Chia Chan Don's family
Low yields, one crop a year
Training new quilters
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A village in Rumdoul, only a few kilometers from the Vietnam border. 20 years behind for poverty. Mekong Plus has a new team in the area, all Khmer. They have spent months on the Long Mỹ program in Vietnam for training. The Vietnam team, when asked did not hesitate: “Yes there is still a lot to be done in Vietnam but as Mekong Plus has helped us, so we should try to help in Cambodia”.
Chia Chan Don is a very active farmer. His wife and the 5 children live on 2 hectares of land, plus a small pond. They have no cow nor buffalo and cannot plough their land, they would have to hire neighbors, this is 50 €, they cannot afford it. Such a pity because even though yields are extremely low in the village (about 0,7 ton/ha against 5 tons across the border) due to poor seeds and lack of water, they could have made a net profit of 93$. So Chia Chan Don rented his land to another farmer instead and works as a daily laborer on others’ farms. He can only find work about 10-15 days a month during the 6 months rainy season, paid about 1,5 €/day. Rumdoul is poor and dry, so every year he migrates to a far away province. Our survey indicates that over 80% households send at least one member to Phnom Penh for 3-5 months. And guess what? HIV-AIDS has already had its heavy toll in the region. In Phnom Penh at least there is work, and this is one person less to feed from the farm.
No chairs, nothing to share with the guests… This family may be extremely poor but they are joyful and joking. All children are at school. They have invested in fish raising, and hope to make 180 € profit. Mekong Plus hopes to do much with Chia Chan Don. Technical advice so that he would succeed with the fish. Maybe a microcredit for 2 cows so that he could farm his land instead of renting it to others? Better seeds for the paddy? There seems to be no reason why yields should be so low!
Kalyan runs the Mekong-Quilts shop in Phnom Penh: “My most cherished desire is to see similar programs in Rumdoul as Mekong Plus does in Vietnam”. She is now helping in the training of 2 quilters’ groups, they will make cushions: she has promised the women could double their income and have regular work*. Her plan is to employ 100 women (in Vietnam Mekong-Quilts employs already 180 quilters). All profits from the shop are for Rumdoul: enough to help 25 more households each month.
Quilts, agriculture, fish raising, health education (only 5% have a latrine): Mekong Plus is in Rumdoul for the long term.
Bernard KERVYN, 17 October 2009
*On average we need 50 € to train one quilter. |
