FASE Agritech Volunteering- Week 4
Our time in Samrong has passed by very quickly and we are sad to say that this is our final post. Our focus for our last week was to conduct a number of meetings with the projects preferred contractor to discuss the project scope and expectations. These conversations will be continued by Green Shoots, CIDO and SAWA as they continue to work towards reaching a contractual agreement.
Whilst we are aware of the limitations of one month long volunteering, we feel that our small contribution has helped keep momentum behind the project and we have taken away much from the experience.
We observed the obstacles to Khmer people being able to upskill. These include structural problems in the education system, low perceptions of the value of education and cultural expectations on the role of young people in their families. This has reinforced the importance of projects such as the Agri-Tech Centre in community development in Oddar Meanchey.
We were convinced by the role of agriculture in enabling locals to improve their circumstances. Agriculture is the livelihood of the vast majority of Khmer people. While improved education will broaden job opportunities for the local community, agriculture will remain an important industry. Enhancing agricultural skills, particularly in young people, has the potential to have broad impacts and improve health and economic outcomes for many, many people.
Addressing these barriers relies on the commitment and personal sacrifices of individuals. This was demonstrated by people such as the Forest Monk who has risked his own personal safety, and the passionate ASPUS teachers who have enthusiastically trained, implemented and maintained the agriculture in schools program. We were inspired by these individuals who champion the cause and motivate others to improve themselves and their communities.
Furthermore, the significant time, effort and resource investments by foundations and organisations can’t be understated. We witnessed the combined efforts of many stakeholders coming together on the Agri-Tech Centre who, across time zones and continents have been able to deliver great outcomes (as testified by the ASPUS program).
These successes are driven by talented individuals who make considerable personal investment. It takes flexibility, patience and ingenuity to make the best of what resources are available. We can confirm that the various partners, Muneezay (Green Shoots), Ed (SAWA Architecture) and Ratana (CIDO), supported by their teams and many others, work tremendously hard.
On our last afternoon in Samrong we joined the CIDO team, who kindly hosted us for dinner at a local Thai Hot Pot restaurant. Delicious food yet again, and it was great to have one last hurrah with the tight-knit team that we were proud to be a part of for a brief time. The send off was made lively by winning a free block of beer from under the ring pull of one lucky can!
We’re very grateful for our time in Samrong and to everyone for making our stay one to remember. We’re excited to continue to contribute from afar and see the Centre evolve.
If you’ve read this and are considering volunteering in Samrong with Green Shoots Foundation, please feel free to send any questions (be they general ones for Green Shoots or specific questions for us) through to volunteer@greenshootsfoundation.org – and we would be happy to help out anyway we can.
