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.

The Social Concerns Committee (SCC) of the Methodist Church in Cambodia (MMC) has already distributed some funds from UMCOR for immediate food aid to about 1150 families in 55 villages (in 9 provinces) who have lost their harvest, but this is still just a drop in the bucket so to say. The Water Festival has been canceled by the government this year in order to use those funds also to provide relief.

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

A silk weaving group in Prey Cherteal Village, Takeo Province

by Ms. Daneth
Prey Cherteal is one of the villages in Prey Kabash district, Takeo province. This village is known for people who are good in silk weaving. The whole family is helping each other to do weaving, though mostly women and girls do the actual weaving. They learn from one generation to one generation. Most of the girls learn to weave starting about 12 years old. Nowadays the grandmothers and mothers are passing on what they know to the next generation so that this skill will not be lost from their community in the future. Additionally, people in this village are also able to improve their life through this skill. It provides them with a good income and the children don't need to look for job outside the community. It is living skill.

The weavers in Prey Cherteal could earn more from this work, but unfortunately they don’t have enough capital to own their own business. One of the most labor intensive parts of weaving is putting the thread on the warp. Therefore, they need to buy enough silk to thread their warp for 3-6 months of weaving at one time. This costs about $250, which is more capital than most families have available.

The rich business middle-men take this opportunity to cover the capital for them to buy the silk thread and dyes needed. When the middle men provide the thread and dye and the women only do the weaving, they get less benefit. Our people borrow the money and the raw material from the middle-men. The middle-men calculate the interest more than helping people and giving them benefit.

Our Methodist Church is working with this community through the church. There are some people also believe Christ, most of them are women. CHAD takes time to learn the situation of this village from day to day then we started to give the seed money to help the women to start Silk Weaving group with six members. Through this project three women were able to get loan first in September 10, 2010. Through this help the member of this group are able to earn more if we compare when they work under price control of middle-men.

Nowadays, they are able to earn profit of $ 20/set after they pay back their loan to their Silk Weaving Group. Before they were able to earn only $ 7.5/set. There are 4 meters/set for one warp and they also can finish 1 set in 15 days to 1 month. The 3 members give back the money with interest through the policy they made as part of the Silk Weaving Group. They keep this money in the village bank. This helps them feel safe and earns more interest from the bank.

Through this money that was paid back, on February 2, 2011, the group was able to give a loan to the next woman. Now 4 of the 6 members in the group have received a loan. They also plan to reach out to new member in the future after all the 6 member get a loan. In order to be chosen, the new members have to be kind, generous, ability for weaving, not default on another loan, to be patient and work hard. Another plan is that they want to start a saving group from the silk weaving group.

Through our monitoring visit we learned that this group is responsible, work together and also help one another in order to reach the community need. This is the vision of CHAD to see, after we help people and people can help themselves and reach out to their community.

Daneth's first week at the Asian Rural Institute, Japan

by Ms. Him Daneth

Daneth, part of the GBGM staff in Cambodia, is attending a nine-month training program at the Asian Rural Institute (ARI) in Japan. Here are some reflections from her first week at the program.

I would like to share what was happening, my feeling, and many activities…

Tomoko said that there are 17 countries for the 2010 participants. There are 16 male and 14 female.

The first session was an introduction about the Crop and vegetable session. It was talking about our farming situation back home. What we used to do and why we need to plant the vegetable and rice? Most of the participants answered, “Because we need to eat.” The end of the introduction was talking about the connection between every thing living on earth. Every thing on earth is connected; we have to know how they are connected. Good Sun asked, “What is the human need?” The participants answered that food and water sustain our life. “How can we have the food?” They said that we buy our plant and raise it. “How can we plant and raise the animal?” For example, the cow needs what? The cow needs the grass. “The grass needs what?” The grass needs the water. The human eats the cow and drinks the water, the cow needs the grass and the grass needs water and sun.

Tomoko san is the Associate Director. She is in ARI 15 years already. She shared about the Biography of ARI. The founder is Dr. Takami. Foundation and Spirit of ARI is very important for us to understand and helps you understand why you need to come here. She shared the key word of living in ARI. We share every thing with each other so that we may live together, it is the ARI motto. We also need to live and connect with nature.

Food Life Work

The facilitator of the crop and vegetable told us that before we plant potatoes, we have to know where they come from. The potatoes come from South Africa. Teacher explains about how to cut potatoes. “Do we need to cut potato in two pieces or many pieces?” It is according to the eye of the potato. “Why we need to do like that?” because the potato can grow more and more.

Community Life Policy

There are 3 main points: 1. Standard, 2. Guideline, and 3. Rule. It is talking about our living in ARI as the community. We come from different backgrounds so we need to understand one another. It is what we need to learn. How can we build the new community living if we do not understand each other? This community will be broken. We need to learn from one another as a person, work together, sleep together, eat together, and play together in order that we learn to help each other.