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Project Sobhan: helping people dream and
then follow their dreams
   
   
   

   Once caught in poverty, Cambodian families soon give up all hope that their life can or will ever change for the better. The odds are simply stacked too strongly against them.

   Finding food and firewood becomes a daily struggle. Jobs and cash are virtually non-existent. Children rarely attend school, at least not beyond grades one or two. Many families are in debt, having sold their land, cows or other possessions in times of emergency. Women, either mother or grandmother, head about half of the families living in poverty.

   Left alone, these families lack the experience, education, power, money and other resources necessary to break the never-ending cycle of poverty. The children will face the same struggle.

   The village's name, Sobhan, means "to dream." Project Sobhan wants to encourage families to dream--dream about good health, about eating fruit and vegetables every day, about children learning and playing at school, about developing skill and using available resources to work individually and corporately to improve their quality of life. (Learn more.)

  
           
  Some results of the village survey  

The village of Sobhan includes 32 households. The day we did our survey, we accounted for 160 people.

    0 number of toilets in village
   11 number of households headed by a woman
   38 number of preschool children
   17 number of cows owned by villagers
   15 number of school-age children who have never        attended school
    l9 number of families growing at least one fruit tree
    8 number of adults who work and earn cash on a        fairly regular basis
    0 number of Christians
    2 number of families eating vegetables almost every        day

     These children are bathing and drinking from a well that was 'broken' for several months. Since the well was not really owned by anyone, no one repaired the well. Sun Mao, Jumpah's community development coordinator, helped the previously established Village Development Committee to discuss possible solutions to the problem. Eventually, VDC members collected 500 riel (12 cents) from each family in the village, enough to pay for necessary repairs and provide villagers on the east side of town easier access to clean water.
     
     
    The village leader sounds the bell and villagers (if not doing something 'more important') gather for a meeting.
   
       During the meetings, these five ladies 'volunteered' to participate in Jumpah's first major activity in Sobhan. Each will learn how to raise pigs while actually raising two pigs for a project controlled by Jumpah. By the way, these ladies have many more children not shown in this picture.
    Jumpah activities in Sobhan

  Some likely initial project activities:

  •    Help community repair hand pump at its second well
  •    Teach villagers about importance of clean drinking water
  •    Involve some interested, poor villagers in our agriculture activities
  •    Employ some villagers in our short term building projects
  •    Teach villagers some basic principles of public health
           
    Sun Mao leads Jumpah's community development efforts. He graduated from the government's agriculture university more than a year ago, then accepted a job with a road construction crew. Jumpah 'rescued' him and gave him an opportunity to serve people, using his skills, experiences, and motivations. He has developed great relationships with villagers and with Jumpah's other staff members.

Contact information:

Tim and Darlene Ratzloff
Christian Care For Cambodia
PO Box 830
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

fishpond@online.com.kh

Support information:

Mt. View Community Church
Project Cambodia
12033 Seattle Hill Road
Snohomish, WA 98295

mountainview@bigfoot.com

   Site information:

    This site is currently under construction. We invite your
comments and suggestions.
Send to:

fishpond@online.com.kh		  

   A Jumpah flower rarely blossoms in Cambodia. People pluck the slender white buds to enjoy their elegant beauty and their mild fragrance. In the same way, orphans and other children, widows and poor Cambodians have very little opportunity to reach their potential as people created in the image of God. With your help, we can encourage, nurture and enable at least some to blossom.