Bridges Across Borders Cambodia

During the Participatory Learning Assessment (PLA) BABC held with the Chamcar Bei community, the residents identified four areas they wanted to improve – education, health, livelihoods and sustainability.  To achieve sustainable improvements in each area the community set out plans to establish strong, democratic Community Based Organizations (CBOs) with the capacity to plan, implement and monitor the agreed development activities supported by the project.  They envisioned the CBOs and their related activities would operate long after the project phases out, and would serve as a community organizing model for neighboring communities.

Community Based Organizations

Since that PLA in 2006, giant strides have been made in community organizing with the establishment and further strengthening of a Community Education Taskforce, Community Health Taskforce, Agricultural Development Association, Women’s Handicraft and Development Association, and an association of existing and new selected families within the “Family Dream” project.  Ensuring sustainability and community ownership, these community-based groups are driving the ongoing development efforts in Chamcar Bei, with BABC playing a supportive role in the background. 

The Education Task Force, who elects four members annually, have continued to manage operations of Our School with increasingly less technical and financial support required from the project. The Agricultural Development Association (ADA) was formed with the selection of members from the three different geographical areas of the sprawling village. The ADA was established to assist farmers in purchasing and marketing their produce, managing the animal pass-on programs, and facilitating agricultural trainings for the community. The Women’s Handicraft and Development Association (WHADA) was formed by the producer groups, with representation from the EcoWeave, EcoSew, Econut, and Funky Junk cooperatives. Through the association, producers can purchase raw materials together, sell their handicrafts at the community shop, and develop markets for their products in unison. WHADA will also manage the sustainable tourism efforts currently underway in the community.

Self Help Groups

Self Help Groups (SHGs) are at the core of the project’s sustainability plan, generating community owned capital for the stimulation of micro-enterprises, home improvements, and emergency lending at affordable interest rates.  By the end of 2009, there were ten SHGs representing nearly 200 families with combined assets of USD $4,523. To strengthen these groups BABC provides training on book keeping, tracking of loans, selecting new members and solving day to day problems. Through the SHGs, families are able to take out loans for house repairs, starting or expanding small businesses, buying food or medicine, buying chickens and pigs for animal husbandry, buying materials and fertilizer for rice growing and farming, buying study materials for their children, and to repay loans to money lenders with higher interest rates.  At the same time, the SHGs are building trust and solidarity between members, which is critical to the process and success of community organizing.

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