PTEA is our new partner in Cambodia. Its name is misleading: Por Thorn Elderly Association. Founded in 1994 by the venerable Poch Man, in his early fifties. PTEA first aimed at helping the elderly. In 2003 Poch Man, after 23 years as a monk, left the pagoda: "I wanted to provide practical assistance to all these people who fed me for many years when I was a monk". The activities of PTEA have now changed: comunity development and community forestry. In Cambodia the police and the local authorities are often absent or inactive, logging is going on in a big way. Rich and well connected people take the best trees, cut 1 meter above the ground and leave with heavy trucks which destroy the small village roads. Next come poor economic migrants. The sell the rest, and plant cassava or corn. They live in difficult conditions, far from everything, the clinic or the school. Poch Man and his team help the villagers to put clear boundaries to their communal forest, with concrete poles. PTEA trains them so that they would be stronger to resist intruders. Together they run nurseries to replant the forest. Mobile phones are provided to have a quick and efficient alert network. PTEA also does advocacy work at higher levels, together with other NGOs. See the video: Des hommes et des arbres (3Mb, 3') |
 Powerful people have stolen the big trees.  Poch Man helps the villagers to get organized: protect the forest and plant new trees |
