Improve Livelihoods of Poorest People (ILPP)
1.1. Project background: Promote the livelihood of extremely poor people This project is the fourth step of the Environmental Protection and Development Organization (EPDO) that was supported by ACR/CA. It improved the livelihood of the poor and vulnerable people in the target areas by empowering them to manage their future and to have self-confident. To achieve this, the project improved the income generation of the families and the living standard of 133 target families, Thlork: 39 families, Preysrokum: 27 families, Wat leap: 35 families, Pteahsre: 13 families, and Outong: 19 families. The project provided basic need to the poor families and the discriminated families and the training about small scale business and capital for them to run their business and also the training about agricultural techniques. The project also helped to fix houses, support poor children to access schools and provide study materials and uniform to them and the community to establish self - help group. To enhance health condition and how to access public health service, the project collaborated with the local authorities and other stakeholders to raise awareness about health, sanitation and clean water and also health materials so that they can change their living behaviors. Also improve community capacity to raise laws and other policies that are related to environment, natural resource protection, reducing the risk of disasters and women's and children’s rights, HIV/AIDS, rights to possess land and facilitated the community to raise village development plan to include into commune investment plan.
1.2. Results so far: A. Standard of living enhancement and income improvement of the poor: Assessment of training need with the target families: Assessment of training need depends on job plan of the target families. The method is to have a meeting to identify the main subject that they need to improve capacity so that they can use their skills to work effectively. After the assessment of the training need of many techniques, they can prioritize 2 categories: chicken/duck raising, growing crops and small business.
1. Training course about naturally raising chicken: To improve the agricultural techniques and encourage the people to grow crops in the families, this project provided 2 training courses about raising animals and growing vegetables with the total participants 32, 19 females. All the participants were aware of the advantages of chicken/duck raising, food, how to mix food and feeding chicken/duck, 5 advantages of the cages, building cages, prevention chicken/duck diseases, materials to produce compost fertilizer and method to produce it, the advantages of vegetable gardens, and the importance of crop gardens....) . After the training, 15 families have grown some crops: mints/, lemon grass, winter melons, water green, and have prepared the cages to raise chicken.
2. Training in small business: The targets get the knowledge in small business and know how to evaluate the jobs that are appropriate to their localities, obviously the new target with 32 people, 9 females joined the training in small business. After the training, the new target with 8 families use the knowledge from the training for their small business to increase the income in the families and through monitoring and evaluation, the members of the old target with 42 families (Thlork: 10 families, Preysrokum: 12 families, Watleap: 20 families) after they receive the capitals they use it to do business and get more income in the families. Clearly, the family of Mr. Sao Ith before joining the project of our organization, they didn’t have materials and money to make cakes and they always borrowed money from their neighbors. But now they have knowledge, skills and money to buy materials to make cakes and they get the daily income from 10,000R to 12,000R per day to support the family.
3. Training course to the village volunteers: According to promoting empowerment based community and improvement the opportunity of the vulnerable families to enhance sustainable living security. These factors require the village volunteers to facilitate the self-help groups in the community but their knowledge is still limited, so it is required to improve the capacity of 5 of them from Preysrokum, Thlork, Watleap, Phteahsre and Outong about facilitating self-help group (listing, the opinions of self-help group, how to keep diaries and write reports). After the training, the village volunteers use that knowledge to facilitate the group like: the meeting of saving group, keeping records (raise awareness about the children’s rights) and listing the profit and expense in the saving group.
4. Supporting capital to the target families: Support capital to 62 families ( 30 old target families, one familiy gets 28,0000R, Thlork: 5 families, Preysrokum: 8 families, Watleap:17 fmamilies and 32 new target families, one family gets 32,0000R, Phteahsre: 13 families, Outong: 19 families). The jobs are: raising chicken/duck, grow vegetabls, fishing, small business and buying edchay (Khmer word for the cans that are bourght by Vietnamese people mostly). We have noticed that the families get better income and some families can discharge their old debt. "Before we joined the project, my family worked from hand to mouth and when we wanted to start a small business, we didn’t have capital, so we borrowed money from the others with high interest and sometimes we couldn’t borrow because they thought that I couldn't pay back. And all my children couldn't access to school and were very thin because we didn’t have enough food to eat. Since we became the members of the project, our family have had happiness and got capital, knowledge, and skills to start business and we change our jobs depending on the season and we have income from 20,000R to 25,000R per day. And now our living becomes much better and our children can start school and are healthier.",said Sister Chhoy Chhet.
5. Supporting health materials: In this trimester it improved the living of the target groups and reduced the health issues through providing health materials that were the basic need to 88 target families: old target families: 30, elderly: 15 families and new target families: 32 and elderly:11 families. Each families get: detergent, shampoo, soap, dishwashing liquid, toothpaste, toothbrush, nail clippers, plastic basket for covering the food, thing for supporting the pot to keep it clean, and kettle) and 299,0000R. By supporting health materials to beneficiaries, we notice that their health is better than before, because they have health materials to wash their bodies, clothes and other things and also help reduce the expense. For the children when they are healthier, so they can go to school fully.
6. Supporting sleeping materials:
In this trimester we have made the lives of the targets better and reduced health issues through providing sleeping materials that are the basic needs of the targets of 42 families (new targets: 32 families and elderly: 10 families). Each family received (mosquitonet, blaket, mat) total expense: 1,711,600R. Through supporting sleeping materials to the beneficarries, we have noticed that their families are warmer for their sleep, so the lives of the target families and elderly are more comfortable and also helped to reduce expenses.
7. Supporting study materials/clothes:
B. Improve health condition and to access public services: 1. Health/hygiene awareness raising:
2. Supporting with water containers to the target areas:
C. Improve the community capacity by raising laws and other relevant policies: 1. Raising land awareness :
2. Environment: The targets gain knowledge about environmental protection through participation the raising awareness course when celebrating Tree Day of the project for the previous trimester, the people joined to grow young trees at Brolaytaingpi and they were given some to grow at homes, too. Because of the flood, the young trees at Brolaytaingpi died and the young trees that the families grew at their homes were still alive. (Kanthumtet: 100, Mrom: 50, Angkeasdey: 125, papaya trees: 80, jack fruit trees: 135, Kngork: 60, Svaykheb and Svaykeo: 60, and Svaychanty: 10. The young trees at the pagoda: Beng: 32 and it is 1.70 m high.
3. Raising awareness about gender to the people: This trimester EPDO raised awareness about gender to the targets and the people in 5 target villages (Preysrokum, Thlork, Watleap, Phteahsre and Outong) with the participants: 237, female: 173 (Preysrokum: 37, female: 28, Watleap: 81, female: 71, Thlork: 45, female: 32, Phteahsre: 50 and female: 24 and Outong: 24 and female: 18). It focused on (the definition of violence and gender, case studies of Navy and Sophal, body/mind violence, sex violence and economic violence). In this raising awareness course, the facilitator also gave the opportunity to the participants to ask them the points that they are not sure or wonder and encouraged them to answer the questions voluntarily to get the gifts. After the raising awareness about gender, we have noticed that the 40% of targets and the people in Preysrokum, Watleap, Thlork, Phteahsre and Outong are aware of the gender, the role of the men/women, body/mind violence, sex violence and economic violence. For example, the Ms. Prin Mao before joining the project she always had violence caused by her husband, because he thought of nothing but drinking and then hit her on body. Because he never helped her with some work and were drunk very day and she couldn’t tolerant, so she decided to move away from her house for a long period of time with some children and left some at home in order to escape from the violence. After joining the project they are aware of the rights that EPDO attempt to give opportunity and encourage her husband to join. Because of the collaboration with the local authority, supporting the basic need, capital to start business, so it makes this family change the bad behavior, drinking beer or wine is reduced and now his husband becomes a good head household and tries hard to earn money to support the whole family.
4. Raising awareness about children’s rights to the people:
In this trimester EPDO raised awareness about children’s rights to the targets and the people in 5 target villages with the participants 364, female 274 (Preysrokum: 75 with 57 females, Watleap: 81 with 69 females, Thlork: 80 with 65 females, Phteahsre: 53 with 36 females and Outong: 75 with 47 females). This program focuses on (the definition of children, rights for living, rights for development, rights for protection and rights for participation. The facilitators also let the participants ask them what they didn’t understand or not clear and encouraged them to answer voluntarily to get the gifts. After raising awareness about children’s rights, we have noticed that both the targets and the people in Preysrokum, Watleap, Thlork, Phteahsre and Outong of 40% of the participants are aware of rights for living, rights for development, rights for protection and rights for participation. For example, the young girl, Khean Savann, before joining the project she didn’t have opportunity to go to school because her parents couldn't support her. Moreover, she was under pressure on her rights (she has to work as a housemaid) in order to get a little money for her parents. After becoming a member of this project her parents have known a lot about rights and EPDO attempts to give opportunity and support basic need, materials and clothes and study materials, capital to start business. So it makes her whole family have changes. She has time to study and enough food to eat and help reduce pressure on her rights.
5. Village meeting to show integrated result: In this trimester EPDO has shown the integrated result to the targets and other people in 5 target villages (Preysrokum, Thlork, Watleap, Phteahsre and Outong) with the participants of 287, 197 females, 40 children and 15 girls (Preysrokum: 33 and 17 females, Watleap: 113 and 80 females, Thlork: 53 and 40 females, Phteahsre: 37 and 24 females and Outong: 51 and 36 females). Through the collaboration with the village/commune authorities to gather people to join the meeting facilitated by the village/commune authorities in order to raise the issues/needs and know how to monitor the plans that are included into the district integration and the project that was approved during the integration etc. The result of the commune meeting showed about the plans that the village has raised to include in the commune investment plan and the achievement after the integration including economic, society, natural resources and environment, administration, security and gender. The people also requested the commune about some projects that haven’t responded yet and were damaged by the flood: toilets and the roads and helped rescue the women and children.
6. Meeting of children protection committee: In this trimester EPDO supported and joined the meeting of children protection committee in Sya commune, Svayluong and Chamrernphal with the participants of 18 and female 13. The components of the children protection committee are: first and second commune secretaries, the head of health care center, the head of police station, school director and village volunteers. The meeting raised 3 points to discuss and find the solution:
1) Seven children in Pur village dropped out school because the parents couldn’t support them to go to school also didn’t have income and during harvest time, they stopped their children’s study to harvest rice to get money.
2) Small children dropped out school because the schools were far away from their houses (in the past, teaching young children in the village was supported by KNKS.
3) One child in Svay chan village because the mother was poor, so no one took care of her study.
7. Establishing self-help group: Nowadays there are 9 groups with 94 families and save every month. They agreed to save according to their capacity. It is also the time that they can share information and experience from borrowing money from the groups to expand the jobs in the families and get successful. For example, the family of Sister Phal Port in Preysrokum, she described about her experience to the members in the group about borrowing money to expand a small business. She sells Cambodian noodles and as a result, the members of the group understand clearly about how to get successful in doing business. They prepared plan to borrow money to expand the job in the family and up to now there are 10 people in the group. (Thlork: 5 and Preysrokum: 5). So far, the report shows that Preysrokum has the total amount of money: 625100R, Thlork: 1669000R and Watleap: 306000R.
Social education and other issues: A. Environmental sustainability: Promoting environmental sustainability, EPDO implemented the project through studying the effects on environment and encouraging people to take care of it by raising awareness to the people and self- help group. Self-help group prepare the bed to grow young trees, grow trees at the pagodas, schools and at homes and also clean the environment in the villages, around the houses, and body as well.
B. AIDS: Project program that raised awareness in the previous trimester in the target village was to escape from AIDS and the advantages of prevention. So far, we have three people with AIDS, 1 female (1 boy) and they know how to take care of themselves and eat three groups of food in order to be healthy.
C. Advocacy: Through the project program that raised awareness about rights and other awareness in the previous trimester, it made the people in the targets know and join commune investment plan, basic need in the community. Clearly, the request of the people for canal rehabilitation in Preysrokum was approved by the commune authority and it was finished completely.
D. Community sustainability: The number of the families that the project worked with since 2088 is 133. Eighty families have been working to get money to make the lives become well than before. EPDO also collaborated with the village/commune authorities and established committee to manage, take care, and arrange policies, rules for the group members to manage, take care the achievement: water pipes, spillways, canals, rice banks, bridges. EPDO will work directly with the extremely poor families to promote their capacity, skills to solve some problems through exchanging development issues among them. EPDO will continue discussing with the extremely families who are the direct beneficiaries to arrange the group to be responsible for every resource in the community by depending on the capital provided to ensure sustainability. Every capital that was provided to the members was controlled and recorded by the groups.
E. Community participation: Project program provided opportunity to the people, especially the poor, vulnerable and the discriminated people by the society. They were encouraged and trained through meetings, raising awareness, other celebrations, commune investment planning, evaluation of the basic need making plans, making decisions, implementation and monitoring etc.
F. Risk: The beneficiaries didn’t use skills fully in working (raising chicken depending on natural principle). The flood damaged rice, vegetables, other crops, the houses of the targets and infrastructure badly.
G. Obstacles and difficulty: The flood caused the process of the projects run badly and the crops, vegetables, rice, the houses were under water. So it affected on the promoting of the economy in the families of the targets. And the infrastructure was badly damaged as well.
H. Management: To make EPDO sustainable and successful, the staff participated in decision making in changing project management through important functions (planning, managing implementation, monitoring and evaluation).
I. Experience: Raising awareness to the community: giving the unclear information makes the people come to join late. Through implementation directly with the targets, it makes the staff get a lot of new experience and it is easier and improvement in the project. Monitoring the targets at their homes makes the staff find the news method to improve the families and they can share it to other families so that they can be improved, too. |
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Health condition of the targets become better by giving education and general awareness raising in the trimester about the environment in the village, taking actions to malaria, hemorrhage fever, tuberculosis(TB), AIDS, diarrhea etc. To participate and to promote the living condition of the targets, the organization attempts to educate the targets and out of the targets with the total participants 260, 191 females (Preysrokum: 30, female: 18, Watleap: 79, female: 58, Thlork: 75, female: 62, Phteahsre: 36, female: 25 and Outong: 40, female: 28). The targets have water jars to keep water in and they have clean water for everyday use. Through the reports of the village volunteers and home monitoring/following up of the staff, we know that there are 79 families (Preysrokum: 17 families, Thlork: 20 families, Watleap: 17 families, Outong: 15 families, and Phteahsre: 10 families) following the message of awareness raising by changing the bad habit to boil water to drink. For example, “Since I joined the awareness raising about health by EPDO, I have improved my knowledge and known a lot about the importance of using health services in every health center, obviously, before I joined the project when the members in my family was sick, we found Kroukhmer, Areak (khmer words), buy medicine from the drugstores, use home/folk remedies and use private services. Every time when my family or I are sick we borrow money from the neighbors in order to pay for the doctors. Nowadays when we are sick, we go to hospitals to get health care service and we are very happy when we take our children to see the doctors and they are very friendly to us. ” said Sister Chhoy Chhet.
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