{"id":4189,"date":"2023-01-12T04:05:08","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T09:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.charlesconklin.com\/4cambodia\/?p=4189"},"modified":"2023-01-06T04:42:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T09:42:15","slug":"monitoring-visit-to-kratie-november-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.charlesconklin.com\/4cambodia\/2023\/monitoring-visit-to-kratie-november-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Monitoring Visit to Kratie – November 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In November I traveled to Kratie province on a monitoring visit to the Rural Livelihoods and Social Cohesion in Interethnic Communities project<\/a>. I was on my own this time – unlike our April 2022 visit – and met up with staff from our partner Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT)<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The trip from Phnom Penh to Kratie town usually takes 7 to 8 hours one way by van or bus. The project sites are another 2 to 4 hours, depending on season and road conditions, from Kratie town. <\/p>\n\n\n

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I got some fried crickets with lemongrass, kafir lime leaves, and chilis for a snack along the way. A delicious, nutritious, and sustainable source of protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our partner, CRDT, runs a number of ecotourism social enterprises in Kratie province. I stayed at one of them, the Le Tonl\u00e9 Guesthouse<\/a>, which is on the water front and has a great view of the Mekong river. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Having rice and pork for breakfast<\/a> with Mr. Bo Ravuth, one of the staff at CRDT, before heading out into the countryside.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Our projects in Kratie province are in remote villages along the Mekong river, on islands in the Mekong, and in forested areas. So we have to take ferries, like this, to reach island communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The local ferries are always interesting. You never know what mix of people, animals, and goods will be on them. When I lived in Prey Veng I would sometimes travel with Cham people and their herds of goats. There were motos and bags of Pomelo fruit<\/a> on this one. You also don’t know exactly when the ferries will arrive or depart. So there’s a lot of waiting by the river bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I started by attending a village savings group meeting at the Commune Center building in Damrae Village. I actually misheard and thought it was Domri village; \u178a\u17c6\u179a\u17b8 Domri means Elephant. But when I asked why they were the Elephant village they explained that it’s \u178a\u17be\u1798 Dam [Tree] \u179a\u17c9\u17b6 Rae [Type of Tree]. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The group representative Hom Rattana writes entries into the ledger to track monthly membership dues, farmer loans, and repayment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Saving Group members are all classified by the Cambodian government as living below the national poverty line. Saving Groups members contribute 10,000 Riel (approximately $2.5 USD) a month to the fund which they can then borrow from in order to fund their farming activities. This model creates a self-sustaining revolving fund for poor farmers and provides a mechanism for the local community to collectively help farmers through difficult times. The villagers shared that banks and financial institutions do not give loans with good terms, instead forcing farmers into situations where they may need to use their land as collateral and risk losing their homes and livelihoods. The Village Saving Groups provide a sustainable community based alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then I visited several farms in Damrae village. Here I’m talking with Man Sokha, a member of the village savings group. Man Sokha has two children; an 11 year old and a 7 year old.<\/p>\n\n\n

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She has borrowed 200,000 riel ($50 USD) from the Village Savings Group to raise chickens and construct a climate resilient and disease resistant chicken shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Climate change induced shifts in water patterns have resulted in broader spread of diseases. This is a broader topic that should have it’s own post but I’ll quickly list some of the ways that this occurs in Cambodia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n