Updates from Cambodia 1996
March 1996
Oun Dina used to be a soldier. He lost a leg in 1990 fighting the Khmer Rouge by stepping on a landmine. He met his wife, Somme, She lost her leg in 1973 when there was civil war and she was hit by a rocket. They lived in a small house in Chamkammon, an area the government gave to soldiers who were hurt. They met while they both were training at Wat Than. They got married. Life was very hard for them. Dina says: "It was like living in the border camps. Little food and water, beatings every day. I thought that I would die." Dina spent much of his time drinking away his misery. In January 1995 Nary, one of our staff, found Dina and talked with him." I thought he was different from the other handicapped who you always see begging. because he was very poor and his wife was pregnant. He was very happy. He is a good worker and he works hard. Then one day we lent him some money just before Khmer New Year. He drank that money away. I was very angry with him. Janne was very angry. Janne wanted to let him go but I wanted to give him one more chance. I told him that he must change all his bad ways, if not for himself, for his wife and baby daughter. He said he would change but I didn't believe him. But I was wrong. Since then everything he said is true, he has changed. He has bought and is still paying for one half hectare of land an hour outside of Phnom Penh. He has planted 140 banana trees, papaya and jackfruit trees. Even though he has one leg and his wife tells him the work is to hard, he has done all this. I think this family has made a good opportunity. They have land, house, trees. It makes me very happy to see." Dina has asked for a loan to dig a well. This will ensure there is enough water for all his dreams. I asked him what was next. He told us to come with him. We drove through the dusty countryside until we came to a beautiful home. " See that house, that I will build when we sell all our fruit. My children will live in a good home " he gave us a big smile and pedalled off to work his land.
November 1996
We were able to open a second office and program in Siem Riep. Forty families, people like Teap Sopheap, live with hope. She is 34, a widow whose husband died fighting a seemingly endless war. The first day we met she had just finished working for 12 hours collecting edible weeds. The sale of these weeds gave her enough income to buy fishbones without meat to make soup for herself and her 2 hungry children. Her home was little more than a few poles patched with broken thatch. She started working three months ago. There is not a day that goes by when she does not say thank you to our staff and is sad when the weekend comes and she must stay home and not come to the office.
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