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 Restoring the Sharing and Caring Culture

On March 17, more than 150 project participants from four villages gathered at Wat Rokar village, Battambang province, to celebrate Passing on the Gift (POG) month, in which 200 chickens and ducks, fruit-tree saplings and horticulture seeds were passed on to 20 new project families in the community. Local authorities and representatives from NGOs and relevant provincial departments witnessed the ceremony. The celebration is also an education effort focusing on the solidarity and sharing and caring, and on the practical and sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty issues.
“Since joining the group, I have received poultry, horticulture seeds and new knowledge, so I pass on these gifts to you,” said Mrs. Sum Sinat, an original member who passed on her resources to Mrs. Mut Sophal at the POG celebration. She added, “Please take good care of them. I also express my deep thank to Akphiwat Strei and Heifer
	for the gifts to improve my family's living condition and to send my children to school.” The gifts she received from Heifer have improved the lives of her family. She is bale to earn 200,000 Riels
(approx. $50) every month from the sale of poultry production, from which some part of money is invested in her children's education. Her family's nutrition has increased through the addition of vegetables from her home garden into daily meals. Her passing on these resources proves to be not only the gifts of development, but  also the gifts of effectiveness that reach the hands of other needy families. “Thank your family very much for the gifts,” said Mrs. Meanh Sothea, a POG family, who received 10 chicken, horticulture seeds, and fruit-tree saplings from Mrs. Lai Kimphou. She promised, “I will look after the chickens well, so that they produce offspring to pass on to another needy family.” Shothea also received both technical and non-technical trainings, including the Cornerstones training, to start her new life since she has joined the POG group. The gifts she received today will help improve her family’s standard of living. She also actively participates in group saving, from which she expects to borrow group funds to expand her poultry production. In her remarks at the ceremony, Ms. Our Eang, Director of Battambang Provincial Department of Women’s Affairs, said, “Passing on the Gifts is an activity of our community that passes on their resources to others. The activity makes a huge change as they pass on knowledge to needy families. So the POG is very important.” “I am very impressed in the way that this ceremony brings the community together, and the community people give directly their chickens and ducks to other beneficiaries,” said Mr. Stark Freizer, a staff from Volunteer Services Oversea (VSO), who joined the POG celebration. The culture of sharing and caring had declined in Cambodian society due to the prolonged civil war, especially, the experience of Pol Pot genocidal regime. However, today's celebration is a testimony of revival of the culture, as the community people pass on and share their resources and love to each other. Heifer’s Cornerstones and model help the farmers to not only improve their living, but also to develop their family and community. back to top