Battambang, KH – Family’s life greatly improves through hardwork – 16 Oct 2015

CP and his wife live in the suburbs of Battambang, Cambodia with their six children. He is the longest serving member of the Battambang Garden Shop and a model for his peers on how trustfulness and hard work can help oneself work their way out of poverty. Since joining the garden shop team in 2012, CP has been able to provide enough food for his family to eat every day, send all of his children to school, improve his home, and earn a consistent income through his salary, livestock raising, and fishing.

The Battambang Garden Shop, now known as the Healthy Life Garden Shop, was established in a collaboration with Children’s Future International, a locally based organization aimed to “break the cycle of poverty in Cambodia by providing the country’s poorest and most vulnerable children the opportunity to become educated, self-reliant and compassionate individuals.” The garden shop, managed by Reynaldo Diez at the time, provided the expertise for starting a Food Always In The Home (FAITH) organic vegetable garden program and Children’s Future provided the garden shop with an area to build a model garden and access to families of scholars in their program. Children’s Future’s mission had them targeting the poorest families in the area, and the CP family were among them.

Before joining the garden shop team or the Children’s Future’s programs, the CP family lived in a small house with a grass roof, had no toilet, and didn’t earn enough income to feed the eight mouths in their family every day. Also, money for school fees and materials were difficult to purchase on a regular basis. Children’s Future identified the CP family as one of the poorest in the area and granted them aid in the form of monthly rice allotments. Along with helping the family meet their basic needs, Children’s Future provided the CP children with school supplies and access to their after school programs. CP was farming and working as a casual laborer at the time, which earned him inconsistent income, so Children’s Future recommended him for a full-time position with the newly established garden shop.

Along with one other parent, Lai, CP and Rey formed the garden shop team. CP was a quiet hardworking man and quickly became a key member of the team. With consistent income he earned from his work with the shop, he was able to purchase enough food for his family’s needs every day. The CP family lived on a small plot, which means that they were unable to participate in the organic vegetable program themselves. However, they planted vegetable beds and fruit trees where there is space for additional food to consume.

As CP continued to work hard and gain the trust of the garden shop, he was able to qualify for a micro-loan to build a toilet. With good sanitation his family were able to lower the risk of becoming ill from water borne diseases. He has also helped other families install the affordable toilet design he implemented. Children’s Future also helped CP’s family improve their home so that all the children have a safe and secure place to sleep at night.

The family entered into a village livestock exchange program in 2013, where they received access to valuable assets in the form of cattle. The program has a family take care of a pregnant cow until she gives birth, after the cow has weaned from its mother, the calf goes back to the exchange program to help another family. The CP family are then left with a productive mother cow, whom can continue to produce offspring for ten years. The price for a full grown healthy cow in Battambang can reach US$1,500!

On the weekends, CP fished in the nearby streams but lacked a mode of transportation to get his catch to the market. After paying off the loan for the toilet, he was able to qualify for a loan to purchase a motorbike. He uses the motorbike to transport the fish he catches to the market, pick up food for daily meals and take some of his children to school.

Additionally, the Healthy Life Garden Shop implements a bi-annual savings program for its workers and CP was able to purchase much needed cooking supplies for his growing family. Srai, his eldest daughter, enjoys helping Mrs. CP cook meals for the family on a daily basis.

CP continues to work with the Healthy Life Garden Shop implementing organic vegetable gardens, mentoring families and helping implement other solutions. The family are grateful for the help they receive and are motivated to continue the improvements. They dream of expanding their livestock raising and expanding their home in the future.