Siem Reap, KH – Living with a pandemic – 31 Aug 2021

The corona virus has spared no one. Lives and livelihoods have been turned upside down. Families have been separated by lockdown measures. Business and communities have been brought to a sudden stop. The Cambodian government ordered a lockdown last month to halt the spread to other parts of the local city Siem Reap. While these new measures are in place, the big question is what happens to families and children living outside the city?

Fortunately, in the village of Peaksneng to the north of Siem Reap there is a social enterprise called Peaksneng Thormacheat shop that feels its responsibility to contribute to a better world and specifically to have a positive impact on the communities where it operates, especially in times of crisis.

Despite of the biggest impacts that the Coronavirus brought about, Peaksneng Thormacheat has managed to be sustainable by continuing to grow and sell vegetables, and has assisted families in the Rent-to-Own (RTO) home community. The shop has worked to minimize the impact of COVID on the families by finding sustainable solutions.

As we gain more clarity on the difficulties brought about by COVID, Better Lives and Peaksneng Thormacheat shop agreed to respond to the crisis by providing solutions to the impacts that COVID has brought about, and to use these solutions to assist and support the shop team and RTO community members. The strict quarantine for the community meant the shop needed to bring essential goods, like sardines, rice, noodle, vegetable oil, garlic, salt closer to people, and the best way to do that was to stock a small store within the community.

The pandemic has brought the community closer together to face the virus threat to everyone, and has taught the need to remain patient and focused on finding solutions to life and economic challenges in a time of crisis. All the community are dreaming of life after COVID, hopefully by the end of 2022.