the cambodian experience

7/25/2019 The Cambodian Experience

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The Cambodian experience

I have been volunteering in Cambodia for about 8 years. I

recently returned from my 16th

trip and at times it feels likefamily - I have made friends there I miss like my own family

when Im away from the place.

I volunteer with Ockenden, a Cambodian NGO I totally trust.

Most of their work is out of Sereisophan (known as Sisophon

Town) - about 1:30 hrs from Siem Reap. This is a service town

with very little interest to tourists and as a result without any of

the facilities tourists expect.

The Bio-regions where Ockenden works are very close or

relatively close to the Thai border. There is no official crossing

indeed to cross into Thailand means workers are risking life and

limb as the hill side is still mined.

There are two bi-regional examples I would like to touch on: the Cherng KrousDam catchment and

Thmar Romeal area.

The Cherng Krous Dam area:

When Nharn, the president of Ockenden (he attended a 6 week EDE at Crystal Waters) first showed

me the dam, we could drive in the middle of the dam wall but you could not step off the middle as

the embankments had not yet been cleared from mines.

The dam had been built about 900 years

ago (during the same time as Angkor Wat

was built) but had been neglected and

was re-built during the time of Pol Pot,

only for the gates to collapse again. When

I first saw the wall there was very little

water in the lake. The dam wall itself was

heavily overgrown with large trees which

would have weakened the structure. (The

photo at left shows the overgrown dam

wall)

The wall length is about 3 km a major

task to bring back into service.

There was a real need to create a source of water as the villages down stream really suffered.

The attached report, done before the dam was re-built illustrates the issues is attached with this

report.


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Social issues in the target areas are:

At an educational level, illiteracy levels are the highest in Thmar Pourk and Banteay Ampil

districts (according to NCDD 2009 statistics) with 25% of the population (15 to 60) being

illiterate. This in turn impacts on safe water and sanitation practices being at their lowest in

Thmar Pourk with 84.5% of the population (74.8% in Banteay Ampil) drinking unboiled water.

From a Water and sanitation point of view,

although the number of wells increased

during the period 2006-2008, so has the

number of unusable pump or mixed wells.

Every well in Thmar Pourk supports an

average of 180 persons (152 in Banteay

Ampil); compared to 33 people per well in its

capital city Sisophon. The majority of the

Thmar Pourk population (75%) relies oneither water storage, ponds and natural

sources (natural ponds/reservoirs); with only

5.7% using a well. The National Committee

for Democratic Developments survey found

that 89.8% of Thmar Pourk families (compared to 53% in Banteay Ampil) used unsafe water

sources in the dry season. In comparison, only 28.6% of the population in Banteay Ampil uses

rain water storage et al.; with the majority using pump and mixed wells. (Photo above: children

carrying water)

Between 2006 to 2008, Vulnerable groupsincreased in Thmar Pourk (with more families livingwith HIV/AIDS; more under 18 and elderly being abandoned; the number of victims of natural

disasters almost doubling over three years). In Banteay Ampil, the population is particularly

vulnerable to natural disasters; with a quadrupling of disaster affected victims in 2007 compared

to 2006 figures.

Migration trends From 2006 to 2008, migration is on the increase; with only 8% attributed to

employment migration in Thmar Pourk compared to 2% in Banteay Ampil.

Environmental effects- If the rehabilitation leads to a more permanent inundation of the large

storage area there will be more significant positive impacts. The negative environmental impactsare not foreseen because this is the existing reservoir. Overall, the negative environmental

impacts are rated as medium, related mostly to canal re-excavation and reshaping.

The key study findings showed the following:

i. Over the past ten years, it was identified that the proposed target area suffered

recurrent droughts affecting parts or most of the rice cultivation and other secondary

crops (corn, beans, cassava...). People in the areas rely heavily on rain-fed rice (or wet

season rice) for their household livelihoods. Farmers start to grow rice and some other

crops from May to Oct every year. Droughts occurred in July to September & recentlyeven longer. Combined with increasingly freak storms, this caused particularly low


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agricultural productivity (from 1

ton -1.5 tons per ha in a good

year). As a result, 51% of 2,167

households (extremely poor and

poor) are still suffering from foodinsecurity. (Photo at right:

Drought affected garden)

ii. Some other agricultural

constraints raised also by villagers

during the study were that they

lacked skills especially on pest and

insect controls, and techniques to

cultivate dry season rice. Farmers expressed their desires to grow dry season crops. The

reasons that motivated farmers to grow dry season rice and additional crops are (a) thatthe price of agriculture produce has gone up and (b) that an improved road access to the

areas would allow farmers to sell more of their produce. However some noted they were

not experienced in dry season rice cultivation.

iii. Lack of water control and management for irrigation in the areas: Cherng Krous

reservoir and its irrigation facilities (water gates, main canals and dikes) were built in Pol

Pot regime (1975-1979) using forced labours and have so far broken and become

dysfunctional. There have been no repairs undertaken neither by government nor NGOs

since. The existing Water Users Committee (WUC) along with village authorities have

tried their best to control water flow in the reservoir using available means (log wood toclose and open one of the gates). However the WUC recognises it lacks management and

technical skills; and resources to perform their duties. Also it realised that its lack of

formal legal recognition (legal document) from the commune chief may hinder WUCs

ability to gain public funds for the necessary rehabilitation of the Cherng Krous Reservoir.

Farmers as well as the WUC do not expect rice yields to increase without irrigation

rehabilitation. In light of local climate changes such as drought or change in seasonal

patterns, this increases greatly the risk of food insecurity in the area.

iv. Other constraints faced include a lack of services: agricultural extension, access to

health service, limited crop intensification and diversification, and poor infrastructure inthe areas.

Please see the attached Feasibilities Study of the Dam before its rehabilitated. It is worth having a

read to see how things were before the project was completed. The background of the situation is

covered in the last 3 pages of the report.

The proposal to re-build the dam wall was presented to Christopher Lavender from the Kadoorie

Charitable Foundation and they agreed to fund the work and I committed to visiting the site as

required on a volunteer basis.

The outcome after a few years is that the dam wall has been re-built, canals have been built and

water is available to grow a second crop of rice, a pipe supplies water to the villages, fish have been


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released into the dam (and are supplying already much needed protein) overall a success story

resulting in more food for locals, a number of business opportunities and a reliable water supply.

(Photos below left and right: New dam wall and right, the canal)

Indeed, the lake with large areas of Lotus and plenty of

fish to catch has become a tourist attraction.

Photo above: Having water makes a difference


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More work is being done to educate the farmers in organic methods and pest management practices

and the villagers are learning how to best use the available water and how not to create a waste

water problem.

This is very much still a work in progress but the improvements are visible to all.

The villages are working towards becoming Ecovillages and are looking at environmentally

appropriate practices beyond water.

Thmar Romeal:

This region is very close to the Thai border. Indeed many locals venture across the (still mined)

slopes to Thailand for work.

When I first visited the area new settlers had been given a plot 30 x 50m no roads, no water and

no power.

Ockenden got involved with the poorest of the poor mostly widows and the elderly. There was

always a very structured approach and each step was tested and improved before it was spread to

more families.

Granny (photo left)one of my dear friends, is a good

example. When we first visited her she was living in a

hut which had no real walls and a very leaky roof. She

sold rice cakes along the street so she could buy water

so she could grow some vegetables.

Ockenden helped her(and many others)

with a roof which

would not leak and

which provided good

quality rain water

which was collected in

a Ferro cement tank.

A small pond (photo

right) was dug which

provides water to the garden and orchard. Drip

irrigation allows her to make best use

of the available water. Ockenden

fieldworkers helped her design and

install mulch gardens and provided

seeds. The garden at left is the result.


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A few pigs were added (photo below) which created some cash income and fertility to improve the

very poor soil.

Today Granny lives with her daughter and 5 grand

children in a very decent house with fairly secure

water. She collects and distributes seeds. She sellsvegetables locally and even across the border to

Thai customers.

She and her daughter have purchased another block

of land where they seasonal rain permitting

grow more vegetables and indeed they are growing

a future for the young ones.

Kadoorie has built a

school and many of the children are now getting an education.

Lessons learned at these

Experimental farms are

constantly improved upon. For

example, the ponds which were

initially just sewer holes in the

ground look very different these

days. Topsoil is now removed

before the pond is dug. The subsoil

is used to raise gardens and homes

above any flood level and a rim

around each pond (with plenty ofedge) is creating a growing area with unique possibilities.

On my most recent visit a 79 year old farmer told me that this is

the first time that he can sleep in peace when it is raining heavily

as he knows that his crops are above flood level.

The Cherng Krous dam project and the Thmar Romeal Bio Region indeed all the many Ockenden

projects have something in common: dedicated people.

This work would not be possible without the

tireless commitment of Nharn the director of

Ockenden and his workers and of course the

funding from Kadoorie and others.

If you would like to contribute to t he work

Ockenden is doing in Cambod ia you may send a

cheque to me and I will guarantee that 100% of

the money will go t o projects.

For example to build a pond costs approx. $600.

In most cases the farmer is required t o contribut e

to the construction. Every Dollar w ill make a diference!

Max Lindegger

the cambodian experience

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