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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.
Between 2006 to 2008, Vulnerable groups increased in Thmar Pourk (with more families living
with 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 impacts
are 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.
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)
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.
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 sells
vegetables 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 of
edge) 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 the work
Ockenden is doing in Cambodia you may send a
cheque to me and I will guarantee that 100% of
the money will go to projects.
For example to build a pond costs approx. $600.
In most cases the farmer is required to contribute
to the construction. Every Dollar will make a diference!
Max Lindegger