February 2011 Update

Dear Friends and Partners,

It’s been a week of mixed emotions.  Pat, our manager in Prey Veng, asked that I come.  Pat is one of our senior managers; he has been with us almost from the beginning.  Pat’s area is one of our toughest.  In the areas we work, the poverty is rather stark.  Pat wanted me to see Prek Komdieng, an area we have worked in since 1998.  It was always frustrating to visit because, despite a lot of effort, very little has changed.

As we drove into the area, Pat had us stop.  I was looking at a lot of barren fields with splashes of green, here and there.  A number of people were working in the fields and came to meet us.  The first man to reach us didn’t smile; instead I got a look of utter defiance mixed with pride. Touk looked at me and stated bluntly, I have all my children back from the border. Touk has five children and like so many in the area, when life got too difficult, he would get a loan in exchange for one of his children.  The 3 girls and 2 boys had been at the Thai border for two years, the girls in the sex trade, the boys as carriers for heavy loads and of course, the occasional appointment with a man.  What Touk did was not uncommon in this area – many families used the practice. Touk was waiting for me to say something.

I looked at Pat who was excited – he shared the story – last year he had asked Touk to be a model for the village.  Pat would put in a field well and together they would grow rice and vegetables.  It was unheard of in this village – many of the men had gone off to find work, many were too ill to do work – primarily because of malnutrition.  Touk agreed and in the past year grew 4 crops of rice and 2 crops of vegetables.  He earned enough to get his children back. They don’t need to work anymore, he said.  Other men had joined us and the talk began – there were now 12 field wells installed – they needed 20 more – and then what, said I.  Come back in March and you will see. We will have rice and vegetables covering 150 hectares. And the children, I asked.  And the children they replied, will all be home and in school. March is not a long way off – it’s quite a challenge.

Touk was watching me intently.  He was expecting me to pass judgment on his past behavior.  All I could think of was who am I to judge these people – what do I know of hunger – I see it but I eat whenever I want and whatever I want.  What do I know of being ill and not having medicine?  What do I know of having to chose which child is next to go?  I know nothing of this – I just know pain when I see it – and hope when I see it.  I agreed and so in the latter part of March I will come and see.  The challenge is on.

                     

Yesterday I went to see Thary’s projects – she is near to Phnom Penh and easy to get to. Our first stop was at Preah Put village – we walked into the fields – 80 hectares of dry season rice was growing, all from Tabitha wells.  The families grow year round food for the first time and their lives are changing rapidly.  The husbands and the children are all at home.  The smiles are wonderful to see.

    

We went to the new are of Duang. What a different story. I met 18 of 50 families who have been deeply affected by AIDS and by malaria.  In this process the families have sold off their farmland and all have less than 5 square meters to call home.  There are lots of children – it seems that this is the one thing in life they can do.  None of the children go to school – they cannot – they need to scavenge whatever they can in order to eat each day.  Each small shack has two families living in them – 3 square meters is not a lot for 15 or more people.  These families had heard of us and asked us to come and work there.  The estimate is that there are 1000 desperately poor families in this area – half of them are ill.  Some still have land and so the pressure is on to put in wells.  One young husband is growing mushrooms in a space 10 meters square.  His income for the next 6 months will be $600 a month but then the rains will start and the mushrooms can’t be grown.  So he planted another small field with cucumbers and another with trakun, a type of spinach.  He gives us the energy to hope and to do as much as we can.  For those who no longer have land – the problems are much greater – I pray that the children don’t become the victims.

It’s been a week of sadness – it’s been a week of hope.  I thank my God for all that I have, for the choices I can make, for His goodness to me.  I thank Him for each of you – for standing with us as we go through these cycles of sadness and hope. 

Janne

October Schools Update

Dear Friends,

This past week saw the flooding in Cambodia finally receding and highways open so that I could travel.  A few weeks ago was the beginning of the new school year here in Cambodia. Like all things, education for the children is an education for all of us at Tabitha. When we started building schools in our communities several years ago, we were not aware of how few of our children actually attend school. For primary school children, about 20% attend at least two years of primary school – sometimes three in their lifetime – at secondary level this drops to less than 8%.

For me, it’s an awakening to another reality. I keep thinking what if I couldn’t read – something I take for granted – or I couldn’t do any math other than rudimentary forms – what would it be like if I didn’t know my name in letters – or I could never read what officials put out on in my community – simple directives like upcoming elections. What would life be really like?

Last week we traveled to a new school in Sen Jay that was just opened. The community had invited me to come and talk with them a year ago. The parents talked of how life had changed in their community with savings, wells and houses – and they now wanted a school for their children. I talked of how I expected all school age children to attend – regardless of school uniforms – I talked of how I expected the parents to support the teachers and their children in this process. Solemn promises were made and the process started. A donor was found and the 12 room school was built.

Getting to Sen Jay is always a bit of a travel nightmare – with the recent floods parts of the highway were still under water but we made it through – turning of the path towards the community we were met with mud – lots of it – and the end of the Tabitha vehicle. Last time I came the Tabitha vehicle was also stopped and we had traveled part of the way by caribao and the rest by rotor tiller and wagon. None was visible and I shuddered – walking is not my favorite pastime- walking in mud even less so- walking ten kilometers in heavy mud was not my idea of a good time. We were blessed this time as the commune chief had sent a 4 x 4 and driver and we slid and bounced our way to the school. It was worth every jolt.

Parents and children met us and we made a tour of the school. We had mandated that only 35 children should be allowed per classroom so that learning would be a bit easier. In Cambodia schools are used to the fullest capacity – two sets of students each day – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I was bit dismayed to see 40 plus students in each room but what am I supposed to say. Last year only 20 kids attended school under one of Tabitha’s houses.  I can read, write, do numbers and ever so much more – who am I to deny another child that opportunity?

     

We opened another school last week – in a village called Leap in Kompong Thom. Children there didn’t even know what a school was. For these children, school is a mystery and the squiggles they see on the blackboard something very alien. But they are excited – they like hearing about new things they have never heard of – simple things like letters and numbers – they are not yet used to holding a pencil or making the pencil do what it should. It’s very humbling to see a sixteen year old struggle to make sense out of it all.

This month – we are very blessed – we had 32,526 children attend school for the first time in their lives. I thank my God that this is so – I thank all of you for making it so. Happy reading to each of you.

Janne

October Update from Tabitha Cambodia

Dear friends and partners,

This week is Pchum Ban Festival in Cambodia. Pchum Ban is equivalent to the Christian holiday of Christmas in significance for the people here. It is the time that Cambodians have to honor and remember their parents and grandparents who have passed away. There are very specific ceremonies that need to be completed in the 15 days prior to the actual Pchum Ban day itself.

The belief is that people must honor their parents/grandparents by going to seven different pagodas and bringing gifts of food to the monks. On Pchum Ban day itself, everyone must bring a variety of cooked foods plus a variety of dry foods to the pagoda before 11 o’clock in the morning. At that time, all offerings must be completed and the monks sit down to eat. The belief is that deceased parents sit down with the monks and eat the food as well. Why seven pagodas – basically, the parents are wandering souls and are looking to see if there children are honoring them – if they cannot find the offerings of their children, the souls of the parents become angry – and the children will suffer from nightmares and problems at home. A secondary problem is of course, the amount and variety of food a person brings. A small offering of just rice would not satisfy the hunger of the parents nor sustain them through out the year so pressure on families is immense.

For families in Tabitha programs, Pchum Ban becomes progressively easier as their incomes increase. When SokLee joined Tabitha 4 years ago, she lived in a small thatched home with her husband and seven children. During those years, we often talked with this family about getting a field well and using their land to better use. SokLee had lost all her family during the Khmer Rouge years – she met her husband who was also considered an orphan, the sole surviving member of his family. Over the 18 years of their marriage, bearing children was one of the few things they did well, sadly several of their babies died before they were a year old. When I would ask them, why they didn’t dare change their lives, SokLee would talk of being bad – she would re-iterate again and again, we are suffering because we are bad – I lost my family, my parents, my land, my right to go to school, my right to earn a living, my right to be a Buddhist because of the Khmer Rouge. My children die or are always sick. I have bad dreams – my parents come to me and ask me why I am so bad. I cannot think anymore. I cannot do anymore.

Their home was small and decrepit – her husband was often away trying to earn money from jobs on the border – their children would go to bed hungry. Malnutrition is a disease that weakens the body and tires the soul. Encouraging this family, like so many others takes hours of talking. Peuw, who is our project manager got increasingly frustrated with this family so last Pchum Ban, he took SokLee and her husband and 9 other family heads on a day trip to Tanong, – he did it by force – threatening dismissal from our programs unless they came and saw. In Tanong we have several hundred hectors of land under continuous use with vegetables and rice. Both groups met and talked and talked some more. They talked about being bad; they talked about being of no worth, of not being able to think anymore. They talked of the nightmares. Then our Tanong families talked about changes – about dreaming and thinking again – about working their land – about working together to make sure everyone did well. They talked about learning the markets and growing off season vegetables which results in more money for their crops. They talked about growing rice three times a year and never going hungry. The men talked of no longer needing to leave home to earn money for their families; they talked about the health of their children and the schools they are attending. They talked of the homes they have rebuilt and how good it all is. Then they talked about Pchum Ban, how the nightmares had gone and how their parents were at peace.

SokLee and her husband listened – and he did the unthinkable – he wanted a field well. It’s been 10 months since that field well was installed. The change is remarkable – this family grows mushrooms, and cucumbers’ and they make rice wine – their income has increased to $20 per day – each day. Unbelievable! But the biggest change is in them – SokLee and her husband laugh a lot – they are eager to have me come – they are eager to feed me good food, to show off their achievements, to brag about their children. They are eager to show me their neighbors and all that is going so well.

    

For so many of our families, Pchum Ban is no longer the feared holiday of the year. The nightmares are leaving, their parents are at peace. How good that is.

I thank my God, that I am so blessed and unafraid of life – I thank my God that all of you are a part of the healing of so many. May all our Pchum Bans be seasons of joy and thankfulness because of the peace we bring to others.

Janne

August Update from Tabitha Cambodia

Dear friends and partners,

This month marks the end of another program year. It’s been a phenomenal year thanks to each of you.  This year we were privileged to be able to work with 33,466 families with 267,728 dependents in community development as well as 641 families with 5,128 dependents in cottage industry.  Let me share just a few highlights if I may.

This year you helped 28,754 families achieve food security of which, 19,153 families are now able to eat three meals a day.

 

You enabled another 9,387 families to be able purchase basic household goods such as pots and pans, dishes, drinking glasses, tables and chairs.  Another 11,380 families were able to purchase beds, blankets, clothing and mosquito nets.

  

 1,561 wells/ponds/reservoirs were installed which enabled another 3,610 families to have clean potable water and to earn incomes on average of $2000.00 per year – up from $300.00 per year.

  

2,224 families were able to buy bicycles this year, 5 schools were built and the savings program enabled 189,333 of our children to attend school.

  

4,621 families were able to raise pigs, 4049 families were able to raise chickens, 3,533 families raised ducks and fish.

  

1,486 families were able to raise rice year round; another 6,113 families were able to raise vegetables while another 6,676 families were able to buy farm tools and implements such as fertilizers.

We had 2,280 volunteers come from all over the world to build 1,053 houses in all project areas. Phenomenal!

These are just a few of the highlights this program year – so much more happened.

As Tabitha staff, all of us are so very thankful for the privilege of serving so many. I thank my God for each of the staff, for each of you – it is very humbling to be a part of all of this. 

Thank you,

 Janne

Follow Janne’s Journey with Breast Cancer

At the end of May, Janne Ritskes updated the Tabitha Singapore website with news of her early-stage breast cancer diagnosis. Please read a further message below from Janne for access to her personal blog. 

I am taken aback by the phenomenal support and response I have gotten from so many of you.  I am also a bit overwhelmed with your responses.  So many of you would like to know how it is all going, so with An Lee’s help – I have started a blog and you can keep up with the progress.

 The blog spot is: http://janneritskes.blogspot.com/

 Thanks

 Janne

An update from our new President

The new President of Tabitha Foundation Singapore, Eleanor Craig, sends the following update to our volunteers:

Last week, the new committee of Tabitha Foundation Singapore met for the first time.  Our meeting followed the AGM held the prior week, where three of the key members resigned from their board roles: AnLee Cox as President, Amy Ferguson as Vice President and JoAnn Spitzer as Treasurer and Val Kohlmayr as co-president. Three new board members were appointed, Sharon Ford as Treasurer, Scott Cowan as Vice President and myself as President.  Mylene Asselin was re-elected as Company Secretary.

Anlee, Amy and JoAnn will all continue to work as key volunteers for Tabitha in Singapore and Val is winging her way to the USA, where I am sure we will see her continuing to be involved on that side of the globe!  I just want to reiterate the thanks that were expressed at the AGM for the work all four of them did as Board Members.

Of course it isn’t just these four roles, as defined in the constitution, which make Tabitha Singapore tick, and all four of us are looking forward to working with the wide group of volunteers who make Tabitha what it is. We are working on making our web site more flexible and as we do that, we will have the opportunity to share progress on who is doing what in 2010, but in the meantime I would like to share a little bit of detail on who will be the point person for some of the areas.

The Cottage Industry will be lead by Kathleen Prudhomme, supported by Lynda Talbot. There is of course a very big team of volunteers who work in many areas of the cottage industry. Communications will be lead by Sam Samlal, supported by small team which is currently being established. Donations – AnLee Cox, with Lisa Newman continuing to coordinate all house building activities.  IT support – Kathy Cohen and Karen Gould. There are a number of areas where we have not yet confirmed the key contact person, but we will let you know when that happens.

For me, I am just very excited and honoured to be part of a group which has done so much and has so much energy to do even more.   Many people have taken time over the last few months to share with me their views and experiences with Tabitha. Thank you again if you were part of that group, and don’t be surprised if I call you again for your advice or views! Similarly if you have views or ideas for things that could make a difference to Tabitha and the events we run, please share them with me.

I count myself as having had a very blessed life, and I feel humbled when I read Janne’s monthly update. It always makes me think – what else can I, and we, do that will last a life time?   Tabitha volunteers are always busy and inventive people so there always seems to be something going on that will positively impact the Tabitha Cambodian families. Some stories are shared on the blog, but I plan to issue a Singapore update so that we can all see how our efforts have made a direct impact in Cambodia.

Many thanks,

Eleanor Craig

President
Tabitha Foundation Singapore