A pig given to families Sam Rong village in Cambodia's Takeo Province as part of the Village Pig project sponsored by a tiny aid group based in Lacey, Washington. (Photo: Jonathan Hale/Office of Sen. Maria Cantwell/MCT)Sunday, Dec. 09, 2007
By LES BLUMENTHAL
Central Daily Times (State College, Pennsylvania, USA)
WASHINGTON — Two hours south of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, down a dusty dirt road, sits Sam Rong, a small rural village of one-room houses made of bits of wood and dried palm leaves built on stilts above green rice paddies.
Water buffalo and oxen till the fields as the occasional motorcycle with live chickens tied on back passes by. Fishermen cast their nets in rivers, and hand-powered machines using centuries-old techniques crush the rice.
Hot and tropical, Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in the world. Mosquito-born dengue fever remains a threat, e-coli and lead can lace the brackish water supplies, and nightmares of Pol Pot and the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge linger.
Extreme poverty is a reality, not a statistic.
But a tiny organization in Lacey, Wash., is trying to do something about Cambodia's poverty, and its solution is simple: pigs.
"Once you have gotten to know these people over a period of time, you simply cannot go back to the comfort of ignorance and distance from the wretched poverty that dominates most of the globe," said Brian Ebersole, a former speaker of the Washington state House of Representatives.
Ebersole and a small group of friends founded the Village Pig Project several years ago. They couldn't escape the memories of poverty they found in rural Cambodia when they visited the ancient temple at Angkor Wat.
The idea was to help a village work its way out of extreme poverty in a sustainable way. A Cambodian suggested pigs. There's a ready market for pigs in Cambodia, and they breed rapidly.
On a shoestring budget, the project has supplied pigs to more than 30 families in Sam Rong.
"When the problem is so large, you have to start somewhere," said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who met with officials of the Village Pig Project while she was in Cambodia over Congress' Thanksgiving recess.
"I am a Pol Pot survivor," said Darren Pen, 47, who immigrated to the United States nearly 20 years ago and eventually settled in Tacoma, Wash., where he raised a family in a tough neighborhood.
Pen tells a chilling tale of his life in Cambodia, including being buried in the ground up to his neck by the Khmer Rouge when he was a teenager.
"It was raining," Pen said. "I thought I would die."
He eventually was dug up and placed in a labor camp, but he managed to escape. After five years in a refugee camp in Thailand, which he said was just as brutal as the labor camps in Cambodia, he arrived in the United States.
By some estimates, more than 2 million Cambodians were slaughtered or died of starvation or illness during Pol Pot's reign.
Pen, a community activist and the president of the Khmer Community of Tacoma, Wash., who lost his mother, two sisters and a brother to the Khmer Rouge, has been back to Cambodia. He's on the board of directors of the Village Pig Project and has been to Sam Rong and seen the pigs.
"It's a piece of the puzzle," Pen said. "One thousand pieces come together into a big picture. It's little step by little step. When people are no longer hungry and have a little bit of money, they go to work and send their children to school. It's a major step out of poverty for these rural people."
Statistics help tell the story of poverty in Cambodia, which the United Nations says is the eighth least developed country in the world. Nearly 80 percent of Cambodians live on $2 a day; nearly a third live on a $1 a day or less. One child out of every six dies before age 6. The average age in Cambodia is 19, and 40 percent of the population is under 15.
"We are not trying to save the world, or even Cambodia," Ebersole said. "These are people we know; it is personal."
On a budget of about $25,000 a year, the project supplies each family with three piglets, pig food and visits from a veterinarian. The families are also given a $10-a-month stipend.
"It's an incentive to keep them from eating the pigs," said David Michner of Olympia, Wash., the president of the Village Pig Project.
Michner said the families breed the pigs and can sell them when they're big enough, or eat them. Eventually, the families are weaned off the program after the pigs raise three litters.
"We talked to a lot of people," he said. "There is a market for pigs, and they breed like rabbits. These are very poor people. We are teaching them how to make a living, survive until the next day and feed their kids."
The project has a Web site, www.villagepigproject.org, and does seek contributions. But at least for now, it plans to remain small.
"It's not a Bill Gates-size project," Michner said of the Microsoft founder's multibillion-dollar foundation.
Recently, tests showed the water supply at Sam Rong is tainted with e-coli and lead, and the project is looking to help solve that problem.
But for now, it's about the pigs.
"The people seem to take pride in their pigs," Ebersole said. "They seem to be taking to it and they are pleased someone in the world cares about them."
Water buffalo and oxen till the fields as the occasional motorcycle with live chickens tied on back passes by. Fishermen cast their nets in rivers, and hand-powered machines using centuries-old techniques crush the rice.
Hot and tropical, Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in the world. Mosquito-born dengue fever remains a threat, e-coli and lead can lace the brackish water supplies, and nightmares of Pol Pot and the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge linger.
Extreme poverty is a reality, not a statistic.
But a tiny organization in Lacey, Wash., is trying to do something about Cambodia's poverty, and its solution is simple: pigs.
"Once you have gotten to know these people over a period of time, you simply cannot go back to the comfort of ignorance and distance from the wretched poverty that dominates most of the globe," said Brian Ebersole, a former speaker of the Washington state House of Representatives.
Ebersole and a small group of friends founded the Village Pig Project several years ago. They couldn't escape the memories of poverty they found in rural Cambodia when they visited the ancient temple at Angkor Wat.
The idea was to help a village work its way out of extreme poverty in a sustainable way. A Cambodian suggested pigs. There's a ready market for pigs in Cambodia, and they breed rapidly.
On a shoestring budget, the project has supplied pigs to more than 30 families in Sam Rong.
"When the problem is so large, you have to start somewhere," said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who met with officials of the Village Pig Project while she was in Cambodia over Congress' Thanksgiving recess.
"I am a Pol Pot survivor," said Darren Pen, 47, who immigrated to the United States nearly 20 years ago and eventually settled in Tacoma, Wash., where he raised a family in a tough neighborhood.
Pen tells a chilling tale of his life in Cambodia, including being buried in the ground up to his neck by the Khmer Rouge when he was a teenager.
"It was raining," Pen said. "I thought I would die."
He eventually was dug up and placed in a labor camp, but he managed to escape. After five years in a refugee camp in Thailand, which he said was just as brutal as the labor camps in Cambodia, he arrived in the United States.
By some estimates, more than 2 million Cambodians were slaughtered or died of starvation or illness during Pol Pot's reign.
Pen, a community activist and the president of the Khmer Community of Tacoma, Wash., who lost his mother, two sisters and a brother to the Khmer Rouge, has been back to Cambodia. He's on the board of directors of the Village Pig Project and has been to Sam Rong and seen the pigs.
"It's a piece of the puzzle," Pen said. "One thousand pieces come together into a big picture. It's little step by little step. When people are no longer hungry and have a little bit of money, they go to work and send their children to school. It's a major step out of poverty for these rural people."
Statistics help tell the story of poverty in Cambodia, which the United Nations says is the eighth least developed country in the world. Nearly 80 percent of Cambodians live on $2 a day; nearly a third live on a $1 a day or less. One child out of every six dies before age 6. The average age in Cambodia is 19, and 40 percent of the population is under 15.
"We are not trying to save the world, or even Cambodia," Ebersole said. "These are people we know; it is personal."
On a budget of about $25,000 a year, the project supplies each family with three piglets, pig food and visits from a veterinarian. The families are also given a $10-a-month stipend.
"It's an incentive to keep them from eating the pigs," said David Michner of Olympia, Wash., the president of the Village Pig Project.
Michner said the families breed the pigs and can sell them when they're big enough, or eat them. Eventually, the families are weaned off the program after the pigs raise three litters.
"We talked to a lot of people," he said. "There is a market for pigs, and they breed like rabbits. These are very poor people. We are teaching them how to make a living, survive until the next day and feed their kids."
The project has a Web site, www.villagepigproject.org, and does seek contributions. But at least for now, it plans to remain small.
"It's not a Bill Gates-size project," Michner said of the Microsoft founder's multibillion-dollar foundation.
Recently, tests showed the water supply at Sam Rong is tainted with e-coli and lead, and the project is looking to help solve that problem.
But for now, it's about the pigs.
"The people seem to take pride in their pigs," Ebersole said. "They seem to be taking to it and they are pleased someone in the world cares about them."
12 comments:
Yes, and thank you for all the help. We will continued to depend on outside help for another 10-15 years or so, until our economy will be able to take care of our people.
It is such a challenging to live a life off the grid and without electricity to run automation and soon Cambodian people willing living in the Stone Age for the next 10-15 years!
I can't believe that dirt poor Cambodian people think that a pig could pull them out of poverty! Ahahahhahahha! I believe these dirt poor Cambodian people have such limited information to make any good or sound judgment that can have real impact on their poverty condition! I also believe that corrupted Cambodian leaders who have enough information to make life changing decision but they refused to do it because of political party and personal interest!
Cambodian people must not forget that they are living in the 21st century and any decision they make must reflect the 21st century political and economic climate!
I absolutely agreed with 5:26's comment. But that will depending on how much the Cambodian government do to help its own people.
Well, most of our problems is linked to high number of jobless in the country, and right now our PM et al are all in India making deals to resolve some of the problem, then they will be elsewhere also afterward. They had not stopped working for the people.
At least they have pigs to raise. To some people that don't have anything, a pig or two or three is better than nothing at all and you heard that there are markets for pig! That is all you need a Market!!!
Cann't make cell phone or an airplain, raise pig! There is nothing wrong with that. A Pig is money! one pig at the time. That is right! Can Cambodia export pigs? Who say that it's not possible? No job is too small or too low. Nop! not at all.
There is story of someone invented a dental flosh. A dental flosh. Yeah! you heard that a dental flosh. Now the whole world is floshing their teeth with it. Each piece will sell for $ 1.45 and 500 millions pieces producing for the market a every month??? You do the math. Let's talking pig this time. That is such a great idea!!!!!
Come to Mama piglet!:)
As long as we don't do business with human pig. It's will be alright. You know...those human that call themself Oink! Oink!!! those whore, we mean.
I dare anyone to do research on how much does it costs to feed the pig in Cambodia and I willing to bet that the cost of feeding the pig will cost more than for these dirt poor Cambodian people to feed themselves!
This is just one pig to feed! If the pig get improper nutrition and the diseases will spread to human population! I had seen how some of these pigs being raise for the pound to sell at the market! The living conditions for these pigs are so disgusting, dirty, and the foul smell is unbearable and it would be considered animal abuse in the Western country!
Now don't get me wrong here and I ain't Muslim ok! I couldn't imagine eating something so dirty that won't promote my well being in the long term!
By the way, pig will eat anything including their own feces!
Well, most of our farmers owned only a few pigs; so they don't really needed to feed them all that much. They can just eat some of the plants that grow around the land and from whatever leftover veggies parts that we don't cook.
Pigs in Cambodia eat banana trees and those soft rice's skin or "Kontok " in Khmer. How expensive is it for a banana tree that cann't give fruit anymore? or how expensive is it for those Kontok ? Pig loves mud....they are happy in mud. That thier normal habitat. That why they call them pig, because they are the most filty animal around, but again that is pig. Until they can find a better way to raise them, they just have to stay happy in the mud for now.
Rain will wash those nasty mud every few days. It's Cambodia and not in Europe or America. It's only take 2- 3 months for a full grown pig. Just hang in There. Try anything that can a pull large sum of cash on that short amount of time. What 5000 to 8000 riels per Kilogram of those fat pig? Except that those poor pig will be choped their head off, but Cambodian people probably won't do the job. The Chinese will.
Dear Sen. Cantwell, Mr. Pen , Mr. Ebersole, Mr. Michner & to whom it may concern,
Here is our suggestion for a better and cleaner environment.
Did we hear you're giving out 2-3 pigs per/ family? and there are 30 families of us that you're willing to help?
That is 300 pigs all together and it is your most generous of all time! Please can you also give us a small farm to raise them seperately? Those 300 pigs will have a place to themself away from our home a little bit and we will take turn feeding, washing and managing them everyday until they are all grown up or until whenever. It'll be our daily duty to care for them on your behalf and our own.
Thank you so much for your attention! and in advance!
Sincerely,
Ordinary Khmers
P.S
We will dedicate this farm in your name and your organization.
God Bless!
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