Bati ADP Sponsor Visit

(04/12/2006 - 07/12/2006)

First Stepped Into Phnom Penh City

When I first stepped into Phnom Penh city, I was surprised that I saw a lot of street children along the road side. Some of them were selling some goodies to the tourist; some picked up the left over food from the tourist; some were beggars; and some slept along the Mekong riverside. Their clothing were very dirty, and some even without a t-shirt.

Later, I realised, this is what we called urban poverty!! The income the people have are too little, but the cost of living too expensive, and most of the thing here are sell in US Dollar. Our first dinner in a restaurant cost us USD 58.00 (RM 210.54 equivalent); a small cup of chocolate drink cost USD 1.50 (RM 5.50vequivalent) in a normal restaurant (the restaurant is not a Starbuck standard); and a normal notebook cost USD 1.00 (RM 3.63 equivalent). This is living standard in Phnom Penh, I wonder, who has reap the profit of the people?

The living huts in the ADP (Area Development Project)

We had visited the Bati ADP in the second day. To our surprise, the living huts here are not better off than our kampung house or even the illegal house. They have no electricity supply; drinking water are from the mixed pump without properly filtered; and if you notice, some of the houses look like going to tumble anytime.

World Vision, and some other external helps (eg, P&G Singapore, Japanese Government, etc) are giving helping hands to Bati villages. They help to rebuild some houses, install the mixed pump and proper latrine services.

The Children

The children were running around in the village. Some of them were naked; some without upper clothes; those with clothes, you can notice the clothes are dirty and with holes. The living condition here is full of dust. When wind blows, you can also notice a layer of dust on your face, just imagine if you are one of them, how many diseases you will attract?

A bicycle for a student going to primary / high school cost USD 30.00 (RM 108.90 equivalent) ; a motorbike for a student going to university cost USD 1,000.00 (RM 3,630.00 equivalent). Noted the petrol price here is about USD 1.00 (RM 3.63 equivalent) per litre. A family with an income of less than USD 1.00 a day, how they going to support their childrens' education? How they going to break the cycle of poverty if they continue to be illiterate, and continue to earn an income of less than USD 1.00 a day?

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