Battambang, KH –Grandma uses garden income to raise grandchildren – 21 Aug 2014

The income gap between the rich and the poor in Cambodia is extremely large.  The poor struggle to make a living, while the rich live to enjoy entertainment!

Sok Khon is among those suffering from poverty, she is 63 years old, and she says that her life is for her grand-children. She wants to work the best she can in order to feed and educate them, so that they have an opportunity in life. She has three grand children who were left with her by their divorced parents. They are all attending school.

Khon has a small plot of land, where she plants a variety of vegetables to eat and also sell at the local market, along with flowers that she grows, for a small income that supports the family and grand children’s education.   She says that “the income from selling a variety of vegetables and flowers is not enough even for living and my grand children, but I try and try until the end of each day for my grand-children”.

When she first saw a Food Always In The Home (FAITH) organic vegetable garden, she was very happy. She came to the garden shop team again and again to insist that they help her build a FAITH garden. The team appreciated how she was helping her family, and mentored her about the benefits of the FAITH garden. Khon was very excited about how the vegetable garden could not only give her family healthy and fresh green food, but also give her some additional income from selling surplus vegetables.

She has kept her promise to make her vegetable garden very productive and blooming. In a day, she can earn $2 to $4, depending on the seasonal market price, from selling vegetables and flowers that she has grown. Most of this money is used to support her grand-children’s education and the rest goes to the family’s living costs.

She is very grateful to the shop team, and hopes that the gardens will reach not only her family but also other vulnerable families around the world.