking palm trees has been sick with a fever and so the rice store is not completed. The community hopes he will recover soon and the families can finish building the structure in the next week.
CHAD provided the $750 in capital to purchase the initial store of rice. The group has established its bylaws and policies for loaning out the rice (at 30% interest, about 1/3 the rate offered by local merchants). The group hopes that in three to four years it will have doubled its rice and can use this to start a new rice bank in the neighboring village. I was excited to listen to the families talk about how they hoped to use this rice bank to reach out in ministry to their community. They were realistic about the challenges and were committed to continue working together, expanding upon their initial success with the cow-raising group and building the rice storage house.
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