People for Care and Learning Holds Ground Breaking for BUILD A CITY Project
People for Care and Learning (PCL), an independent benevolent organization with roots in the Church of God, held a groundbreaking ceremony for a project in Cambodia to build an entire city near the capital city of Phnom Penh.
According to executive director Dr. Fred Garmon, PCL has been working in Cambodia for ten years and during this time the organization has made tremendous relationships with both the poor and the Kingdom of Cambodia.
“For the past seven years PCL has worked in several relocation camps in Phnom Penh,” Garmon stated. “These relocation camps house poor families that have been moved from property the government authorities believe to be valuable and key to the cities’ expansion, including river front property along the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers.” Garmon said the government, in hopes of helping these people, adopted a United Nations initiative called “The Poverty Reduction Plan.” The plan outlines fundamental ways third world countries can help the poor; such as building Habitat for Humanity designed homes.
“Of course, someone needs to provide the financial capital ($1,000 USD per home) in order for this plan to work,” Garmon commented.
PCL has been building homes in Andong village for four years now, 25 homes at a time. But this strategy changed last July 2011 when Garmon visited the village and found it flooded, primarily due to the monsoon rainy season. Within the ankle deep waters was all the refuse that comes when 1,800 families that live within a small area of land without proper sewage, drainage, and water systems. Dr. Garmon says, “It all started with a simple statement,” as he said to PCL’s Southern Cambodia Development Director, Bien Raneses, “We cannot continue to move people from one slum just to create another. We need to build the entire city!”
Dr. Fred Garmon, left, signs the Memorandum of Understanding with Cambodian officials.
It has now been seven months and many focus group meetings since that initial thought was articulated. This past Monday, February 6, 2012 was the ground breaking for what is now called and branded as the BUILD A CITY project; 1,500 homes for 6,000 people in three years. The project is an ambitious dream that will cost an estimated $2,225,000 to complete. Dr. John Gregory and the Lazarus Foundation has joined hands with PCL to provide the project with a $1 million dollar matching grant to be given over the three year time span ($333,000 / year). For every home that is built with a donation of $1,000 a second one will be constructed, thanks to the donation.
Dr. Garmon continued, “I don’t know of any thing being done like this anywhere. But we believe after working with the poor for more than a decade that we must learn to attack the cycle of poverty in a holistic and systemic manner. This project seeks to do just this. And to make it work we will have to join hands with many partners and concerned organizations.”
One such partner, Garmon noted, is the Kingdom of Cambodia local government within Phnom Penh. They are giving PCL complete oversight of the financial system of the project and have also allowed PCL to choose the contractor to run and oversee the project from beginning to end. The government is also reaching out to work with PCL’s contractor providing all construction permits and purchasing all extra properties needed to complete the project. Garmon said, “I can’t think of anything we’ve requested that the local government has not agreed to. They have been wonderful to work with. This is a win-win relationship and we both want it to work very badly.”
The ground breaking was attended by government officials, dignitaries from the Cambodian military and more than a thousand local residents. PCL provided snacks for local residents in attendance. The ceremony was followed by a processional walk through of the village and detailed discussion of the scope of the project.
The Phnom Penh government officials met again Monday afternoon at 3pm with PCL leadership at the capital building for signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU); the official agreement between the Kingdom of Cambodia and PCL pertaining to this project. During the official exchange the Governor of Cambodia said, “PCL is one of the most reputable NGO’s (non government organizations) in Cambodia, primarily because they can be trusted; you do what you say you will do.”
Joining the PCL delegation was Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd, CBS reality TV celebrities who became friends with Garmon a year ago during Jeff’s “Around the World for Free” adventure in Cambodia.
The official meeting ended with the signing of the MOU by the Governor, Garmon and Raneses .
“We’ve come a long way,” Garmon said, “since 2002 when we first moved into the Cambodian neighborhood. We’ve learned that a bottom-up / top-down strategy works best- partnering with both the poor in the village and the powerful in the Cambodian government. We must learn to earn the right to speak into any culture and/or government and that takes time. It cannot be done overnight. We’re excited to begin another chapter in this on going relational adventure to help the poor in Cambodia.”
Many were present at the offical groundbreaking ceremony.
Individuals, churches, and organizations can get involved in a significant way by identifying aspects of the Build A City project and working toward funding critical portions. According to Garmon, the following amounts have been calculated to complete the project over the three year period: design and preparation: $36,200; drainage system: $110,000; roads:$288,000; Clinic (third floor of an existing building): $20,600; street lights: $40,000; market: $65,300; community center: $40,000; playground: $25,000; school building: $86,400; and police station: $13,500. The total amount sought to complete all homes is $1,275,000
“If we can find people that will bite off these projects it will help us tremendously to reach our goal,” Garmon concluded.
People for Care and Learning’s mission is to “give the poor a working chance.” Their vision is to “Inspire Hope and Empower Potential.”
To learn more about PCL and the Build A City project, visit them online at www.peopleforcare.org and www.buildacity.org.
