Cambodian Poverty Reduction Project
I had the honor of meeting with two vice governors of the Phnom Penh Province and City Department of Urban Poor Municipality. These men are responsible for the global partnership of non-government organizations who commit to work with the Cambodian government on the “Poverty Reduction Project.” This project involves the relocation and resettlement of literally thousands of the poorest of the poor in Cambodia. We initiated this partnership last year when People for Care and Learning (PCL) built a medical clinic in the rural Cambodian area of Kork Thork Lieu.
Bien Raneses (PCL’s Southern Cambodia development director) and I initially met with these men to negotiate a possible long-term partnership agreement to continue using the old, gutted factory building located in what we refer to as “Immanuel Village,” one of four resettlement sites inside the city of Phnom Penh proper. The people living in this village formerly lived on top of the city’s garbage dump. Bien and his team of twenty-somethings (young adult Christian humanitarian workers / PCL staff) have been serving this village for several years with food, medical assistance, education and friendship. We left the meeting with an optimistic promise that this request would be met.
During the course of our meeting, however, these two vice governors turned the conversation toward another project involving Phnom Penh’s poorest population: the “Poverty Reduction Project.” The governors requested that PCL join several other international aid organizations (Red Cross, Habitat) in providing resources to build homes on donated land so that these hundreds of poor families can get a fresh start. Since PCL’s motto is “Inspiring Hope and Empowering Potential,” this request seemed to fit within the boundaries of our stated goals.
An estimated 1,600 families have been relocated to the Andong Thmei relocation site—one of many relocation sites. But, according to Vice Governor Mann Chhoeurn, “This site targets the poorest of the poor.” In addition, the Cambodian daily newspaper recently printed: “Christian churches have built a few toilets and an overcrowded school is available to some, but Andong Thmei…is still…a swamp.” Presently only 440 of the 1,600 families have been given 4 x 6 meter plots of ground. The remaining 1,160 families are living in rows of densely packed thatched-roof houses with gray water and sticky green creeks of trash running between them.
We are therefore looking for partners….anyone want to make a difference?
Dr. Fred Garmon, Executive Director, People for Care and Learning
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