SCOTTISH generosity has been praised after an appeal helped almost £50,000 Cambodians in need of aid.
More than £3.1m was raised for a project in Cambodia, where the vast majority of the population live in poverty. Nearly 75% of the people earn less than $3 per day and many families do not have enough food to eat or clean water to drink.
As well as helping people to survive, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (Sciaf) project also focused on equality and the rights of women as they are often marginalised and burdened with the toughest workloads.
Sciaf chief executive Alistair Dutton said the generosity of Scots givers had helped more than 46,838 people during the three year project which ended in December.
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“The generosity of Scottish people is being felt across the world and we’re pleased to share the difference Sciaf made recently in Cambodia,” he said.
“Thanks to public donations and the support of the UK Government, thousands of families in some of the poorest parts of Cambodia have more money, more food, more water and more dignity.”
The total sum of £3.1m raised by the charity included £1.5m of match funding from the UK Government.
Dutton said more women were now leaders in their communities as a result of the project: “In rural parts of the country, women often have little or no sway over the lives of their community, being excluded from communal decisions, and often do most of the hard, manual work.”
Sciaf’s partners brought villages together to discuss women’s rights and equality in a safe setting. Over 2600 women told us that they felt empowered after these sessions.
As a result, 148 women are in new leadership positions in their communities.”
One of the women helped is Vann Maren who farms with her husband Keo in Stung Treng, Cambodia.
Recent changes in weather has meant they have not been able to produce enough vegetables and rice to feed their family, or to sell at the market.
However, with support from Sciaf, they received training on vegetable growing techniques, were given seeds and taught how to start a water irrigation system.
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“Before we did not have enough to eat because we depended mainly on the income from my husband’s fishing,” said Vann Maren. “Now we can eat together – we eat meat and whatever we want. Now we are able to provide for our children’s education, we can buy them school uniforms and books. When we make good profit, we have happiness.”
As well as training in more reliable farming methods, thousands of families now have access to toilets for the first time, earn more money and have better food supplies, while children have new handwashing facilities in schools.
“We hope Scotland will give very generously again to continue work that helps communities escape extreme poverty,” said Dutton.
Much of the funding for the project came from Sciaf’s WEE BOX appeal which will launch again in March.
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