GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA MICHAELLE JEAN
TO BE PATRON OF THE TABITHA FOUNDATION OF OTTAWA.

Governor General Michaëlle Jean has agreed to become Patron of the Tabitha Foundation, a Canadian charity which helps the poorest of the poor in Cambodia, through its Cottage Industry Program.

The charity, founded in Ottawa in 1994, has grown rapidly and now assists 1% of the Cambodian population, about 170,000 people.

In Cambodia, the Field Director, Janne Ritskes, initiated the savings and handicraft programs, and continues to train and inspire the Cambodian staff which help to make poor Cambodian families self sufficient.

The Foundation's name honours Tabitha, also known as Dorcas, an early Christian beloved for her acts of charity.

July 7, 2006

Dear friends and partners,

 This morning I want share a special day that I experienced yesterday. I went to see our newest project area, Kompong Thom with Srei and Apo who is our staff there. Srei has come a long way over the years that we have been together. When she first started with us, back in 1996, Srei was a trembler - her whole body quivered and she was frightened of everything. Over the years, she has learned to become a very confident and competent woman - she is now the Supervisor of all our development projects.

As we drove to our new communities, Srei asked if I would like to see where she had suffered during the Khmer Rouge years - I said, yes, I would like to see. Over the years Srei had shared bits and pieces of the horror - yesterday I learned so very much more.

We drove to the village of Slakor, in Staung District - as we were driving Srei said, this is the village where a 1000 families from Phnom Penh were sent by the Khmer Rouge - out of those families, only 9 broken families survived - mine was one of them.

We stopped at the house where her family was billeted with an 'old family"- a rural family who lived there and was considered good by the Khmer Rouge. Urbanites were billeted with the old people to insure that they were being watched. "This is the house where 25 members of my family stayed, she said - only 3 of us survived - my mum, my sister and myself."

As we were talking an old woman came out of the house - this woman, said Srei, she saved my life. This woman watched the Khmer Rouge come and take away my father, then one by one, my six brothers, my uncles, my auntie and my cousins - they killed them all, one by one. The old woman heard that I was to die next - she felt great pity for me and she said - I will beg for your life - I will cry and I will beg - but you - you must not cry - for if you cry they will kill you. For 2 days the old woman begged and cried for Srei's life - Srei never cried - she wanted to live. The Khmer Rouge relented and didn't take her.  I thanked the old woman for her compassion and bravery - her own life was at stake for begging. She grasped my hand in both of hers - they were bad times, the old woman said.

Srei's eyes were burning red - but she did not cry as we spoke - instead she was animated. Come, Srei said, I will show you where they killed my father. 50 meters away was a Wat. As we walked into the grounds, Srei pointed at 3 trees, these are the trees where they killed the babies. The Khmer Rouge would hold them with one leg and then bash them against the tree. I could not speak - such behavior was beyond my comprehension. Then Srei grabbed my hand and we walked to the Wat - in this building is where the people stayed for the last days of their lives - if the Khmer Rouge put you in this building - then you knew you would die.

She turned and ran down the stairs to an open pit fenced by bamboo - this is where the bodies were thrown - the government came and cleaned out all the bodies - some are in Phnom Penh and some are in a Wat in a nearby village - she went on and described her father's death and those of her brothers and of her cousins and her uncles and then her final relative, an auntie - they came for my auntie, she said - my mother told my auntie - do whatever they tell you - don't cry - and you might live - 2 hours later a dog came by their home with her auntie's skirt hanging from his jaw.

She turned and pointed to the building where they all were forced to eat together - they killed people everyday, she said but one day of the week, they would kill very many - on that night - we were not allowed to come and eat -  then we would be awake all night long - I could not cry because then I would die. Then she pointed to another tree with an excavation beside it - this is where I saw my father's body - or a part of it. When I came back for the first time in 2001, I could not sleep - I felt all the people who had died around me. Then in 2003, I came back and made a ceremony for my father and for my brothers - now I can sleep here. I come to this spot a lot.  Tears were streaming from my eyes - her pain and the pain of so many others - over 12,000 people died in this spot, Janne - and then she cried.

When the tears were done - she continued with her story - she said, we heard that the Vietnamese were in Phnom Penh and chasing the Khmer Rouge away. The old lady came to my mother and said, you must go now - the Khmer Rouge are angry - they want to kill you and your daughters. The villagers gave us a lot of food and then brought us out to the main highway - go, they said, or you will die. We went and what was left of 8 other families left. Later, when the Vietnamese came to bring freedom, the old people killed all the bad Khmer Rouge - all the ones that had killed so many.

I lived, but I didn't know why. Now I do, Srei said - I live so that I can give life to others - I want to put a well in this village in honor of my father and one in honor of my brothers - the water will give life to so many others.

We left the Wat and Apo and Srei showed me several hundred families that we are now working with. The poverty is hard, - the spirit is good - we all want to live.

I thank my God that He has spared me from such great sorrow, I thank Him for allowing me the privilege of  sharing my life with so many like Srei - I thank my God that He has made each of you a part of this.

Janne

August 22, 2006

Dear friends and partners,

Two weeks ago, all our development staff spent a few days together looking and evaluating and learning from our newest programs. They came back with a story that made us stop and think and evaluate all that we do.

The story began last April – during the Khmer New Years break and the Easter week-end. A couple of founders had arrived and they wanted to see Svay Rieng as a possible project that they would like to support. Srie, Nary, Ponluck and I took the folks out to see. When we arrived at the first village, I was once again struck by the meanness of poverty – family after family lived in houses less than 2 meters square, made of grass and nothing much else. The houses were unusually close to each other. It was Khmer New Years – a big holiday here in Cambodia – the children and adults swarmed around us – dressed in their best – much of it the wrong size, dusty and often with holes – they were happy to see us – and we were happy to see them.

And yet – the poverty was hurtful to see and in one of my moments I blurted out – how disgusting it was to see people living in such squalor – living like animals. We visited several other villages and then left for home.

One of the village volunteers asked Ponluck and Srie what I had thought – in a rare moment of honesty they told him what I said. They were standing in front of part of his village – in an area of 20 square meters, 14 families were living in poverty. There was no space – there was no privacy. He looked at Srie and Ponluck and said that he was ashamed that I had seen this.

Ponluck said that he should not be ashamed – we just wanted to help – to change all of this. If they could have wells the volunteer said – things might change. Srie spoke up – if you have a well, nothing will change – these families have no space and no land to grow vegetables or to raise animals.  We cannot put in wells unless they can do things with the water to change their lives. Nothing more was said.

In May, local elections were held through-out the country. This volunteer was elected as village chief. His first task as village chief was to go up one level to the commune chief. He shared his story of our visit – he shared his desire to help his people – but, he said, we need land. The commune chief listened and empathized – he gave land to the villagers – enough land that each villager could have at least 10 square meters.
The village chief returned to his families and he shared the good news. Out of the 14 families – 12 moved their shacks to their new land. They tilled the soil and planted their seeds and then they said to Ponluck and to Srie – now we need a well. And wells they got – 4 for this group of families.
  
The staff arrived a month after all this took place. They visited with the family of 6 young orphans – elated because they now had land and they could grow food. They visited the family with 9 children – their house was still too small for everyone but they were all busy working the soil – even the baby. They talked with the widows who were already raising pigs. They chased after chickens with the family whose father was handicapped and whose mother was blind. They marveled at the land given by the commune chief – a lot of land still waiting for 50 families to accept this gift.

They talked with the chief – amazed at his courage – amazed at his wisdom. He, in turn, talked of Ponluck and Srie and of their willingness to speak honestly. As the team left the village, the chief spoke again – this time, he said, I am not ashamed for you to come.

The staff came back with new wisdom – we must not give wells unless the families have enough land to earn from the water – we must not be silent – we must speak for land for these families. We must not give wells unless families can show us beforehand, that they can do things. We must give wells only to support 3 families in growing vegetables so that there is enough water and enough income to change their lives. Janne, we want 1032 wells next year – can we have them?

I ask all of you – can they have them? I said yes, but without you – I cannot do it.
I thank my God for the wisdom that He has given; I thank God that speaking honestly about the hurt of poverty can change lives. I thank my God that I can speak honestly with you. Janne

Annual Report: October 2005 to September 2006

Dear friends and partners,

It is an honour to present to you our 12th Annual report. It has been a wondrous year –it started with the re-training of all our development staff and ended with outstanding results.

Our goals for this year were to reach out to 22,114 families in community development – we completed the year with 27,061 families involving 216,488 dependents – in cottage industry it was to reach out to 620 families with 4,960 dependents – we ended up with 568 families involving 4,544 people.

We opened 2 new project areas in community development – Svay Rieng and Kompong Thom. We closed down cottage industry in Siem Reap and brought in a group of women living with Aids – this broadened our perspective and made us wiser.

We enhanced our structure and our future with the development of a clear organizational chart – we added 2 positions of supervisors – Administrative Supervisor and Community Development Supervisor. This has added depth and strength to all our programs.

Our budgets reflect these changes – the savings increased phenomenally this year to $1,090,792.38 – from this our 27,051 families made 103,986 purchases changing their lives for the better. The value of these purchases was an astonishing $5,784,256.00 worth. Families that received wells increased their incomes to an average of $2.50 per day – a remarkable increase.

We graduated 1,618 families this year – a very painful and difficult process as families are loathe to leave the programs.

It was a remarkable year – we went from strength to strength – a year of consolidation of vision and of our implementation of that vision. Each one of you stood beside us – each one of you was an integral part of it all. On behalf of the families we worked with, the staff and myself. Thank you.

I praise my God for His grace and for His mercy in the year that is past. I look forward to serving all of you in the year that lies ahead.

Sincerely yours,

Janne Ritskes, Director/Founder Tabitha Cambodia

Please email us if you wish copies of the detailed Annual Report.

October 18, 2006

Dear friends and partners,
 
Last month, the newsletter dwelled on the sadness poverty and the question that was asked was who will hear them when they cry? I said that you and I will hear them. We have just finished our annual report and I would like to share some of the ways we heard these people cry.
 
In the past 12 months,

• 12,050 new families with 95,400 people ate three meals a day – the children did not go to bed hungry

• 5,675 families with 45,400 people were able to buy rice – enough for three months – no hunger during these months

• 4,445 families with 35,560 people ate their meals from food cooked in their own pots and pans and eaten from porcelain plates – water was drunk from real glass glasses – what a joy
  
  

• 6,094 families with 48,752 people were able to buy blankets, sleeping mats and mosquito nets – the nights were ever so much better
  
  

• 2,459 new families with 19,672 people were able to have a few hours of light each night because they had bought a battery – the night terrors were put to rest for a few hours each evening
  
  

• 1,062 new families with 8,496 families were able to buy a bicycle – an average of 75% of our school aged children are going to school this year – up from the 15% that attended several years ago
  
  

• 3,624 families with 28,992 people were able to pay for medical treatment this year – before they suffered without help
  
  

• 4,254 families with 34,032 people were able to raise pigs, another 2,213 families with 17,704 people were able to raise chickens or ducks; and another 6,525 families with 52,200 people grew vegetables; another 4,034 families with 32,272 people were able to buy farm tools and fertilizer; 405 families were able to buy a cow or buffalo to plough their fields -  all of these families increased their income from less than .50 cents a day – to an average of $2.50 per day – they have visions of being able to build a safe home, to have their children in school, to work and live with dignity – what a gift that is.
  
  

• 586 families – most of them street women – a number living with AIDS – were able to earn a very good income this year because of you –
   
  

• 823 volunteers came from all over the world to build 376 houses for 376 families – so many are able to sleep at night without fear, without being rained on.
  
  

• 845 wells were dug this year – giving life saving water to 4,225 families with 33,800 people – their neighbors have access to this water – a gift of hope for much can be grown, a gift of life for the illnesses have decreased – a gift of rest as no one has to walk far to receive the water.
  
  

• and there is so much more ……
  

You and our staff heard the cries of 27,061 families with 216,488 people this past year.
 
Now I’d like to challenge each of you – this New Year that started a couple of weeks ago is full of visions – we’d like to reach out to 35,435 families with 267,673 people. It is an amazing vision – one we cannot do without each of you.

• The budget for the development program is $280,378.00 US dollars – we need to have 2800 people commit to $100 USD (about $112.00 CND) for this year – sounds impossible – not if each of our Foundations in Singapore, Canada, USA, Australia and the UK found 560 partners for this amount – are you able to be a partner?  

• We have visions of installing 1,032 wells impacting a minimum of 3,660 families with 29,280 dependents – this means we need 86 wells per month at $85.00 US each – over the 5 foundations this would be 18 wells per month – will you stand with us in this vision?   

• We have visions of building houses for 550 families – but they are equally divided amongst our ten provinces – some whom require sacrifice to get to – are you able to bring a team that would be willing to go the extra mile?

• We have a vision to sell at least $45,000.00 worth of our products so that our many workers can live with dignity – will you help us to promote the workmanship and dignity of all our workers?
  

There are so many challenges in this year that lies ahead – each of you have made so much possible – each  of you have heard their cry. I thank you for the grace you have given to so many – I look forward to the blessings that will come this year. I thank my God for each of you.
 
If you would like to know how to be a partner – contact the Tabitha Foundation nearest to you.  

Janne

November 24, 2006
 
Dear friends and partners,
  
It’s a difficult letter I write today – it’s a letter dedicated to Som – one of our longest serving staff – a man who is suffering from heart failure. It is time to pay a tribute to Som, and to Marianne and to Dara and to so many who have helped us and been a part of us and have traveled on.          Som has been ill for the past two years with active hepatitis B. Last week the doctor told him that he is in heart failure and he should rest and not work – he has been home for the past 7 days but his heart is not at peace for he feels ashamed that we continue to pay him his salary.     

 Ah, my Som – how can I not pay? Its like a marriage – Tabitha is – it is for better and for worse – it just happens to be a worse time right now. Remember when we first met – you, like all the staff, were suffering so terribly from post traumatic stress – you could hardly move –  and how for the first six months – I would leave a concrete list of things for you to do – and you did them without complaint – remember how you slept downstairs in the garage and I slept upstairs in the stock room – we both felt safe as long as we there together – and then house building began and you came to life – you helped us with our teams – making them strong and feeling good about themselves – you spoke of how that gave so much meaning to your life – and then when Miriam came along – you in your quiet way, made sure I did things the right way with her – and then when she was two, you taught her how to hold a hammer and to hit a nail – three weeks ago her teacher sent home some work she had done – she had read a story about a fish who granted wishes to a man who had saved the fish’s life – the question was asked – what would Miriam ask for – her reply is a testimony to you – she said, I would ask for money – my mum and me work for Tabitha and we need money to buy lots of wood so that teams can build houses for all our families. You and I gave up working with the teams several years ago – time for the young people to carry on.  
   
 
You are older than most of the staff and your quiet wisdom have given so much to us. When the staff were up set about what would happen if  something  happened to me, you spoke and said, that Tabitha would go on because when I was on holidays – you all worked together to make it good. You always liked a good laugh – the bees in our trees were a good example of how you and I could get others to do things both of us knew was not so easy.  Our parties where so much fun – you were the first one up dancing and the last to sit down. Every morning you greet me with a quiet word and a cup of coffee – you always started my day right. I miss having you here.
 
You have touched so many lives in so many ways – there are so many people who would not have grace in their lives if it were not for you. You are a model of grace and wisdom and quiet attention to all that needs to be done. The past year, you have quietly cleaned every item in the store – making sure everything looks good. No one told you to do so – you just did it.
 
You are a model for me – your quiet dignity and strength give me dignity and strength. You are the representative of all who give to us so that we can reach out – so many give quietly and without expectation of reward – simply because, like you, they have faith in us and in the families we work with.
 
I know not what the future holds for us both – but whatever the journey may be – I am with you in spirit – and should you leave this life of sorrows – then know – it won’t be long before we will meet again.
 
I thank my God for you and what you have done for all of us. I thank my God for each of you, our friends and partners, for all you have done for us – whatever our respective journeys are – wherever we may go – know that each of you has left a piece of your spirit with me, with our staff, with our families – and that a piece of Som, our staff, our families, of me will always be with you.
 
Thank you! Janne

December 3, 2006

It was a stressful and busy week. All of us are tired but we are also very thankful and excited about work. We have been told in the last few hours that 50 more of our families in Siem Reap have been given land because of our intercession with the local leaders - it just can't get any better than that - a month ago 120 families in Kompong Som received land because of Von's work there. This morning, Nary and Srie are out planning our Xmas party - Nary is laughing again and I am grateful. Janne

December 12, 2006

Dear friends and partners,
 
Holiday time is fast approaching and the season of hope and joy is near. Christmas is why Tabitha started – my faith in the birth of a child so long ago. It’s a story of faith and of hope. This season for us is marked with sadness and distrust. We had an attempted armed robbery by people we trusted a few weeks ago. Last week our advisor to the Prime Minster’s cabinet, a very good personal friend, died unexpectedly. Then news of some very good friends deciding to leave Cambodia left its mark.
 
The temptation is to wallow in self pity and to say, why me?  Some have advised that I should leave – why live in a country so filled with danger and sorrow. Then I think of the Christmas story and my sadness turns to hope. Jesus’ mother Mary was a woman of great faith for she was a woman, pregnant out of wedlock – a situation that even today, raises eye brows. Her story of angels and Immaculate Conception raised a great many eyebrows and undoubtedly some unkind words and reactions. A woman scorned – giving birth in a stable.
 
And as I thought about this, I got a phone call from Annie: Janne you won’t believe this, she said. The commune chief has given land to 50 of our families. Vonn greeted the news with joy, for more than 100 of our homeless families in Kompong Som received land – and why – because Annie, Vonn, Vath, Seyha and so many of our staff are people of faith – they believe in the goodness of others despite their fears and tortures of their early years.
 
Then Sokha came up the stairs – she is woman living with AIDS – contracted by doing the wrong kinds of things – Sokha is an outcast because of her behavior – she too, is scorned and talked about – she had lost her child, her home, her right to be part of a family – the price is high – and yet, she came into my office with trembling body and tears in her eyes – this is my daughter whom I lost and have now found again – I thank you for you gave me work when no one else would and I now have respect again – I have re-claimed my child – I have hope.
 
Thary came in this morning and showed me picture after picture of families who have worked their way out of poverty – these families are growing vegetables – something they never thought possible – and the price for the vegetables is good. These families had to begin planting before we would give them a well – it is hard to believe in unseen water and yet these families believed – in less than 3 months – all of them suddenly have enough to eat, enough to change that endless cycle of despair.  
 
Nary just phoned from the bank to tell me that some of you have sent funds to help our families – you believe in us and the people we work with – even though you cannot see and you don’t meet all these people – whose lives are marked with fear and distrust, marked with despair and little hope. Your message is the message of Christmas – even though our families are reviled and scorned – even though they live in meanness – much less than a stable – you give the gift of faith, the gift of hope.
 
There is laughter everywhere in the office today – they are practicing skits for our Christmas party to be held this Saturday. The skits must be funny and its obvious that they are. It will be a night of rejoicing, 2 full meals, skits and dancing until midnight. The sound of laughter – the gift of joy – the faith in what is to come and not yet seen.  
 
From our families, my staff and myself, I wish each and every one of you – the blessings of Christmas – and the best in the New Year.   

Janne

TOP

MAIN PAGE