This article was written in 2010 while I was working for World Vision Cambodia.
Title: My family has a better
livelihood
Sixty-year-old Mr. Chun En and his
fifty-eight-year-old wife Thun Koeurt both are farmers. Life has been difficult
for this couple and their family. Chun’s family living conditions was really
stressful and sometimes
Chun used to shout insulting words to his family members. Chun shared, “My wife
and I worked very hard on our rice farm using the ancient ways of our
ancestors' to grow rice. We did not know about better farming method to produce
better harvest to feed our family’s needs. We farmed naturally, never put
fertilizer and never had any creative ideas to make a better livelihood.”
They seemed to live in with limited education. They farm rice year after year and their life do not get any better. Their family also does not have good relationship with the neighbors. Chun said, “I was a selfish one with limited education, and never cared to make a good relationships with neighbors. Also, I did not share any problem or experiences with my neighbors for improving livelihood. Before, I see myself as lower status than others in the village. This made it difficult for me to open up to others in the community.” Farming without any creative ideas did not help to improve Chun’s family economic condition. He added, “I could earn very little amount to support the family' needs. It's sometimes not enough to fulfill my family’s hunger. I thought I could not support my children to pursue their studies to get higher education.”
Around 2003, Chun was invited to participate in many trainings that were conducted by Sandan Area Development Program (ADP) staff, World Vision Cambodia. Chun grinned, “I am very happy to be a member of any trainings of World Vision; I participated in the trainings such as chicken raising, exposure visit in other provinces, rice field, gardening, compost making, hygiene, and including sessions on domestic violence.”
World Vision staffs always came to visit my family and stayed overnight. World Vision staff also encouraged and advised Chun and his whole family to live in hygiene and to improve livelihood. There was no toilet at Chun’s house, but he built a toilet on his own after he attended training and received advices from World Vision staff on hygiene. He and his family members use that toilet regularly and they also clean up the rubbish from around the house.
Chun looks really active and he works fast. He smiled and said, “I am now open to share my own experiences about farming, and improving livelihood to anybody. I used to be invited to train other villagers about chicken raising and farming. I am prepared and I have planned well for all my sessions. I am so happy that I can teach others what I have learned from World Vision and with my own experiences.”
“Now, I no longer shouted insulting words to my wife and my children, we all use only good words with each other. I can also manage some money to support my children to get higher education. I plan to teach my children about doing farming and live with good livelihood, then I think I would be old enough to relax,” Chun said while his eyes looked toward the sugarcane field.
Chun is a friendly guy who is talkative, but he is modest. He shared, "I now have learned lots from outsiders especially World Vision, and I have gained more knowledge.”
“He is a good model for others farmers in the community, and he is open-minded. He is also a good facilitator in transferring knowledge to other villagers; everyone in the community respects and recognizes his achievements. I am so proud of him. He has high commitment and always keep practicing what he had learned from World Vision,” said Mr. Saron Kheng, Transformational Development Facilitator of Sandan ADP.
They seemed to live in with limited education. They farm rice year after year and their life do not get any better. Their family also does not have good relationship with the neighbors. Chun said, “I was a selfish one with limited education, and never cared to make a good relationships with neighbors. Also, I did not share any problem or experiences with my neighbors for improving livelihood. Before, I see myself as lower status than others in the village. This made it difficult for me to open up to others in the community.” Farming without any creative ideas did not help to improve Chun’s family economic condition. He added, “I could earn very little amount to support the family' needs. It's sometimes not enough to fulfill my family’s hunger. I thought I could not support my children to pursue their studies to get higher education.”
Around 2003, Chun was invited to participate in many trainings that were conducted by Sandan Area Development Program (ADP) staff, World Vision Cambodia. Chun grinned, “I am very happy to be a member of any trainings of World Vision; I participated in the trainings such as chicken raising, exposure visit in other provinces, rice field, gardening, compost making, hygiene, and including sessions on domestic violence.”
World Vision staffs always came to visit my family and stayed overnight. World Vision staff also encouraged and advised Chun and his whole family to live in hygiene and to improve livelihood. There was no toilet at Chun’s house, but he built a toilet on his own after he attended training and received advices from World Vision staff on hygiene. He and his family members use that toilet regularly and they also clean up the rubbish from around the house.
Chun looks really active and he works fast. He smiled and said, “I am now open to share my own experiences about farming, and improving livelihood to anybody. I used to be invited to train other villagers about chicken raising and farming. I am prepared and I have planned well for all my sessions. I am so happy that I can teach others what I have learned from World Vision and with my own experiences.”
“Now, I no longer shouted insulting words to my wife and my children, we all use only good words with each other. I can also manage some money to support my children to get higher education. I plan to teach my children about doing farming and live with good livelihood, then I think I would be old enough to relax,” Chun said while his eyes looked toward the sugarcane field.
Chun is a friendly guy who is talkative, but he is modest. He shared, "I now have learned lots from outsiders especially World Vision, and I have gained more knowledge.”
“He is a good model for others farmers in the community, and he is open-minded. He is also a good facilitator in transferring knowledge to other villagers; everyone in the community respects and recognizes his achievements. I am so proud of him. He has high commitment and always keep practicing what he had learned from World Vision,” said Mr. Saron Kheng, Transformational Development Facilitator of Sandan ADP.
-Ends-
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