Just two days before the opening of the VII Asia-Pacific Conference in Singapore, the Cambodian Red Cross and its staff and volunteers celebrated the first ever event in the history. It was the ceremony to officiate the recognition  to Madam Bun Rany Hun Sen, President of the Cambodian Red Cross, as the APLF (Asia-Pacific Regional Forum) and National Outstanding Champion on HIV/AIDS.

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It is a village called Chan, in Khum Taing Krasaing of Batheay district, Kg. Cham province. Just about 78 km, Northeast of Phnom Penh, under a small hut at the North end of the village, there is a bending back woman, aged 82, sitting on a piece of wood with a walking stick in her hand. Every day, she spends her time sitting there, displaces only when she needs to cook her lunch and to feed a pig binding underneath the hut, about 3 m away from her seat. Her name is VEN OENG a native villager of Phum Taing Krasaing, the neighboring village of Phum Chan. She moved into current address few years ago.

It was 14 June 2006. At around 14:00 o’ clock, a white car with the Red Cross flag on its rear and wording Tracing Service of the Cambodian Red Cross on both sides of the doors arrived in front of Mrs. VEN’ s hut. Stepping off the car, there was a family: a father, a mother and two daughters.

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‘I was living in Domnak Troap village, Bakan district in Pursat province. I did not have enough food to feed my family every year because I have a very small plot of land for cultivation. Often there is drought, sometimes flooding so I rarely receive a very good yield from my field”, recounted Doun You 56 years old, living with seven children in Stoeung Thmey village, Veal Veng district of Pursat province.

Veal Veng district is located in western Cambodia around 124 km from Pursat province. This area is covered by landmines and UXO as it is located along the border betwee Cambodia and Thailand.

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In Cambodia, Rainy and dry seasons are the 2 main regular seasons. In the rainy season provinces along the Mekong River are prone to flood caused by water level of this mighty river In Some areas, water level is higher than people expected. Residents in the areas feel concern of their crops and animals, which have to be evacuated to the safe areas when flood strike. Their livelihood was also another issue of concern.

Mrs. Sun Seap, 55, resident of Kdey Kandal village, Sarika keo commune, Lvea Em district, Kandal province, about 15 Kilometres East of Phnom Penh city compliantly said that “every year flood inundated my rice crop and local fruit. Crops damaged, People fled to pagoda, landslide made people homeless with little to eat.”  She added, “ After having received key messages from the Early Warning System  we know how to prepare ourselves and protect our families from flood impact.”

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First of its kind – An Income-Generating Project at Pursat Branch

Pursat Branch is located in northwest Cambodia, 186 km from the capital Phnom Penh.  It conducts a range of community projects including landmine awareness, disaster preparedness, and tracing.  Fundraising efforts such as gala dinners and membership drives are regularly organized to fund these activities and cover their administrative costs.  Consequently, due to its strong performance and capacity, Pursat Branch was ranked as an A- branch through the 2004 Branch Categorization process.

Yet, while these fundraising efforts were successful in generating steady revenue for Pursat Branch, the Branch Committee, in mid-2002, came to the conclusion that to cover future expenditures and fund any desired expansion of services, the Branch needed to diversify its revenue stream.  To help them decide on what approach to take, the Branch referred to an NHQ brainstorming session held in late 2001 aimed at identified feasible Income-Generating Projects (IGPs) for Red Cross Branches.  At this session, the example of the CRC NHQ bookshop was highlighted as an exciting and sustainable income-generation solution for the Branches due to its low start up cost, ease of replicability and high income potential.  Because of these factors, CRC NHQ also pledged to provide technical expertise and support to any Branch who chose to set up a bookshop.

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Phum  Banlech is about  102 km Southeast of Phnom Penh. It is one of the villages in Khum Peam Meanchey,  Srok Peam Ro, Prey Veng province. Like other 37 villages in 13 communes of the four targeted provinces covered by the Flood Early Warning System (EWS): Stung Treng, Kratie, Kandal and Prey Veng,  Phum  Banlech is prone to annual flood causing by the mighty Mekong River.

At the village meeting compound, one can see a billboard from a distance. It is the flood early warning board giving details of the village. The board gives details of the village like number of families, population and households, dimension of agricultural areas and areas prone to flood together with the height of water in the Mekong marking in different colors.

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