Battambang, KH – Garden helps pay for school fees – 11 Sep 2015

Mr. NSV and his wife live with their three children ten kilometers outside of Cambodia’s second largest city, Battambang. Since joining the Healthy Life’s Food Always In The Home (FAITH) organic vegetable garden program, he has been able to supplement the income he earns from working many other jobs by selling vegetables from his garden, which is helping him support his children’s education.

Like many of his neighbors in rural Cambodia, NSV does many different tasks to earn an income to support his family. He and his wife work part time as a gardener and housekeeper for a local charity and although they are grateful for any kind of employment, it is not enough. To supplement their income even further, the family plants rice, raises a small number of chickens, finds and sells wild honey, and makes charcoal to sell.

In May 2015, NSV heard about the Healthy Life’s organic garden program and applied. Salee, the shop manager, went to meet him and could tell that the garden program would be a great help to their family, so he approved the application immediately.

NSV and his family work very hard in their garden and are receiving a lot of positive feedback from the garden shop team and their neighbors. Using the FAITH organic vegetable garden techniques, he is able to earn approximately US$1.67 / day selling surplus vegetables.  This extra US$50 per month helps contribute to the cost of food for his family and for his children’s school fees, which can cost up to US$108 per child annually.

The family dream of developing their income sources enough to not have to worry about their next meal or whether or not they can afford new uniforms for their children. Their next goal is to start fattening piglets to sell at the market and from there they hope to raise some cattle for meat and start a small shop near their home.