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Mission
Plant Hope in Cambodia, Inc. (PHIC) works with poor and
subsistence farmers in Cambodia to empower them to live a healthier and
more productive lives.
Revive the notion of solidarity
Before
the war and other tragic events that have decimated Cambodian life in the
past few decades, village solidarity was a notion firmly rooted in local traditions.
This notion, essential though it is to a community’s survival and
development, has been considerably weakened to the point of virtually
complete elimination from Cambodian society. The frenzied
individualism that currently prevails is a reflection of the survival
instinct which itself results from the profound traumas suffered by the population
-- summary executions, terrible privation and other appalling
treatment. When, for each individual, life hangs by a thread, the
paramount need is to survive from day to day, whatever the cost, even at
the detriment of the community in which one lives but in which one no
longer believes. This state of mind, this mentality, this cynicism
and despair lives on in Cambodia and dominates society today.
PHIC wants to demonstrate, by the power of example,
that each member of a community has a better chance of survival, of living
in dignity and even of prospering if that community is able to organize
itself to face the adversities, resolve the problems and meet the
challenges that confront all its members. Hence the notion of
solidarity, which must be revived and considered essential.
Promote self-reliance
For
an extremely poor agricultural country such as Cambodia where more than 50%
of the national budget comes from foreign aid, the needs are massive and
pressing: infrastructure, education, health, job creation, diversification
of the farmers’ sources of revenue, irrigation systems, rural credit,
etc. Poorly conceived public and private social programs have damaged
the natural self-reliance of the people and contributed to the mentality of
dependency.
Dependence is a character of poverty. The poor
must be given the power, opportunity and responsibility to improve their
own lives. Through hands-on training, PHIC works with the poor and
subsistence farmers to restore their spirit of self-reliance while showing
them the power of solidarity.
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