12.26.2011

Cambodia: We Are Continuing Our Relief Activities to Support Those Affected by the Floods

Reaching Out to the Victims Whose Farmlands Have Been Struck Hard


December 15th, 2011- Noriyasu OKAYAMA (back left) of the AAR JAPAN Vientiane office greets the flood victims before the distribution of relief supplies (Siem Reap, Chreav)

AAR JAPAN has been continuing its emergency relief activities in response to the flooding in Cambodia. Specifically targeting those who had not received assistance yet from anywhere else, we distributed food items and daily necessities to 401 families and 400 families on December 15th and 22nd respectively in the province of Siem Reap, where the damages caused by the floods have been serious. After our 9th distribution activity, we have now delivered relief supplies to a total of 1,851 families.



Flooding damage has been particularly severe in our targeted area for distribution, which lies right around the northern region of Tonlé Sap Lake. Many of the residents in this area depend on agriculture to make a living, but we have been repeatedly told that their farmlands have been inundated for a long period of time and they are unable to harvest their crops as a result. Water would usually subside after several days if flooding were to happen in Japan; however, in the latest case in Cambodia, the water level rose during September and did not recede until November. Although the water level was not so high, the flooding damage has spread out extensively across large areas. Under such dire circumstances, the relief supplies, which included both food and non-food items like rice, buckets, soap, and mosquito nets, were positively received by those who had lost their crops.

AAR JAPAN will continue to distribute relief supplies to the flood victims next year. We are considering distributing vegetable seeds that can be grown and harvested in a short amount of time to those whose farming activities have been disrupted. We thank you for your generous ongoing support.

 

Areas of Distribution Thus Far

November 15th- Kandal Province, Khsach Kandal District, Koh Chauram: 200 families
November 15th- Kandal Province, Khsach Kandal District, Prek Ampil: 100 families
December 1st- Siem Reap Province, Siem Reap, Krabei Riel: 231 families
December 1st- Siem Reap Province, Siem Reap, Sambour: 136 families
December 8th- Siem Reap Province, Siem Reap, Chong Khneas: 242 families
December 8th- Siem Reap Province, Siem Reap, Chreav: 141 families
December 15th- Siem Reap Province, Siem Reap, Chreav: 401 families
December 22nd- Siem Reap Province, Chi Kreing District, Anlong Samnor: 300 families
December 22nd- Siem Reap Province, Chi Kreing District, Chi Kreing: 100 families

Distributed Items per Family on December 15th and 22nd
25kg of rice, 1 bag (1kg) of salt, 1 bottle (1L) of cooking oil, 1 bottle (1L) of soy sauce, 1 bottle (0.5L) of fish sauce*1, 10 cans of canned fish, 1 box (50 packs) of instant noodles, 1 bag of biscuits, 1 mosquito net, 1 blanket, 4 bars of soap, 1 bag of detergent, 1 bucket, 1 laundry bucket, 1 women’s lower garment (sarong) and 1 multi-purpose cloth (krorma)*

* A piece of cloth that can be used for various purposes such as wrapping around the head, hung on the shoulder, and used as a towel.

December 20th, 2011- Roun RONG (right) “I used to grow and sell vegetables but the flooding destroyed my crops. My chickens and ducks also died in the disaster. I am currently still in debt and it has been difficult having to manage through each day. The bucket that I received has been useful in storing water.” (Siem Reap, Chreav. On the left is Tomoko SONODA of the Tokyo headquarters office.)

December 22nd, 2011- An KHUN (right) “The water would not subside and I lost 2 hectares worth of rice. My husband replanted the rice plants but I am worried whether the harvesting will happen in February.”  (Chi Kreing District, Anlong Samnor. On the left is local staff member, Socheat.)

December 15th, 2011- Chhoen SOPAL (center, 20 years old) is dependent on a wheelchair. During the 2-month time period when the depth of water reached 50cm, he was unable to go outside on his wheelchair. (Siem Reap, Chreav)

December 20th2011- When we visited the home of Rin VANN, the bucket (back right) that was distributed on the 15th was being used as a rice container. (Siem Reap, Chreav)

December 22nd, 2011- Chi Kreing District was the area that suffered the biggest damage within Siem Reap Province. (Chi Kreing District, Chi Kreing)

December 18th, 2011- A field of rice plants was destroyed after being flooded over a long period of time. (Chi Kreing District) 

* This project was made possible thanks to a grant provided by Japan Platform in addition to generous individual donations.

Tomoko SONODA, AAR JAPAN Tokyo office
SONODA joined the Overseas Department at AAR JAPAN’s Tokyo office in May, 2011. After graduating from university, she worked at an overseas agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and later received a graduate degree in Education and Development in the United Kingdom. Before joining AAR JAPAN, SONODA spent 2 years in Cambodia as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer where she dealt with school management in the context of a developing country.