Inquiry Visit to a Cambodian village

After the Chinese New Year holiday we went on an inquiry trip to Kandal Province in Cambodia. We went to inquire into the work of Tabitha [an NGO  who works with marginalized people in the provinces of Cambodia]. We were looking at how Tabitha helps children and their families access their 'Rights'. We chose different rights to inquire into. Rights that we were interested in.
We have picked some photographs to share that we think illustrate our visit. All the photographs were taken with the permission of the villagers.
Photos by Ms Claire  and Ms Theary

Survival Rights 

Tabitha houses give the children in the village the survival right of a right to shelter. A home where they can feel comfortable and safe.

Chosen by Panhaboth

I think having this house changed their lives because it is made of metal and so when it rains it does not go through. The house has shade to keep out the sun. They use the area underneath for a kitchen and sleeping in the shade. They also put their farm animals under there to keep safe. It is safer for the whole family because they are now not outside.   

Panhaboth.

Chosen by Robin

Not all the houses in the village were as good as the Tabitha houses some had holes and some the water could even come in they did not have a good roof. In the wet season they might not be able to sleep because of the rain and so be tired to go to school. The house on the far left of this picture did not have a floor. The whole family sleeps in one room because it is so small. The adults have to bend their knees to stand up inside because it is not very high.  The house is made out of bamboo and palm leaves.  I would not like to live here.

Robin

Survival Rights to Water 

Chosen by Jediah

This picture shows how people in the village store water. They put the rain water in the big pot. The people could also get water from a well but this was not always at their home. The problem with just having rain water is that it doesn't rain very much.

Jediah

Chosen by Dara

This is a water pump. The water pump makes the rice grow and it also helps the people by giving them drinking water. The water comes from a well. This pump comes from Tabitha. The farmer also has to save money to buy the pump. The water pump makes water and the people put a pipe on the end and then they can water the plants. It helps them grow so much more. They then have food to eat and then they can have food for selling. It really helped the plants and people. 

Dara.

Chosen by Bridie

In the village the Cambodian people have dug a very big  pond. This gives water to the ducks.Other animals can drink from the water. They have the ducks to sell and make money. The ducks can live on the water. 

In the village there was more water than I expected, I think this was because Tabitha had helped them start having more water.

Bridie

This picture was chosen by Signe

The toilet is at a Cambodian local school and I am happy to see it because some schools don't have toilets at all. If they do not have a toilet they have to go to the toilet outside. They have squat toilets I did not think they were very clean, but at least they have toilets. I learnt that often girls stop going to school because they do not have toilets that they can use.  Tabitha built these toilets so that these girls can go to school. 

In the village I did not see any toilets. In the village they go in the fields because they don't have toilets at their houses. 

Signe

Food

Chosen by Sak

I saw that food was grown in lots of places in the village. They were growing vegetables and you can see sugar palms growing in the distance. I was happy because they grow food and they do not need to buy food so that are not wasting money. Tabitha made a pond for collecting water and also they dug wells. This helped the people to grow plants and food.

Sak

Chosen by Archie

I chose this picture because the people can eat the pigs for protein. The farmer keeps this pig so that she can make baby pigs and then he can sell the pigs when they have grown to make money. He can also eat some of them. They feed the pigs greens not meat or dairy stuff.  I think they put the Mummy separated from the babies so that they don't take too much space. If they have the babies with the mummy they are not going to have too much space to run around. Food is a need so this helps the children get their rights.

Archie

chosen by Molivann

By having chickens they can get eggs to sell or eat with rice, and this helps give them a healthy diet.

Chickens also are food themselves because there are many restaurants that sell chicken wings or chicken legs. Chickens are also used like cows: they are sold when they get bigger and fatter. Chickens also lay eggs where babies are and they provide other baby chickens that the people that own them can sell too!

Molivann

Health

We did not see a hospital or doctors in the village.

At the village we learnt that the people can go to the doctor near the factory which was on the main street not in the village. The nearest hospital was 10 km away on the main road. This was a small hospital and it is a bit poor. 

At the school they did not have a doctor or a school nurse. We have a school nurse at our school. 

At Tabitha we learnt they have a savings programme and this helps people save for new houses and water pumps. This makes people more healthy.

Noah

All the children looked very healthy in the village and the school. I was surprised at this because they are a bit poor and I was not sure if they could have enough money to buy medicine if they are sick. The hospital was very far away and they might not have transportation to help get them to hospital. We only saw bicycles and only one or two motorbikes.

Helen

chosen by Helen

Chosen by Moto

I have picked this for health because it shows how by having access to clean water is good for the health. By having a vegetable garden they will not get hungry and they won't get sick. There was no hospital near by and the closest hospital if they needed it was 10 km away. If they really had to go they would be on a bicycle. Sometimes when their crops die they will have to live on a small amount of food and they don't have crops to sell, so they are really hungry and the kids don't grow and they are not as strong. They also don't have extra money for medicines if they get sick.  Tabitha has helped them by helping them get clean water because if they don't use clean water they get sick.

Moto

Education

chosen by Morakod

I was surprised at the number of children at the school. There were over one thousand children. There were children who studied in the morning and ones that go in the afternoon, they can not all go all day because there is not space.  Their classroom was really different to ours. They sit on benches with 2 or 3  to a bench. They learn four subjects a day. The classroom was decorated with paintings and posters. Tabitha had just helped to improve the school by building new classrooms and toilets for the children.

Morakod

chosen by Lyka

The children are not really wealthy and they do not have cars like us to travel to school on and they don't have air conditioners at the school so when its hot it will be really hot. Children come to school on a bike or walk. We found out that 9 villages send their children to this school. It made me think that the marginalized people are not always sad because I saw that they were smiling and they were really friendly. Before I thought they would be very sad because I had seen people on the streets in the city and they had been crying.

Lyka

chosen by Seo Young

I found that the children were getting their right to an education. I was surprised that they were happy. I noticed the things that were the same in their classroom and mine. But there were many things that were different. They had a blackboard[blue] and they on it in chalk and we have an interactive whiteboard. They sit at desks and we have desks but we face each other and they all look at the board. We have a carpet but they don't have enough space. There were 53 students in some classes we have 21 in our class.

Seo Young

Chosen by Nikor

The children here wear school uniform but I don't have to. I think they don't have a nice classroom because it does not have pictures on the wall. They do not have computers or Ipads like us. They have tables and chairs together. I liked going there.

Nikor