Commune Champei

Champei is a commune in the district Shrok Batie. The village Preaek is where our volunteers-house is, which is about 450 km from Siem Reap and 35 to 40 km from Phnom Penh, in the province of Takeo.

The commune Champei contains 7 villages and is about 450 km from Siem Reap and 80 km from Phnom Penh. We’ll be setting up a similar project here as we have in Chhuk. The villages are: Daeum Doung, Mkak, Trakiet, Preaek, Moeang Prachen, Prey Mul and Cheung Loung. The Baca family, with whom Jan started the guesthouse “Baca Villa”, comes from this commune. The brothers and sisters of the Baca family’s parents still live here with their children. Because the standard of living in Champei is even lower than in Phum Chhuk, we still have a lot of work to do.

About 10.000 people live in Champei, of which 50% are children under the age of 21.

The people are very friendly, helpful and kind, but have no knowledge of modern techniques. They live traditionally, under poor and unhygienic conditions, with few or no water and without electricity.

1. Bad water quality and insufficient water has our priority. The high mortality rate (15% of babies die at birth), infections and belly aches are caused by parasites in the contaminated water. To start other projects we will first have to deal with this problem. EWB (Engineers Without Borders) will help us with this. http://www.ewbhr.org/6101.html  The circumstances are very primitive at the moment, so eventually it will help the entire commune. In November 2009 a complete team from Engineers Without Border (EWB) from the USA came to Champei for a week, to do soil research and water testing. More information will follow.

2. Khmer toilet and shower. In the meanwhile, the toilet and shower are built. We now have the basic facilities which make it somewhat more comfortable if we’re staying over. Just a simple Khmer toilet and Khmer shower will do. The costs including transportation from and to Tale Battie are somewhere around USD 550.-.

3. English Classes would obviously also be very welcome. With English classes, the change for the children to get more opportunities in their future is enlarged. The second language in Cambodia is English. In the large cities a lot of attention is paid to English classes. In the countryside, unfortunately, this is currently not the case. Without help from outside, the villagers are enforced to live in poverty and without any perspective towards the future. As a result it is almost impossible for them to find a job in the cities, since English is often a must. The motivation of children by their parents is an important task. If providing free courses, parents are more often willing to cooperate and send their children to the school.

4. The creation of education and employment could be a solution to stand up from their poor existence. We think it is very important all children learn to read and write in Khmer. As long as they do not know their own language there is no need to teach them English. When looking for a job it is of importance that they also know their own language. Next to the fact that all villagers are farmers there is no source of income. The establishment of an education program could be a solution. We’re thinking to teach the women and girls how to weave cotton or silk and/or to teach the boys how to make baskets in cane or bamboo or to teach them how to make pottery etc. The products would be bought by friendly organizations and sold later on. In this way, the villagers would be certain to have an income and they’ll experience a development of which they can benefit for the rest of their lives.

Thanks to winery “Hees” and foundation “Wilde Ganzen” we were able to build a new volunteers-house in July 2009, with capacity for 14 people. We also made a gate at the school yard and a simple hut to educate the smallest children.

Chat

Chat, a boy of 11 year old, is born deaf and dumb in the village Phum Muen Protjsan in Takeo province and is the son of the sister of the mother from the Baca family. He is a very kind boy but was left to his destiny so far. In the village no one knew how to handle him. He was not able to read or write and the sign language is un unknown thing in the village. In Siem Reap there is a school for deaf or impaired hearing children. The name of the school is Krousar Thmey which literally means New Family. Here, the children learn how to read, write and communicate by means of the sign language. Moreover, they’re learning a craft, for example painting, drawing or making sculptures. In this way they are able to take care of themselves when grown up and will be able to live independently. As a 10 year old boy he is often neglected and has difficulties of expressing himself. On a later age this problem will only increase. For Chat this new family (Krousar Thmey) is the only possibility to have a human and valuable existence. It is wonderful to see how this little boy is flourishing. In Baca Villa we often see him playing with his friend Sopheap, the adopted boy from the village Phum Sophy. Chat is now often making sounds and he even laughs out loud! He also approaches us more often and tries to tell us something by pointing and making signs.

The name Chat means ‘heart’. Phonetically it’s written “jeut”. ‘Chat’ is an important word in Cambodia, with the heart you’re pointing out a lot of things. With the support of many good hearts we can support and help him!  Below some meanings:

Chat sabbai:           Happy heart. You’re fine. You’re happy.
Man sabbai Chat:    Unhappy heart. You’re not doing very well.
Chat kadow:           Black heart. You’re not feeling well at all.
Cheu Chat:             The heart is ill.

Like this there are many ways to interpret the word Chat.

Since April 2007 Chat is going to Krousar Thmey (the new family), the school in Siem Reap, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. He is learning the sign language and how to write. He is doing very well now! Lessons are Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The education is not completely free of charge. CDO pays monthly USD 10,-. Lunch is sponsored by Krousar Thmey school.

Takeo