Newsletter from Cambodia

Greetings! I would like to introduce myself, Ann Wigglesworth, and I’m delighted to have now returned to IWDA as Programs Team Leader, my second time working for the organisation.

In 1996 I travelled to Cambodia to work with the IWDA Cambodia office (now Banteay Srei). At that time we were planning the implementation of an AusAID funded project ‘Food for Change’, a project including ‘Cow Banks’ and agriculture training that was set up to respond to the dire situation of the large numbers of traumatised widows in the aftermath of Khmer Rouge atrocities and ‘killing fields’. According to Thavy, one of our first Cambodian co-coordinators, at the time ‘people were only thinking of how to fill their stomachs’.  But the cows became much more than an economic asset, contributing to the healing process for widows by becoming a part of their family. They symbolised hope and renewal.

In the field of international development, it is all too rare to have the chance to revisit communities to observe project impact over the long term. It has thus been an exciting opportunity to return last month to Cambodia and the IWDA supported Banteay Srei projects after 15 years.

In 1996, IWDA Cambodia was a two woman office. Today Banteay Srei is operating at a national level with a strong working relationship with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. In Cambodia Banteay Srei has developed a reputation for having a particularly effective model of community development due to its intensive work in the villages and the integration of official structures in their work.  Banteay Srei means ‘citadel of women’ and it was named after a famous and exquisitely carved temple not far from Angkor Wat.

In Samrong village, Siem Reap Province, Ean Pish explained that at the time the project activities started in 1992 there was no possibility that a woman could be chosen as a leader. Now she has been elected as Deputy Village Chief. The work of Banteay Srei has enabled women such as her to take a role in the community and become respected. The village committee now runs the project activities including a cow bank, a rice cooperative, chicken raising, organic vegetable growing and a savings and credit program.

In 1995, Banteay Srei started work in Roung Ampil village in Battambang Province. At that time 18 cows were provided to start the Cow Bank. Now 253 families, previously amongst the poorest, have been beneficiaries of the Cow Bank. Thut Ken and her husband Phaem Sorn describe themselves as ‘a little bit prosperous’ since receiving a cow in 2004. The have 7 children (after 14 pregnancies), and while their tiny house displays their poverty, they now have a cow and two calves, which will bring income to the family. They can also benefit from the Rice Bank. Rice is bought at a low price after the harvest, and sold back to the poor families 6-9 months later at a price which is considerably lower that the seasonal market price, but still allowing a small profit to ensure the Bank is sustainable.

Such Touch  in Leang Dai village in Siem Reap Province has had her cow since 1995. She now has four cows of three different generations. She pairs her cow with that of a neighbour to plough their fields. Previously they had to hire cows from rich villagers for ploughing. Such Touch uses the manure from the cows to make compost to grow beans and corn. She sells beans in the market, earning over $25 a harvest. A bumper corn harvest a few years ago enabled her to buy a new piece of land for $300 to extend her plot. She is now no longer one of Leang Dai’s poorest.

In 2010, Banteay Srei is still working in many of the same villages, but has extended the range of activities. IWDA, with a grant from AusAID over the past 3 years, supported a project to combat violence against women. Two people, one man and one woman, are trained to reduce domestic violence in each community through counseling, community education and advocacy. In all villages we visited, the incidence of violence against women has reduced dramatically since they started work.

The cow banks, rice banks, pig and chicken raising, vegetable gardening and credit programs still continue, but now these are run by the village themselves, coordinated by a Community Faciliator (CF) elected by the village. Banteay Srei is now planning to phase out completely from many of these villages to concentrate its efforts in new communities. It is really exciting to see how Banteay Srei’s work is truly sustainable and is clearly reducing poverty as well as strengthening the role of women in decision making at family, village and Commune, and Provincial levels. In this 20th year of partnership with Banteay Srei and in IWDA’s 25th year, we are proud to have catalysed a lasting change in so many Cambodian communities.

Ann Wigglesworth

Programs Team Leader
International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA)

“When women benefit, the whole community benefits.”

Tags: Banteay Srei, Programs

This entry was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 under Cambodia, Media, Recent.