Friendship with Cambodia supports Hum, a Cambodian social worker who works in Kompot Province. She helps 20-30 of the poorest women in a village form a self-help group.

The group meets on a regular basis to discuss their problems and to help each other. They start a savings fund, where each woman puts in $1 per week (about one day's earnings). Friendship with Cambodia supplements the fund with a grant, so the women can start taking out loans for projects that will help increase their income. Some women use the money to buy piglets to raise to market size, while others buy fishing equipment.

Being able to afford to send their children to school is often their first goal. After meeting that goal, many women start buying materials to build a house that will keep their family dry. The women help each other in other ways, for example, sharing information about family planning and stopping domestic abuse.

"These women really feel empowered," stated Bhavia Wagner, Director of Friendship with Cambodia. "You can see it in their faces. They are full of joy and satisfaction because they are improving their lives."

Illegal logging and poaching threaten forests, wildlife, and also the livelihood of thousands of villagers in Cambodia. The villagers depend on the forests for food, building materials and many other products. Friendship with Cambodia is helping support a Cambodian community worker who teaches villagers how to stop the illegal logging and poaching using non-violent direct action.

When the villagers see the illegal activates they inform the local authorities, who usually don't respond. Then the villagers start talking with the loggers and hunters. "Our strongest weapon is a camera," stated one of the villagers. "We take pictures of the illegal activities and present them to the authorities. If the local authorities don't help, then we go to the provincial level. What we really need are walkie-talkies and cell phones, so we can communicate with each other when we are confronting the loggers or poachers. That is our protection."

Friendship with Cambodia
P.O. Box 5231
Eugene, OR 97405
541-343-3782
info@friendshipwithcambodia.org