Phnom Penh, KH – Savings Program – 23 Sep 2013

The Tabitha team, led by Janne, have been organizing and running a community savings program, which has helped thousands of disadvantaged families and their children improve their lives, for many years in Cambodia.  Janne writes an annual update!

Today the Tabitha team have ended our past year of work – a year when so many dreams and journeys came to fruition – a year when we graduated 25,446 families with 203,568 dependents. Graduation is not the normal expectations of receiving a grade or an award – for Tabitha Cambodia and the families we work with it is simply a stage in a journey when our families have moved from absolute poverty to middle class rural families. It marks a journey where our families have achieved the basic necessities of life such as ….

 

 

 

 

 

Better Food                                                                              Buying New Clothes

and have been able to have access to life giving water

 

 

 

 

 

Keeping clean                                                                          Irrigating crops

–which in turn has allowed them to create 5 – 6 sources of steady income – things like animal husbandry

 

 

 

 

 

Raising Pigs                                                                              Raising chickens and ducks

And small businesses ….

 

 

 

 

 

Selling Vegetables                                                                    Selling Drinks

And to grow food all year round …

 

 

 

 

 

Growing vegetables                                                               and rice                     

Our families have been able to get transportation ….

 

 

 

 

 

A motorbike                                                                              or bicycles

And put their children in school  ….

 

 

 

 

 

Building schools in communities                                       Children going to school

They have improved their security and environment through ….

 

 

 

 

 

Building latrines                                                                     Battery for light and security

They are able to meet their social and cultural expectations without losing everything ….

 

 

 

 

 

Getting Married                                                                      or having a funeral

Their houses have become homes – their dreams come true. For some the process took 4 years..

 

 

 

 

 

For others 6 years’…

 

 

 

 

 

And for others ten years …

Graduation is about celebrating life itself and marking yet another stage in the lives of our families – they will continue to grow and flourish and Tabitha will begin the process again with other families who are just beginning the journey. It’s been a remarkable year – each of you has enabled so many to journey with dignity and pride – I thank my God for the privilege of standing with so many – I thank my God because of each of you. How good that is!

Janne