Alissa provides an update from Cambodia

It is almost a year since I have reported on activities from my young friend Alissa Caron in Cambodia.  Recall that she is the in-country coordinator of a new, integrated rural health and development program outside of Siem Reap, Cambodia. Her organization is Population and Development International – Cambodia.  Having visited with Alissa on one of her short trips home a few months ago, I am tremendously impressed with her sense of initiative, but also with the modesty and cultural understanding she brings to her job.

Here's the latest news:

The PDI-C team is working so hard day in and day out to build a sustainable partnership with the villagers, and we’re starting to see some great results!   The villagers have learned how to manage community banking (personal savings and borrowing loans for small business activities) on their own, have started to improve their health-seeking behavior through an intensive community-based health education program facilitated by our partner Angkor Hospital for Children, have developed new agricultural and vocational skills, and most importantly have created strong bonds with each other that hopefully will last for years to come.  Until this month, our project was working with 6 villages, but this month we’ve expanded to 7 more (including 4 in a new sub-district) so we’ve effectively doubled our target population and are starting the cycle anew.  

Alissa has uploaded some new photos of PDI-Cambodia’s village activities in Siem Reap to her website, via Picasa.  You can view them here:  https://picasaweb.google.com/112237284110128787281/PDICambodia202.  Here's one:

Village Development Bank members in Champei Village learn how to maintain their new water filters from our colleagues at Angkor Hospital for Children (January 2012)