A Sustainable Solution To Malnutrition In Cambodia

April is normally the hottest [or at least it feels like it is because of the dry heat] month in Cambodia. Normally our last proper rains are November or early December and come April Siem Reap and the countryside is a dust bowl, where all vegetation takes on a red coating of dust.Everything is dull, wilted and the hot winds that blow simply create more dust and a wither all in their path.
I did say 'normally' - this year has been somewhat different... since April was a pretty cool month this year with a fair amount of rain, we all knew the wet season was definitely going to be different! I guess we just underestimated how different!!!

As I write this update, 500 people are missing with over 150 people having been confirmed to have died in flash floods... the most intense rains in over 40 years have been reported. [I have lived all over the world and in my 50 + years I can not recall rain of such ferocity!] Visitors to the temples had to be rescued by 13 Cambodian Air force helicopters and with an estimated 80,000 hectares of rice crops ruined under metres of water - the forecasts are there is still more to come!
In Prolit we have a disaster which is unfolding daily.... we believe the entire rice crop for the whole village will be lost as it has now been 2m underwater for the best part of 3 weeks. Homes have been washed away along with huge sections of the road. Access is extremely difficult and limited currently to motorcycles - this involves crossing a fast flowing river on a felled palm tree for 5m and then walking 3m in knee-deep water with the motorcycle. A bridge which was only installed a year ago is no more! We know of 11 families who have lost their homes and are living with others in the village. Our moringa trees in Central Prolit are doing fine as there is has remained for the most part dry, but everywhere else we have lost everything. The photos attached can hardly share or show the extent of the devastation and destruction...
We appeal for help, support & assistance in getting Cambodia back on it's feet...

In Prolit the village is ready to repair and rebuild HOWEVER they need the materials and assistance from us in order to do so. Rice has been ordered - 1 tonne so far - BUT this will not feed 1,000 villagers for long so we appeal for funding for;

• Re-establishment of the Morringa Project - which has done so well thus far! 
• RICE 
• Funds for building materials that we can help get Prolit safe and living again. 

Thank You to all who have supported the Morringa Project to date, and who follow with great interest what MaD Cambodia does.

Any supporters who wish to donate to help our work in relieving the victims of the flooding can do so through our ammado page: http://www.ammado.com/nonprofit/45940 (donations to this GlobalGiving page will go our nutrition project and not to these flood relief efforts).

Links:

• MaD Cambodia Face Book Page
• MaD Cambodia Home

Since starting this project we have learned a lot about Moringa and Amarinth... it is not as straight forward as one thinks or as is reported on in other countries. It is only by trying different approaches that we have a result which is reaping the rewards we had hoped.

As it is now the wet season things have slowed down considerably but as the photos will show the Moringa is doing well. It is being harvested and used in soups and many other dishes with great excitement. We continue to cultivate more trees and with time it is envisaged every household will have at least 1 or 2 tress to harvest.

Amarinth has been harvested and is being used to grow for the next dry season as we need to increase the crop size, as a few bushes is not sufficient to feed a family and given we started with a small amount of seed we have had to build up our stock... results are looking very positive indeed.

Photos will be uploaded as we get them edited for size etc. and I hope to have a library on our web site of the progress of the trees so check out our web site and photo albums.

Links:

• MaD Cambodia HOME