NEW HUMANITY CAMBODIA

Annual Report

2008

Foreword
Dear friends, It is with great pleasure that once again I write a few words for introducing the presentation of the activities we conducted and its achievements in 2008. The past year has been very important for many reasons. While several of our projects' funding were due to expire, we had to decide whether to continue or not some of our activities. As the economic crisis also reminds us from the fragility of non-governmental organizations as ours, so dependent on the generosity of its donors, choices had to be taken. After having assessed our capacities and human resources, we decided to stop our involvement in the field of handicraft. We still do believe that this is an extremely important and promising sector for the development of a country like Cambodia, but in our globalized world, we must be able to compete. Even a non-profit organization! If the Western consumer is willing to pay more to acquire a fair trade product, he/she also expects a good quality for it. In other words, it asks us to really develop the capacity of local people and not just to provide aid. Such a requirement is very positive as it obliges us to be true professionals, that is to say how to combine the spirit of generosity with a concrete knowhow. If the goodwill remains an essential element of our work, it must be accompanied by a desire of efficiency. Otherwise our efforts will be useless. All along the past year, we have reflected not only on our strengths and weaknesses, but also on the best way for us to fulfill our vocation: being actor of a sustainable development, efficient and respectful of all our partners, the Cambodian people, our beneficiaries, and also you, donors and friends. Such discernment led us to focus on two spheres: education and disability. Education is a broad field, and it would be unrealistic to try to cover all its aspects. We therefore, center our interest on early childhood because it is often at this crucial stage of life that our future lays down. In order to give to every child the same chance at the beginning of his/her life, and because we have gained concrete and practical experience, we have chosen to strengthen our work in this area. But when we talk about education, we also think of health and agricultural training for parents. To the agricultural habits passed on from generation to generation, we want to add technical expertise so that each of our beneficiaries can improve their yield quality and quantity. As a result, they will be able to improve the standard of living of their families. For mothers, who are so often in the front line to deal with the health issues of their families, we want to share a few basic rules which often can avoid the complications of the diseases for themselves and their children. This transmission of knowledge is nothing extraordinary, but it requires a real knowledge of the field, as New Humanity has earned during the past years, to match needs and solutions. And then, there is the realm of disability, physical disability but also and especially mental disability. This sector is often ignored by the development actors, not being considered as the main priority. However, if we dream of a society free of any kind of exclusion, as we do, it is our concern to give equal dignity and respect to each person. For such goal, we are determined to continue and expand our action in favor of those suffering from impairment and for their families. Such work is difficult to measure in terms of numbers. Teaching to care, sharing the value of taking care of somebody without expecting any reward, changing attitudes toward those who are different are rather activities assessed in term of quality. Sometimes it is painful, especially when you see those you care passing away, but often the result is great, it is the gift of love. I hope the following pages will help you to understand better our work and the spirit in which we accomplish it on a daily basis. All the team members of New Humanity developed these pages to share with you the fruit of a collective effort, ours and yours. Sincerely,

Herv Roqueplan Country Director

Our Vision
A society where everyone can receive education and care, according to his needs and abilities, and participate to the development in his own rural or urban communities.

Our Mission
The main mission of New Humanity is to promote education in order to contribute to the fight against all forms of poverty and exclusion, affirming the dignity and rights of every human being. With the aim of fulfilling such Mission, New Humanity interventions tend to: Develop and improve education and care services, especially for children and people with disabilities, by working in partnership with local communities. Develop and improve agricultural activities in local communities, with particular attention to ethnic minorities.

Our Values
The values that underpin the entire sphere of activities of New Humanity are those inspired by the Holy Scriptures and the Christian social doctrine. With this clear idea of building a "civilization of love", New Humanity identifies four fundamental values that must be promoted in the implementation of each activity: Fraternity: mutual trust and sincere and open dialogue; New Humanity rejects all forms of discrimination and believes in the primacy of dialogue between different realities. Respect for the dignity of human being, people's culture and the value of life Preferential service to the poor, following the example of Jesus Solidarity: Pope John Paul II says that "It is not a simple feeling of compassion ... on the contrary, a firm and persevering determination to work for the common good of all and everyone"

Our background
New Humanity is a catholic international humanitarian organization. Nongovernmental, nonpolitical and nonprofit making, it has been created by the P.I.M.E. (Pontificio Istituto Missioni Estere - Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions) in 1992. The same year we opened an office in Cambodia and signed our first Agreement with the Ministry of Education. Since then we have carried out several education and/or rural development projects in 5 different places: Kampong Speu (closed), Phnom Penh (since 1994), Kandal (since 2001), Kampong Chhnang (since 2002), and Mondolkiri (since 2007). To foster development integrating every member of the community, we implemented programs in 4 sectors of activities: Education, Health, Disability and Agriculture. For each project, we focus on the most vulnerable like children, people with disabilites and ethnic minorities. Among our priorities, the training of local population takes a significant role. All our activities are implemented using local human resources, the best way for us to make the community owning the project and also to build its capacity for a future autonomy.

Project Locations

Project EDUCATION-HEALTH Basic and Non-Formal Education (BNFE) Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Master of Arts in SociologyAnthropology Health Education, Prevention and Emergency Relief (HEPER) DISABILITY Education & Development Project for the Disabled (EDPD) Disabled Day Care (DiDaCa)

Donor(s)

Location

Time frame

CEI Fulford Foundation Association EPPAC Private donors PIME-NH CEI Cam To Me onlus Clown One Italia

Boribor district Kompong Chhnang province Boribor & Tuek Phos districts Kompong Chhnang province Pech Chhreada district Mondolkiri Province Department of Sociology Royal University - Phnom Penh Boribor district Kompong Chhnang province

2003-2009 2005-2009 2004-2010 2006-2009

Cam To Me onlus Private donors Misereor Private donors

Kandal Steung district Kandal province Boribor district Kompong Chhnang province

2001-2008 2006-2008

AGRICULTURE Agriculture Development and Food Security (ADFS) Mobile Training Center for Agriculture Development (MTCAD)
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CEI PIME-NH OBOS

Boribor district Kompong Chhnang province Boribor district Kompong Chhnang province

2003-2008 2008-2011

EDUCATION

Goal: Achieve universal primary education Target by 2015: Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling. Goal: Promote gender equality and empower women Target by 2015: Eliminate gender disparity at all levels of education by 2015 and empower women.
Millennium Development Goals

Early Childhood Care and Education

New Humanity is convinced that bringing early education to Cambodian children is the path to improve their well-being. However, a good development of the childrens brain cannot be possible without taking into consideration the health situation of the child. That is why NH has added a health care component for its ECCE program in order to ensure a holistic child development. With a solid program developed, including a particular attention to children's health condition, we do believe that is possible to increase the enrollment rate in primary school and raise the survival rate too. This program was implemented in 2 different provinces, covering a total of 3 districts and 11 communes.
Mondolkiri Province Location: North-East of Cambodia Distance from Phnom Penh: 521 km Provincial town: Sen Monorom Land area: 14,682 km2 Density: 4.3 inhabitants/km2 Population: 41,046 Particularity: 75% of population is composed of 10 Ethnic minority groups, with majority of Phnong Activities: planting rice, fruit trees and other crops (strawberries, coffee). Plantation of rubber and cashew nuts. School Year 2007/2008 Number of kindergarten: 3 Number of children enrolled: 77 Number of children who completed pre-school: 74 School Year 2008/2009 Number of kindergarten: 5 Number of children enrolled: 135 Kompong Chhnang Province Location: West of Cambodia Distance from Phnom Penh: 95 km Provincial town: Kompong Chhnang Land area: 5,521 km2 Density: 85.4 inhabitants/km2 Population: 532,000 Particularity: this area is a part of the Tonle Sap River/Lake biosphere with a strong presence of Vietnamese communities Activities: farming and fishery.

School Year 2007/2008 Number of kindergarten: 10 Number of children enrolled: 263 Number of children who completed pre-school: 258 School Year 2008/2009 Number of kindergarten: 10 Number of children enrolled: 267

For the school year 20072008, there were 340 five-year-old children (188 girls) enrolled in 15 different kindergartens in Tuek Phos, Boribor and Pech Chreda districts. Out of 340 children enrolled, 332 completed the whole school year. In the 10 kindergartens of Kompong Chhnang, 91 percent of the children attended classes regularly, in other words they came 3 to 5 days a week. This high percentage, considered in Cambodia context, indicates an increased attention of parents sending their offspring to school on a regular basis. However, in the 3 kindergartens of Mondolkiri, only 75 percent of the children attended the classes regularly. The remarkable difference between these two attendance rates can be explained by the fact that many parents from ethnic minority groups go planting in distant areas or hunting in the forest. In such cases, they prefer to bring their children with them instead of letting them alone at home after class. Our teaching program focused especially on language development, cognitive and reasoning domain, sensorial area, social skills and gross motor movement. After the final assessment, we obtained more or less the same results in both provinces, except for two indicators: the sensorial activities and the early reading.
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Fewer children in Mondolkiri achieved their learning goals related to art and craft activities mainly due to the fact that both, teachers and students, were not used to make creative works. Regarding the difficulty in reading, it came essentially from the fact that Khmer alphabet was new to them, whose mother tongue is Phnong. Besides we had to underline that teachers in Mondolkiri are new and, as for all our activities, time is necessary to build capacities of our staff.
% of students who achieved learning goals 100% 90% 75% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Social skills (Exercise of Practical Life) Gross Motor Movement (Physical Education) Speech and language Sensorial (Art & Craft) Early reading Mathematics 78% 79% 78% 70% 70% 82% 70% 68% 59% 81% 79%

Final Assessment - June 2008

Kompong Chhnang

Mondolkiri

Thanks to the daily breakfast (rice porridge with meat and vegetables), prepared by the parents, most of the children gained weight. Regarding personal hygiene, teachers have tried hard this year to encourage at least a minimum of hygiene for their pupils. The children wash their hands before breakfast, brush their teeth afterwards and take a shower before going home. This initiative has been reinforced by the establishment of a new health component whose main objectives are not only the improvement of childrens hygiene but also their families health condition through health education to their mothers. Parents have shown their efforts accordingly to their possibilities in terms of rice and time dedicated for cooking the childrens breakfast. Another evidence of parents' involvement was their presence in the 6 parents meeting organized each year. In Kompong Chhnang the attendance was good, with a rate of 75.5 percent while in the case of Mondolkiri, the rate was significantly lower (55 percent) but still positive if taken into account the environment and cultural context of this ethnic group. Health staff of NH took advantage of these meetings to provide health education and share information about what their children are learning. For the school year 2008 - 2009 we have opened 2 new kindergartens in Mondolkiri in order to respond to the request of the parents. This is a good sign of hope regarding the interest of parents in education.
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Waiting in hope to join the Kindergarten

Sophy, 44 years old, is a mother of four children (2 girls). She is living in Tang Thnem village (Kompong Chhnang province). Her third daughter, Thoeur Kynin, is now 5 years old and she has joined our kindergarten in Svay Kal village. Saying that she received information about kindergarten activities from the school director, she added "I never thought about kindergarten before". Nevertheless she decided to enroll her daughter as fast as possible and agreed to participate actively to the program. Even though she lives 2 km away from the school, every day she takes her daughter to kindergarten by walk. "We have only one bike at home used by my two sons to go to school, but I am very happy to bring my daughter by walk'' Even if she is very busy with farming activities, she has been very regular bringing her daughter to school and helping to cook porridge for the kindergarteners. Besides, she also contributed one kilogram of rice every month. With a smiling face, Sophy told us about the different changes of her daughters behavior after attending the kindergarten. Now she can read and write the Khmer alphabet, sing and dance different songs, draw and color pictures. She is more talkative and active. I feel joyful to see the kids taking a shower and eating their meal; they look happy too". She shared with us her expectations about her youngest daughter to be enrolled in the kindergarten next year Here is my youngest daughter. She is just 4 years old, but she likes the kindergarten class very much. Every time I take or fetch her sister from school, she insists coming with me".

Improving the health of our beneficiaries

New Humanitys health component is mainly designed as an ongoing training program for mothers and teachers of ECCE program. We are conscious that good health of our beneficiaries is an imperative to achieve all the objectives of our programs. Consequently, our staff has organized 64 sessions for a total of 394 mothers. The goal was to improve the childrens health by providing basic education on common diseases and sanitation to their mothers. So far, they have learnt how to "We are healthier..." recognize the symptoms of those illnesses and the Tim Chhoeun, 28 years old, and his wife Chim Sauth, importance of hygiene and clean water 29 years old, are farmers living in Chak village, Chhnang province. They 3 children. The consumption to prevent infectious diseases. In Kompong is 5 years old and hehaveattending NHs first son is 2009 we have planned to continue this training kindergarten. for other kindergarteners mothers to extend the Being the mother of small children, Chim Sauth was number of beneficiaries. With the purpose of assuring childrens hygiene and health, the health staff also trained the kindergarten and primary teachers on the same topics taught to the mothers. During this year, 35 trainings were conducted, 1 for 11 kindergarten teachers, and 34 for 107 primary school teachers. This initiative has raised the awareness of teachers regarding childrens hygiene on daily basis and consumption of clean water thanks to provision of ceramic water purifiers for all the schools targeted. Recently, the staff working for people with disabilities has been integrated in the list of basic health education training conducted by our health program team. The goal is to integrate NHs activities as much as possible, but also to improve the service for children with physical and mental impairments.
8 invited to attend health training courses of New Humanity. After she delivered the third child, her husband took the relay to attend the training instead. Finally both of them have learnt important topics such as body hygiene, teeth and mouth hygiene, skin diseases, eye care, and food hygiene. I learnt about things that I never paid attention before, I thought it was not important but now I realize that if I have known before, I could have saved a lot of money Tim Chhoeun said. After training, they also received supplies to develop hygiene habits. My children, my wife, and I are healthier. My youngest child is 7 months old now, and he has never got sick since he was born. I dont have to spend much money on treatment as before. I can use the money for something else; especially, sending my children to school, Tim Chhoeun added.

The staff of our health program is strongly committed to the goal of clean water for all. Support for wells construction and supply of ceramic water purifiers has become the way to achieve this goal. It is still a long way to go, though. For people who are already affected by some kinds of diseases in our targeted areas, we developed an Emergency Relief project; consequently, people can be supported in difficult times.

Referral causes
Throat problem 9% Other 7.5%

Pneumonia 10.8%

Cancer 5.4%

Reproductive problem 3.2%

Eyes problem 32.3%

Antenatal, delivery & postnatal cares 32.3%

This project mainly referred sick people to health facilities according to the gravity and kind of health problem. This year a total of 93 people were referred to clinics and hospitals where they received quality care and treatment.
Emergency Relief in number
People sent to health services: 93 Rice distributed: 1,575 kg Houses provided: 5

In addition, Emergency Relief also deals with other kinds of problems like food and milk support for families in extreme poverty or house repair in case of sudden damage or natural catastrophe. This year, a total of 63 families (474 people) have benefited from this specific support.

Supporting Students at Risk

In order to raise the survival rate in schools, New Humanity has granted scholarship to 454 students (232 girls) aged from 9 to 22 for the school year 2007-2008. These students received all the pedagogical material needed to pursue their studies efficiently. All these students, who went to 15 different schools, came from 21 different villages in 4 communes of Boribor District. From the total number of scholarship holders, only 2 percent dropped out from school. This percentage is under the 5 percent of dropout registered by the provincial public schools. The results obtained for the remaining 445 scholarship holders (204 girls) were successful as 91 percent of them passed to the next grade while
Studies Cycle Primary School: grade 1-6 Lower Secondary School: grade 7-9 Upper Secondary School (High School): grade 10-12 Survival rate by grade: percentage of a cohort of students who are enrolled in the first grade of an education cycle in a given school year and are expected to reach a specified grade, regardless of repetition. 9

the figures from the provincial schools showed that only 84 percent of students passed successfully to the next grade. The first reason of such achievement was the consistent work displayed by the committee members whose close monitoring among the students with difficulties was indeed a key factor for a fruitful survival rate. The second reason was the positive involvement of parents who attended regularly the meetings organized by NH staff in order to inform them of their children's progresses and to raise their understanding on educational issues.

Developing a Culture of Reading

In our search for developing reading habit among children and adults, New Humanity has increased the number of beneficiaries of our mobile library to 439 people in 2008. A total of 349 children and around 90 adults visited the mobile library in 8 villages. These people made up a total number of 8.398 multiple visits last year. These figures mean that each beneficiary attended our mobile library at least 19 times out of 24 visits in 2008. We do believe that these results are encouraging regarding a progressive acquisition of reading habit among the population, especially children.
Thirsty for knowledge
Ven Sok Kheang, a 13-year-old girl of a family of 6 members, is currently studying in grade 6 in Thlok Chrov Primary School. Kheang shared with us that she enjoys very much the regular visits (twice a month) of our mobile library in her village. However, being the eldest child in her family, she has lots of responsibilities to accomplish after class; cook the meals for the whole family, feed the animals, and make sugar from palm juice collected by her father. Despite all these occupations she has kept attending the mobile library faithfully for 2 years. She also confessed to us that her parents had never been happy to allow her to get out of the house to go for reading because they wanted her to help them at home. Thanks to her strong determination she made a deal with their parents to allow her to go for one hour reading, each time the library visits her place. Despite all, Sok Kheang was not completely happy as their parents did not allow her young brother to come with her. I am very happy with the mobile library program. I can find many interesting books to read. Books help me to improve my reading, and at the same time I can learn more about many things. I read also funny stories to change my thoughts she added.

Our mobile library has also extended its action to schools. There were a total of 529 students who visited the mobile library. These students made up a total number of 7.291 multiple visits last year. These figures mean that each student visited the mobile library at least 14 times during 2008. The total number of students represents the 23 percent of the total school population, a positive result as students in rural areas have very low profile in reading. Regarding the activities of NH in 34 schools libraries, we have recorded the visit of 7.808 students in 2008. Each of these students has visited the library at least 8 times in average, making a total result of 61,246 (girls: 30,064) multiple entries. These 7,808 admissions correspond to 75% of the total population in the 34 schools, which is certainly a good attendance rate and a sign which indicates the right track for increasing reading habit among students.

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Literacy, a key of autonomy

In 2008 New Humanity organized 14 literacy courses in 12 different villages. These courses have reached 228 people (188 women) aged from 15 to 45 years old. Although the attendance rate was high (80 percent) only 149 (134 women) could achieve the complete course cycle. Our literacy activities in Boribor have produced so far fruitful outcomes. According to local information from village leaders, the number of illiterate people has decreased by 58 percent in 6 years of continuous work with a committed staff who cares for the future of the people. The main factor that hindered excel results for this project was poverty. 79 (35 percent) out of the initial 228 participants of literacy program abandoned the course because of family income generation needed. Some of them were very busy working in the rice field and forest while others decided to migrate in search for better opportunities in the capital as garment factory workers or join the construction sites spread out in Phnom Penh. Even though this situation is largely understandable; yet, the context of their distress and need, it has an enormous impact on literacy programs attendance rate.

Enhancing Life Skills

With the aim of improving the quality of life of some poor families, NH designed life skills training for women 6 years ago. This training focused in the confection of handicraft. In 2008 a total of 40 beneficiaries finished their training. Even though there has been a clear improvement on capacity building for women to make tailoring and handicraft, the markets in Cambodia are inundated with other products; this fact makes the handicraft market very competitive for inside and outside trade. Nevertheless, thanks to some orders received from the local market, the beneficiaries could still generate some income last year.
New tool for Income Generation
Long Bunnin, 26 years old, is the second child of a farmer family of 6 people, living in Chak village, Kompong Chhnang province. With her three brothers, they are still living under the roof of her parents and help them in farming activities. Unlike her younger brothers, Bunnin could not reach grade 12. When she was in grade 6, her family experienced a severe financial problem because most of their money was spent for her fathers health treatment. At that time their crops were destroyed by flooding. That is why Bunnin had to drop out of school in order to help her family. In 2004, New Humanity implemented a project to provide training for sewing and embroidery. When I knew about the project, I decided to join it right away, I like sewing. Meanwhile she learnt sewing and embroidery techniques. Besides she could generate some income sewing uniforms for kindergarten students. At the present time, she can earn some extra money sewing clothes for the other villagers.

Due to the complexity of fair trade and the "competition" of many other organizations with greater and longer experience, the results regarding income generation were moderate as we could not really increase the familys income generation on regular basis. In consequence, and accordingly to the original plan, we decided to close the project at the end of 2008. Nevertheless, our beneficiaries already benefited from the training they have received. Additionally, we decided to provide them with sewing machines. Thus each of them can continue their practice and occasionally generate or save some money for their families, sewing clothes for them or others. The life skills training activities were also extended to schools in order to introduce technical tools for secondary
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female students in Boribor. The training was given in 4 different schools for 119 students in grade 8 who learnt techniques on sewing, embroidery and crochet. At the end of the training course most of these students were able to cut and sew clothes such as: skirts, pants, and shirts. NH granted the best students sewing machines; thus they can still keep practicing and improving.

Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Rural Communities

All activities of New Humanity strongly encourage the active participation of women, and with an identical will, we have organized eagerly 8 workshop series on Gender Perception and Domestic Violence, in 4 targeted areas of Boribor District. The beneficiaries came from 21 different villages. Before starting the workshop series the staff of NH conducted a preliminary study about the most current issues related to gender and violence in order to match the contents of the workshops with their present needs. We collaborated with the Women Affairs Department staff and thanks to their involvement we carried out our activities successfully. Every workshop welcomed an average of 85 villagers and 5 local authorities. The fact that local authorities attended the workshops was actually a relevant achievement, because these authorities have to deal with domestic violence issues and other problems related with gender quite often. These activities reach a total of 697 beneficiaries, most of them being women (75 percent). People participated actively sharing their own experiences and showing receptiveness to the topics taught.

Building up Human Resources

Computer technical skills for rural students
In 2008 we have continued the activities of our student hostel to support underprivileged youth from rural areas to develop skills on information and communication technologies, in cooperation with the Center for Information System Training, a structure developed by Digital Bridges, a French NGO. In October 2008, 4 students from the School Year 2006/2008 finished their studies and then left our center, having already found a job at the same place they have done their internship.

Students who finished their study in October 2008 School Year 2006/2008

Keary

Channeang

Narin

Rado

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Currently, NH is supporting 12 students by paying their school fees and providing them with health insurance. 10 out of 12 live in our boarding house benefiting free meals, lodging and a safe place to study and rest. This project has not only benefited its students, leading them to real employment opportunities, but also bore fruits in terms of partnership between educational NGOs under the principles of mutual trust and self-commitment. Indeed, since we had space available in our hostel we accepted the request of CIST to welcome 3 new students, CIST being in charge of school fees, health insurance and food for them. Thus at the end of 2008 we are welcoming a total of 13 youths in our students boarding house.

Doeur Chanra (son of Lay Kim Chhut)

Education: a matter of perception!

Lay Kim Chhut, 42 years old, is a mother of 4 children. She and her husband are farmers and living in Phneat village, Kompong Chhnang province. Even though they share common ideas most of the time, her husbands opinion about education was quite different from hers. My husband didnt want to spend money on the education of our children; instead he used to ask them for help in the rice field, I was always against that. Unfortunately, she got a serious health problem and then they spent a lot of money. With no choice, her first son had to stop in grade 9 to help her husband in the rice field, and her third daughter had to stop in grade 5 to help her doing house chores. In spite of such difficulties, in 2007 her second son, Doeur Chanra, had successfully finished high school. However there was no more money to support him for further studies and at that time his future seemed overshadowed. When they found that NH was granting scholarships, they applied succesfully and since then Chanra is studying Information Technology at CIST (Center for Information Systems Training) in Phnom Penh. I was so happy for my son, but also worried for his life in the capital at the beginning; later on I knew that he was receiving a good accommodation and food. Now I am not worried anymore, on the contrary I trust New Humanity Since October 2007, her son has been granted a scholarship, board and lodging by New Humanity. So far he has finished his first year successfully and will be graduated in October 2009.

A new generation of Cambodian social researchers

In 2008 New Humanity was still fully involved in the management of Master Program in Sociology. In response to a formal request by the Royal University of Phnom Penh, NH implemented a second batch program in 2007 and finished by the end of 2008. Indeed, after the results obtained in the pilot program, it was strongly recommended by the Academic authorities that such capacity building should be maintained on regular basis. Unlike the first batch which consisted of 25 beneficiaries, this new batch had only 15 students. However, along the way one student dropped out the program, thus we had a total of 14 students who were granted a master degree. All of them received scholarships according to their economic situation to help their studies and daily living. After the defense of their master theses, 4 out of 14 were congratulated for their quality research and its relevance for Cambodian society. These positive results were the result of various combined factors, qualified lecturers, exposures inside and outside (one month exposure in Chiang Mai University, Thailand) Cambodia, and a remarkable motivational commitment of students. These students have received invitations to present their research in international academic seminars held in Kyoto (Japan), Vientiane (Laos), Chiang Mai (Thailand) and Kun Ming (China).
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Moreover, this second intake was one step forward for the programs ownership process in terms of local participation. New Humanity requested the Royal University more academic participation. Such a request was well received and thus most of the courses were handled by Cambodian scholars with standard qualifications from international universities. The labor market for this new batch is promising due to most of the students has already got a job, especially in NGOs and Kalyan Hun (right) giving a presentation with a fellow student. research centers. Since we have not yet conducted an impact monitoring, the results are not identified systematically until now. The age range of this batch (25-30 years old compared to 25-45 years-old for the previous intake) is an important factor to understand the fact that they found a job more easily: they have better English language proficiency, greater openness to challenges, and are definitely more prepared to work away from home.
Message from a former student
Kalyan Hun is a former student of MASA program. She is currently working for the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, a major networking NGO. "Recently, I just graduated in master in Socio-Anthropology. This MA has had an enormous impact in my life. It gave me the tools to achieve my goals using what I have learned in the real practice and to contribute to alleviate poverty in Cambodian society through knowledge and research. Through this program I developed my critical and analytical skills regarding social and cultural issues. This chance opened for me an intellectual door towards a better understanding of the world with a different perspective. Using sociological and anthropological theory I broaden my worldview well beyond my awareness before. While studying I was very tempted to get a job at the same time, so I could deal with some financial constraints, but thanks to NH scholarship I could cope with this difficulty and then achieve my goal; study hard in order to find a job related to the background just acquired. This MA has encouraged me to be more critical thinking towards my own society in terms of development. Even though I know that I cannot change my country from one day to another, I am sure that through my social research skills in some organization I can make the change."

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DISABILITY DISABILITY

The Millennium Development Goals cannot be achieved without the full and effective inclusion of persons with disabilities and their participation in all stages of the MDGs processes
Expert Group Meeting on Mainstreaming Disability in MDGs policies, processes and mechanisms
WHO Headquaters, Geneva, 14-16 April 2009

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Developing Services and Support for People with Disabilities

In 2001 New Humanity established a small day care center in the middle of the rice fields of Ampeou Prey commune (Kandal Province) in order to respond to the critical situation of children and adults with disability who often do not receive any kind of special care and are excluded from the community life, no plan for their rehabilitation being prepared. Since then we have been committed to find ways for supporting people with physical and intellectual disabilities from rural areas, establishing needed and appropriate services to them but without taking them out of their own environment. The process has been slow, but throughout the years we learnt that changes can be shown only in a long term. Once our experience took shape and our patience was tested, we decided to reflect about the new directions of NH. As a result of this discernment, we opened two new centers in 2006. According to our preliminary feasibility study about the prevalence of disability undertaken in New Humanity targeted areas, 2 communes in Kompong Chhnang province were chosen: Anhchanh Roung and Popel. Currently we have 3 centers operating with the aim of supporting people with disabilities and their families. These centers attempt to provide them with a daily rhythm like the rest of the people. A rhythm of life that is composed of: time for learning, for eating, for playing, and also a time for caring. The number of direct beneficiaries in these 3 centers is 30 people plus 14 who receive regular personal assistance at home due to long distances to be covered. Our beneficiaries in the last 3 years Location Anhchanh Roung Center Popel Center Kandaok Center Personal Assistance TOTAL January January January 2006 2007 2008 7 8 8 9 10 10 17 10 10 11 11 15 44 39 43 Dec. 2008 7 13 10 14 44 Variation on 3 years + 1 7 4 12 -1 -3 -7 -1 -12

In the course of the last 3 years, we have identified 9 new beneficiaries. Most of them are mainly very young children with disabilities, brought by their mothers who have heard about our centers. On the other hand we had 12 beneficiaries who left the centers for various reasons: 2 have changed location, 5 were referred to other NGOs for specific treatment, and unfortunately 5 passed away.

Teaching activities
Basic instruction and care were provided by the teachers at the centers and through Personal Assistance program. Our staff is permanently finding ways to teach our beneficiaries but often, just
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being and playing with them represents the best possibility for intellectual stimulation. Our children, whose impairment is not too severe, have shown for instance hopeful improvement. Progress speed is relative; age and severity of the impairment are the main variables. The oldest with mild impairment can write some Khmer letters or even compose some words, read some simple sentences and for some even can count up to 100. The youngest with mild impairment have learned to recognize basic shapes and objects of everyday life, and some are even able to identify parts of the body. Some of them have also shown considerable improvement in their speech ability. Thanks to the contribution of the staff from NH Health Program, children in our centers have acquired better personal hygiene and some of them are able to participate in daily chores at the centers and at home as well. For other cases, where gravity of impairment is indeed severe, improvements are not so evident. Nevertheless the physiotherapy team and the special needs teachers never give up their hope.

Physiotherapy activities
In our centers, most of our beneficiaries are receiving physiotherapy 5 days a week from Monday to Friday and 2 times per day, each session lasting about 45 minutes. Some beneficiaries are receiving physiotherapy not only in the centre but also at home from their own mothers who have followed some informal instruction with NH staff. In the framework of our personal assistance, 4 people with disabilities are also receiving physiotherapy, but not on a daily basis. All the materials used by the staff for physiotherapy are composed or made of recycled objects such old car tires, and from natural materials, such as bamboo bars, easy to find in the surroundings. This creative way to deal with physiotherapy ensures somehow the sustainability of the resources needed both for the centers and for their respective houses. Similar to our teaching activities, the results of physiotherapy depends on the gravity of the impairment. Thus, for those beneficiaries suffering from muscular contractures, the outcomes of the treatment were evident while for those beneficiaries with muscular dystrophy, there were no visible indicators of improvement. However, the physiotherapy sessions have definitely slowed down the evolution of the degenerative process, therefore avoiding deterioration of their fragile health status.
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Little improvement, but with great hope Hun Hourn is a 5 year-old boy. He was born with Down syndrome and heart complications. Thanks to the daily work of the staff of our day care center, Hourn is finally able to walk; this mobility has allowed him to develop his relationship with other children through playing games together. The ability to walk has given him more independence and self confidence thus now he is able to move wherever he wants and eat and drink by himself. With daily caring and adequate nutrition regime, Hourn has acquired better health. Right now he weights 10 kg (2 kg more than the previous year). In contrast with his great improvement for mobility, Hourn is still unable to speak more than a few words. He can just call his friends names and answer the calling. He has also other deficiencies in learning like recognizing colors and shapes. According to the teachers, Hourn needs more therapy and care at the center to see improvements. The teachers keep the hope that after a few years in the center, he could eventually join the public school.

In 2008 we have witnessed remarkable improvement of the process started years ago. Indeed we believe that basic physiotherapeutic treatments have given hope and joy to several children. Some of them who had difficulty to move and some who were not able to walk at all, have now acquired a real autonomy, being able to move and walk wherever they want.

Health care activities

Special education and physiotherapy are the pillars of our centers; however beneficiaries health condition is our greater concern. We cannot expect positive results without stable health situation. Thus, throughout 3 years of our project we have referred 24 (2006), 17 (2007) and 22 people with disabilities (2008) to the medical facilities in order for them to receive an adequate treatment from specialized doctors. Thanks to an appropriate and timely referral, most of our beneficiaries have been treated and healed successfully, whereas those with chronic diseases have to stay under close monitoring. Preventive measures have been taken into account too; daily meals are enriched with additional vitamins and proteins in order to strengthen their health. Health condition monitoring does not only avoid a rapid physical deterioration but is also a key factor to keep their families away from the burden of long and costly treatment. Experience has revealed to us that a sick person with disability has many negative consequences on the whole familys financial situation. Anyway, illness cannot be evaded in such fragile condition of our beneficiaries. That is why NH supports familys expenses for food, traveling, accommodation, medicine and consultation in case of need. As a part of health program care we also facilitate a check up for teeth and ears, so our beneficiaries can have assistance in these areas. However, according to the doctors the main problem is not the limited number of consultations but the lack of daily hygienic habit provided by their parents. This issue is something that remains a challenge due to the lack of health care knowledge among rural population.
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Advocacy for people with disabilities

Provide service and support for people with disability is certainly our leitmotif. Our second aim is to spread this spirit among the parents, relatives, and community in general. Then, the acceptance of these children as lovable human beings by their families and society become true. Our strategy to advocate in favor of people with physical and intellectual impairment is carried out during the monthly parent meetings, home visits, and outings to different places outside the province where the centers are located. The parent meetings are a good time to discuss with them about their childrens life and evolution. It is also a time to introduce preventive health education, especially the importance of hygiene in daily life. The topics discussed by the staff were fundamental tips on how to clean food before cooking it; how to keep water and food clean; personal hygiene; how to keep the environment clean; first aids; smoking dangers; dengue fever; skin diseases; characteristics of mental problems; brain damage; meningitis; dehydration; bronchitis; and hepatitis A.

Home visits are also planned each year in order to facilitate the reunion of families with their children suffering from disability and the teachers. During these visits we share a meal while parents could exchange their experiences and struggles. We also organized a total of three outdoor visits in other provinces, to favor cultural discovery and enhance their social interaction. The places visited in 2008 were Tonle Bati, a popular resort of Cambodia; Water Park, a well-known park in Phnom Penh; and Kompong Som, the main seaside resort of Cambodia; the international Children's Day ceremony. During these visits both staff and mothers are involved. These breaks in the daily routine of our centers play an important role in a successful and holistic therapy, for both children and parents. Our advocacy activities at macro-level are expanded to public schools looking forward to the integration for some of our beneficiaries to be integrated into the main stream education system in Cambodia. Although this aim of inclusive education has been difficult according to past experiences, we remain hopeful working it out.

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Staff training
Within our three centers, a total of 9 teachers (2 in the center of Anhchanh Roung, 4 in the center of Popel, and 3 in Kandaok) have ensured the operation of all our activities for People with Disabilities. All of them come from the areas where the centers are located. Since our principle was to employ local personnel to ensure continuity and sustainability of the project, the selection process was carefully carried out by our program technical advisor whose main criteria were willingness to learn and open-mindedness of the candidates. After the selection process, we design a training program to form qualified human resources in this field. The capacity building provided for our staff, has improved considerably the quality of teaching and care for our beneficiaries. Besides, the staffs ability to identify the needs of people with disabilities and prepare correspondingly daily activities for them has also been noticeably enhanced along these years.
A sharing from Mr. Lim "In 2006 I started to work with NH as Special Needs teacher in charge of Personal Assistance for People with Disabilities. Since then I have learnt not only about their physical and intellectual limitations but also about their potentials and uniqueness. It is these discoveries that I would like to share with their mothers, thus their families can take care and encourage them to participate actively at home as much as their impairment allow them to do. As we experienced happy moments in our center we have also experienced sad events. In 2008 some children passed away for various reasons, their departures have left a great vacuum in our centers. After their decease, we accompanied the families for a while to share the grief with them". Mr. Lim Heng was promoted to Field Assistant in 2008

Staff Capacity Building (2006-2008)

Number of training courses: 12 External trainers (volunteers): 6 3 Italian Physiotherapists 2 Italian nurses 1 Cambodian-French teacher (survivor of the Khmer Rouge era) Cambodian NGOs & training agencies: 6 Topics: Physiotherapy treatment Speech therapy Community counseling on mental health Teaching methodology for people with intellectual impairment Health Education Communication skills, etc.

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AGRICULTURE

Goal: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Targets by 2015: Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day. Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. Millennium Development Goals

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Tackling Poverty with Agriculture Development

If education and health are New Humanitys first concern, agriculture development is an important part as well, to tackle the problems of malnutrition and low-income generation. From 2006 to 2008 NH designed a project regarding Agriculture Development for Food Security (ADFS). The idea was to have less food shortage despite frequent droughts and food crisis, enhancing rice yields and promoting vegetable cultivation and domestic animal rearing like poultry and livestock. Before 2006 most of our beneficiaries obtained squalid annual rice crops, this was barely enough to feed their families. Although our project worked in a small scale, the results were very favorable in the last 3 years. The main challenge was to convince the people to use new techniques like System of Rice Intensification which is sharply different from the rice farming traditionally practice in Cambodia for thousands of years, but once the people have decided to adopt the new way, results speak for themselves. Besides, we encouraged food diversification in their agricultural activities in order to become multipurpose farmers in the future. The farmers targeted at the beginning of the project were small holders who are able to produce more robust rice yields, vegetable growers, animal raisers, and faithful users of natural fertilizers. With the purpose of inspiring our beneficiaries, New Humanity also implemented a Model Farm Center, a place where the trainees and villagers could observe the results of techniques taught. According to the project plan, ADFS project has arrived to its end. However, in order to give continuity to this project NH designed a new project based on Mobile Training Center for Agriculture Development (MTCAD), a project that seek to provide training on a requested subject by the people at their place. Consequently, you will find in this report a summary of ADFS activities for the last 3 years and the recent outcomes of MTCAD project.

Agriculture Development for Food Security (ADFS)

Throughout the 3 years New Humanity staff organized 26 courses on System Rice Intensification (SRI), and these trainings reached a total of 628 farmers (448 women). After working in the 5 communes for 3 years, we have seen remarkable improvement in the use of new agricultural techniques in order to increase their annual yields.
SRI Basic principles
SRI Practice among families

Partially Practicing SRI 66.9% Not Practicing SRI 4.0%

Fully Practicing SRI 29.1%

As a result of proper application of SRI basic principles, most of our beneficiaries have obtained greater yields than previous years, collecting between 0.4 to 0.7 Kilograms of rice per square meter (4 to 7 tons per hectare) while the national avearge is equal to 2.3 tons per hectare. Those who did not respect the procedures, along with weather and soil fertility problemes, got only
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Rice is not an aquatic plant, although this plant can survive in flooded area. Fertilizer: Use of manure increases the soils biological productivity. Spacing: Space between each plant should be between 15 and 25 cm. in order to let the roots of the plant grow bigger. Seedlings: Rice seedlings lose much of their growth potential if they are transplanted more than 15 days after they emerge in their nursery. Therefore, this potential can be preserved by early transplanting. Transplanting: is recommendable to transplant the rice at 1 or 2 centimeters into the soil only and not deeper than that. Weeding: Regular weeding can permit better soil aeration which creates a beneficial condition for plant root growth and for consequent plant vigor and health.

between 0.1 to 0.3 kilograms of rice per square meter (1 to 3 tons per hectare). Besides, beneficiaries have responded very positively to the creation and sustainability of the rice banks for food security. We can assume that the livelihood of our beneficiaries have improved with news skills and a structure to help them in difficult times, especially avoiding or at least decreasing the number of debts which is one of the most important cause of poverty.

Rice bank data

No Commune Number of Beneficiaries in 2007 193 78 89 85 74 519 Capital in 2007 (kg) 21,338 6,455 7,783 11,905 6,247 53,728 Rice lent in 2008 (kg) 21,338 6,205 7,783 11,905 2,683 49,914 Interest paid to rice bank (kg) 6,209 1,241 1,556 2,381 536 9,981 Contribution to Kindergarten & Committee (kg) (3,103) (620) (778) (1,190) (268) (5,959) Capital 2008 24,444 7,076 8,561 13,096 6,515 59,692

1 2 3 4 5

Anhchanh Rung 1 Anhchanh Rung 2 Popel Pech Changvar Chak TOTAL

Diversifying agriculture activities

As people in our target areas dedicated most of their time in cultivating rice, the idea of NH activities was to diversify farmers activities encouraging them to grow vegetables using natural fertilizer taken from animal droppings. Our staff, for instance, conducted 34 trainings on vegetable cultivation in different villages. Farmers have responded enthusiastically to this kind of training, and we had a total participation of 1,029 farmers, 83 percent of them are women. At the end of each course we provided them with a complete toolkit for gardening, so they could put into practice the acquired skills. Since water is a very important component for vegetable growing, we have also helped 71 families to build their wells.
Home Gardening Practice among Families

After the monitoring, the data collected about people practicing home gardening and applying natural fertilizer and pesticide procedures show us that changes were effective even if it takes time and are often implemented on a partial basis.

Partial Practice 35%

No Practice 20%

We also conducted 22 trainings on livestock in different villages. These activities benefited a Full Practice total of 533 farmers, including 407 women. 45% Despite a volatile economy which affected strongly the prices for animal food while the cost of pigs remained very low in the last few years, most of our beneficiaries were satisfied, especially 67 percent of them obtained good results. With the aim of supporting this project, NH set-up a pig bank to facilitate peoples activity. Moreover, they were also able to use pig manure to increase their yield of rice and vegetables. Regarding chicken rearing, our staff conducted 29 trainings in different villages. For these activities the attendance rate was higher than pig rearing. We counted with a total of 630 farmers and most of them are women. 60 percent of the attendants have obtained, so far, positive results while the rest are still having just average results due to their economic constraints. It is worthy to underline that most of our beneficiaries are having hard time to feed their animals, either pigs or chickens, because
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simply they do not have money enough for it. At the same time we try to restrain our intervention to encourage them to be self-sufficient as much as possible. In order to inculcate agriculture skills at an early age, we have also organized 9 trainings in 4 different schools, reaching a total of 986 students. The school principals welcomed openly this initiative and manifested their support. In some schools nurseries were organized for gardening. The natural link between training and parents activities ensures the durability of skills transmission among students.
Taking chances to improve life Eang Puthy is a good example of a mother who has struggled a lot in her life for sending her children to school. She is 51 years old, and her husband Meas Sary, 53 years old. They are farmers in Svay Kory village (Boribor district) and have seven children (3 girls). Their activities allow them to get an income of around 8,000 riels (US$ 2.00) per day. Despite of this minimum revenue for a large family, Puthy has always encouraged their children to study, some of them have already finished the school, but thanks to her determination she has found other sources of help to send her children for further studies. Puthy, requested a scholarship from New Humanity in 2004 for one of her daughters, a request that was gladly accepted due to her situation and commitment. With the aim to generate more income to sustain the studies of her younger children, she joined the training on poultry rearing, conducted by New Humanity in 2008. Currently she was chosen to implement a small model farm with the help of our program. I am earning extra money from selling chickens, and with this money I can buy food and support my childrens schooling.

Mobile Training Center for Agriculture Development (MTCAD)

Our Mobile Training Center for Agriculture Development, a new project conceived as an improved continuation of the ADFS project, has started at the beginning of 2008. The particularity of this new approach lies on the fact that agriculture training moves from place to place according to the villagers formal request. The pilot program of MTCAD has shown excellent results because training is not only given in their place, but about what they are interested in, and that makes the difference. The total number of trainings achieved was 40 in 38 different villages from 7 communes. Most of the beneficiaries matched our poverty criteria. Thus we reached 852 (62% were female) direct beneficiaries who have enhanced their farming skills. The most requested topic was poultry rearing (58% from the total number of beneficiaries) followed by pig rearing. The level of knowledge acquisition was clearly positive between before and after the trainings (good understanding about farming skills after training 61% compared to 11% before the activity).
Percentage of T rainees by T opic Choice Percentage of Trainees by Topic Selected
Pig Rearing 21% Use Natural Fertilizer & Pesticide 3% Rice Cultivation 18%

Poultry Rearing 58%

So far the impact of this project is full of hope, a proof of that is the number of requests for new trainings we have received not only from the same 38 villages we have already worked in but also from other villages that were not part of the original plan and schedule. We are expecting to have clear figures at the end of 2009 about quality and/or quantity of their agricultural production and its economic impact.
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New Humanity Staff 2008

Education & Health Program Team

Sony Sourn Veasna Cheung Program Manager Project Officer (until 08/2008) (until 09/2008) Program Officer (since 10/2008)

Neth Prak Project Officer

Lucia Wong Education Advisor

Phoeun Mop Program Officer

Stefania Agatea Health Advisor Disability Program Team

Monica Escamilla Short-term volunteer

Samboun Ek Project Officer

Cristina Togni Disability Advisor

Agriculture Program Team

Chamroeun Nhek Project Manager MTCAD Project

Dam Leap Project Coordinator ADFS Project Administration Team

Kourchettana Kun Project Officer ADFS Project

Povry Sea Secretary & Accountant

Vey Chum Administrator

Bunnarien Bean Finance Officer

Ren Ayala Moreira Assistant Director & University Program Coordinator

Herv Roqueplan Country Director

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Budget 2008
Expenditure by sectors
Sectors of Activities Education Agriculture Health Disability Communication Administrative costs Total
Disability 13.2% Communication 0.6% Administrative costs 18.8%

Amount in USD 155,709.24 59,062.77 19,808.09 45,791.46 2,043.40 65,427.58 347,842.54

Health 5.7%

Agriculture 17.0%

Education 44.8%

Expenditure by donors
Donors CEI CML-Cam To Me onlus Misereor PIME-NH NH Cambodia Local contribution OBOS Fulford Foundation Association EPPAC (France) Private donors Clown One Italia TOTAL Amount in USD 168,865.08 34,538.73 27,416.43 26,598.33 23,491.32 8,687.75 24,830.46 11,196.88 8,575.61 7,978.97 5,662.98 347,842.54

Association EPPAC (France) 2% Fulford Foundation 3% OBOS 7% Local contribution 2% NH Cambodia 7%

Private donors 2% Clown One Italia 2%

PIME-NH 8% CEI 49%

Misereor 8%

CML-Cam To Me onlus 10%

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Donors, Partners & Friends

PIME (Pontificio Istituto Missioni Estere) Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions CEI - Conferenza Episcopale Italiana Servizio per gli interventi caritativi a favore dei Paesi del Terzo Mondo

Misereor the German catholic bishops' organisation for development cooperation

OBOS (One-Body One-Spirit Movement) Korea

CML Comunit Missionarie Laiche

CAM TO ME onlus

HKCLMA Hong Kong Catholic Lay Missionary Association

SME Socit des Missions trangres de Laval - Qubec

Clown One Italia

Royal University of Phnom Penh Department of Sociology

Chiang Mai University Faculty of Social Sciences Regional Center for Social and Sustainable Development RCSD

Tham Chiet / Up to You a Khmer Handicraft Shop, supported by Catholic NGOs in Cambodia, for a Fair Trade Handicraft.

Center for Information Systems Training Passerelles Numriques Building digital bridges

And also: Association EPPAC, Fr. Maurice Labb (SME Tokyo), Maryknoll, Amici SAIMA, Gruppo Missionario Parrocchiale di SS. Gervaso e Protaso (Parabiago), Mr. Umberto Ricci, Mr. Davide Togni, Fr. Toni Vendramin (PIME), Ms. France De Lagarde... 27
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ASSOCIAZIONE NEW HUMANITY

Via Mos Bianchi, 94 20149 Milano ITALY Tel: + 39 02 43822373

NEW HUMANITY - CAMBODIA

N. 19, Street 317, Boeung Kak I, Tuol Kork PHNOM PENH CAMBODIA Postal Address: PO Box 48 Telephone: 00.855.23.882.304 Email: officepnp@nhcam.org Website: www.nhcam.org

Design and text : NH Cambodia staff members

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