Last month, in the middle of the hot season, we travelled to a rural province to visit one of our IS colleagues (B) who is working as an agricultural advisor in a Christian development organisation. We rode motor scooters out to remote villages on rugged dirt tracks between bone dry paddy fields filled with cracked earth, the parched remains of old rice stalks and littered with modernity’s curse - plastics bags. In the villages life is hot and hard. There is no electricity or running water and children play in the dust. Currently the farmers in this region can harvest only one crop of rice a year due to lack of water in the dry months. Our friend and her Cambodian team mates are working together with the villagers to get a canal dug so that river water may be accessible to their fields enabling them to plant a second rice crop. This will make a huge difference to their lives and the wellbeing of their families but it is a slow, complicated process.
We were told that in this area they have an interesting way of defining relative wealth and poverty. Wealthy people always have plenty of rice to eat. The middle class only go hungry 2-3 months of the year. Poor people are hungry 6 months of the year and the destitute poor never have enough to eat.
When I think about it, and to be honest I usually try not to, I feel pretty uncomfortable about living so well and eating more food than is good for me while people nearby go hungry. There is an overwhelming impulse to dive in and ‘fix’ things. At least doing something would make me feel better. Couldn’t I simply hand out rice to those who are hungry? That’s got to be better than nothing, right?
I’ve studied community development theory, heard the stories and seen enough for myself to know that responding to poverty is not so straight forward. There are times when direct handouts are warranted and necessary but it won’t improve people’s ability to provide for their families in the long term. It only creates dependence.
Striving for transformation, building up capacity and infrastructure and facilitating community cooperation is very demanding and frustrating work, especially when there are opposing interest groups involved and corruption is an accepted part of life. Respectful discussion, listening to all the stake holders, giving everyone a say, making plans together, agreeing on each parties responsibilities and commitments all takes time, energy, patience and excellent communication and relationship skills. Doing that across culture and language differences is exceptionally challenging.
B’s dedication, love for the people and excellent language ability has inspired me to keep persevering with Khmer study. Her work and community life in rural Cambodia demonstrates that one of the more significant ways to serve the poor in this country is by learning their language.
