Cambodian villagers enjoy fruits of aid project

BATI, Cambodia — The Cambodia-China Friendship Village for Poverty Alleviation Project has brought great changes to the remote village of Tanorn, lifting residents out of poverty and improving the education environment for children.

Tanorn, in the Bati district of Takeo province about 60 kilometers south of the capital Phnom Penh, covers 72 hectares and is home to 127 households with 615 people.

The village chief, Pang Samedy, said the village was once isolated because of poor access roads, with no clean water, electricity, school or health center, but things changed after the China Foundation for Peace and Development funded the poverty alleviation project in the village beginning in January 2021.

"Now residents can grow paddy rice twice a year, with proper access roads, and they have access to solar power and clean water, and some have received funds for raising chicken and ducks, or growing vegetables," he said.

"The project has improved living standards for the villagers from zero to a moderate level."

Villagers are thrilled with the results of the China-funded development project, Samedy said.

"I would like to express my profound thanks to China for helping develop Tanorn village, turning this poor village into a moderately prosperous village."

Pech Navy, 43, a villager, said the project has changed her family's lives. She can now travel to work at a garment factory, and her three children can go to school after the project built a concrete road connecting the village to the outside world.

"Previously it was quite difficult to travel from the village to Phnom Penh or to work at the garment factory because of poor access roads."

In the garment factory, Navy said, she can earn about $250 a month.

It was difficult for villagers to sell paddy rice or pigs because brokers did not come to buy them because of poor roads, she said.

"The project has provided concrete roads, solar power and clean water. Our lives are better than before because with good roads we can travel to work ... and return home easily, so we can meet our children every day."

As part of the almost completed project a two-story concrete building with 12 classrooms has been built for a primary school in Bati, which has greatly benefited Tanorn's children.

Navy's daughter Sal Samnang, 13, a sixth-grader at the school, said the project has also provided school supplies to all the students.

"I've received gifts from the Chinese project, including a bicycle, a bag, a water bottle, a lunch box, pens, pencils and erasers as well as other materials," she said. "I'd like to thank China for building this school for us and having brought better development to my village."

Xinhua