A Smile Speaks Every Language :)

Hey guys!

Just wanted to post an update!  I spent some time traveling this past week and just wanted to share the experience.

I went with the school that Mar and I volunteered with (CWF - Conversations with Foreigners).  With the incoming tuition money from the students (of which there are about 800 at any given time), CWF supports Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT). 


CRDT has three different projects, one in Kratie, one in Stung Treng, and one in Mondulkiri.

Last year the group I volunteered with visited the project in Kratie.  We had such a great time!  This year I was able to take advantage of the opportunity to visit another one of their projects in Stung Treng. Stung Treng is in Northeast Cambodia, very near the Laos border.  The mission of CRDT is ‘To improve food security, incomes, and living standards of poor rural communities in support of
environmental conservation in Cambodia.’

CRDT works with poor villages that have various and extreme needs.  In each of the projects they train people how to properly dispose of waste; how to generate an income (in different ways depending on location) through either raising and breeding livestock (cows, buffalo, pigs, chickens, or ducks), having a fish farm, or growing a garden; how to collect rainwater so that they have clean water for drinking (which massively decreases diarrhea and sickness), brushing their teeth, cooking, bathing, etc.; they provide families that own 8 or more cows with bio-digesters which gives them light for the evening and also energy for indoor cooking; they provide training for proper hygiene and give them the resources for building outhouses so they don’t just use the bush (which then washes into the river when it rains); they teach how to save their income; they have implemented homestays and eco-tourism as an excellent source of income for families; they train people about the Irrawaddy  freshwater dolphins.  

Technically…

“CRDT’s areas of focus: Food Security; Income Generation; Water & Sanitation; Renewable Energy; Environmental Education & Waste Management. These activities are carried out in line with a five-year implementation strategy that empowers beneficiary communities to seize control of their own livelihoods and to continue improving their lives after CRDT’s active involvement ceases.”

The result of these projects is massive.   These families are now able to teach their children about livestock and gardening and sanitation and with even a small income are able to provide their children with an education.  The villagers have learned to respect the habitat of the freshwater dolphins (the Mekong), which is also a huge resource for them. They are learning not to throw all of their garbage in the river and not to leave unused nets, which can trap and kill the dolphins.  If you know me, you know I'm not focused on saving animals in a country where people are dying of preventable starvation and preventable diseases everyday, but I do care because these freshwater dolphins are a critically endangered species.  This fact means that many people would like a chance to see them for themselves. Although tourism is not the most sustainable income, it is better than nothing and a HUGE, huge income for people in Cambodia.

Lastly, Cambodian people are the most hospitable people I have met so far J They are so excited to have you into their homes, to feed you and tell you that you are beautiful (in Khmer of course).  Their smiles light up their whole faces and it is impossible not to smile back!