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27 potential
partners from various organizations and associations in
different provinces who had submitted concept papers to Heifer
Cambodia for establishing partnerships. The 5-day training
course was for introducing and disseminating
Heifer’s VBHCD concept and model to the participants and giving them an opportunity to learn together on how to strengthen project impacts as well as long-term partnerships in the future. The training was facilitated by Training Officer Houng Nita. Program Coordinator Ho Bunyeth welcomed the participants, introducing Heifer’s history, vision and mission to give them a deeper understanding.
Heifer’s VBHCD approach looks at the formation of self help groups, enlightenment with reinforcing the Cornerstones, empowerment with delivery of physical inputs, and technical training. Other topics in the training included personal leadership, the three levels of impact, the triadic model for project implementation, sharing leadership, and Participatory Self-review and Planning (PSRP). During the training, 12 case studies of model farmers in the target communities were raised to reflect each point of the Cornerstones in order that the trainees were able to more easily understand its concept.
At the end of the training, participants visited a Heifer project, Improving Food Productions for Tribal and Woman Groups, and participated in a passing-on-the gift ceremony. They saw what was going on and how the Cornerstones values were being added to community life for sustainable and holistic development. “Heifer has clear Cornerstones and VBHCD approaches as a guide in implementing the project. It is very unique, deferent from other organizations,” said one of the trainees, adding, “Based on passing on the gifts, sharing and caring for each other, and saving scheme as local resource base, it makes the community sustainable.”
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At the closing ceremony, Country Director Sen Sovann shared his concept of working in partnership with stakeholders to alleviate poverty and hunger. He noted that although Heifer provides livestock and other resources to poor families as their tools to gain food security and income generation, Heifer is not an animal development organization, but a human development organization.
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