Livelihoods Training Boosts Income for Farming Family

AN IMPOVERISHED FAMILY IN CAMBODIA LEARNS A NEW TRADE AND AVOIDS DANGEROUS LABOR MIGRATION TO NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES.

Den was devastated when a drought ruined the rice fields he had worked so hard to cultivate. Den and his wife, Chreop, had no other way to support their four children, and they were buried under a mountain of debt.

Feeling hopeless and desperate, Den and Chreop decided their only option was to migrate from their native Cambodia to Thailand to search for employment. But they only stayed in Thailand for less than a year. Despite long hours and dangerous working conditions, they earned very little money.

Once back home in Cambodia, Den and Chreop tried raising chickens to supplement their family’s income. Yet, without any training or previous experience, they weren’t successful. They still struggled to make ends meet and didn’t know what to do next.

Learning New Skills

Samaritan’s Purse teams are working throughout impoverished Cambodian villages near the Thailand border to bring relief to families like Den’s. While our safe migration programs teach the risks and consequences of unsafe migration, and how to take steps to cross the border safely, the best option is to avoid migration altogether. Most Cambodians can’t afford to migrate and many of those who can lack access to key documents, such as a passport, visa, or work permit that would make migration safer. But to avoid migration families need to be able to earn a living where they live.

Our staff are implementing livelihood assistance projects that teach people trades, such as growing mushrooms or raising chickens or pigs, in order to help them earn a sustainable income and remain in their homeland.

In Den’s village, we trained a number of families in chicken farming as well as business management. Den was excited to join the classes and to try once again to raise chickens. He quickly learned skills such as feed making, coop designing, disease prevention, and proper sanitation practices.

With help from Samaritan’s Purse, Den is now successfully raising chickens and providing for his family. He is also eager to expand his chicken-raising business to ensure continued support for his wife and children.

Den is grateful to Samaritan’s Purse for not only offering him this new business, but for also providing a way for him and his wife to stay safely at home in their village with their children.