Rural Assistance Program Prey Veng (RAP), Cambodia

COVID continues to keep our Rural Assistance Program on hold. 

Our reports earlier this year have  detailed how the COVID 19 virus created severe travel restrictions making it impossible  to run this program without the assurances and safeguards  that  our  personal  supervision and  close staff support provide.   This type of monitoring  has always  been a critical element of our program and we feel that it has been key to our success  and  our ability to achieve so many of our goals over the past 20 years. Unlike our programs in  Phnom Penh , we do not have locally placed staff in the countryside  that are of the caliber needed  to oversee the operations of the entire program. Although this has always been a  challenge,Mark’s frequent  on-site visits to review  our projects were essential to monitor and maintain  efficient use of our limited  resources.

Cambodia remains substantially closed down,  with schools and many business closed.  Tourism and business travel  is at a near  standstill, with most attempts of international  travel impractical due to the 14 day quarantine requirement on visitors. The massive  wave of the Delta variant of Covid in Thailand, at the present time,  seriously  impacts transit from /through Thailand to Cambodia. Consequently,  we must  reluctantly  continue the “ pause” of  our   current operations of our Rural Assistance Program as we wait for COVID to subside.

We are deeply grateful to you for your understanding during these challenging times.

Barbara & Mark Rosasco 

The  impact of COVID 19 continues to be felt throughout Cambodia.  Last April, Cambodia  was closed to entry by Americans and Europeans, making it impossible for Mark to visit and more importantly, making it impossible to  responsibily supervise the operations of our Rural Assistance Program. Consequently and most reluctantly,  we initiated a temporary suspension of our program.

Some months  later in  Fall of 2020 it appeared that Cambodia was seeming to be  ready to open back up. Now  a recent  and punishing  upward surge in COVID cases have  put our plans back on pause,

Cambodia,  since late February  2021, has  seen a surge in COVID cases. So much so, that the government  has ordered all schools to close and it  has imposed travel restrictions not  only in the cities, but also throughout the countryside, limiting travel from one province to another, making it impossible for us to properly run our program. 

Unlike the US, stay at home mandates are  being strictly enforced. Schools, businesses, markets and even the banks are closed and people are challenged on the streets for valid reasons  for them to be out and around. We had been hopeful that things would open up by now, but just yesterday, we learned that the stay at home order has been extended another week.

We remain on " pause" hoping that  conditions will begin to normalize. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience and your support during this difficult period.

Thank you,

Barbara & Mark Rosasco 

Currently, there is not a lot that we can write about to  update  our Rural Assistance Program.

Our reports in April and August detailed how the COVID 19 virus created severe travel restrictions making it impossible  to run this program without the assurances and safeguards  of our  personal  supervision and  close staff support.  This type of monitoring  has always  been a critical element of our program and we feel that it has been key to our success in our ability to achieve so many of our goals over the past 20 years. Unlike our programs in  Phnom Penh , we do not have locally placed staff in the countryside  that are of the caliber needed  to oversee the operations of the entire program. Although this has always been a  challenge,Mark’s frequent  on-site visits to review  our projects were essential to monitor and maintain  efficient use of our limited  resources.

Cambodia still has very strict travel restrictions.   At the end of April Cambodia was  closed to entry by Americans and Europeans. Although now it may be  possible to visit, a combination of testing,and required  14 day quarantine continue to make a visit unfeasible.  Consequently, for the time being, we reluctantly  continue  the current operation of our Rural Assistance Program. Now ,based on recent developments with COVID 19, it is our assumption that this  suspension may last  through mid year 2021. 

Our decisions  have been based on the following factors:

1) Donor funds could not then, nor now,  provide funding adequate to maintain the program at its necessary  levels. 

2) In the US and Japan ,where most of our donor base lives, the  economic impact of the coronavirus crisis  had  combined with weather extremes - ranging from typhoons, hurricanes and most recently , wildfires  in California to  create   urgently competing needs  for donor funds. Now renewed shut down of businesses due to surging COVID cases in the US and the continued impact of COVID in Japan, this further impacts our fundraising abilities.

In light of these conditions,  we feel that we  must  continue  the suspension of our program’s operations as we wait to see how things develop. We are disappointed that this is where we find ourselves, but we feel that  we have no  choice, We will keep you posted on any updates as they occur.

We are deeply grateful to you,  our donors , for your  generous and long time support of this program. It is our sincere hope that we  will be able to move forward  at some point in 2021.

With heartfelt thanks for your understanding,  

Barbara & Mark Rosasco 

It is a considerable challenge to write an update for our Rural Assistance Program.

Our April report detailed how the COVID 19 virus had created severe travel restrictions that made it difficult to run this program without the assurances of high levels of close supervision and staff support.  This has always  been a critical element of our program and one of the main reasons that we have been able to achieve so many of our goals over the past 20 years. At the present time, unlike our programs in  Phnom Penh , we do not have locally placed staff in the countryside  that are of the caliber needed  to oversee the operations of the entire program.    Although this has always been a  challenge, Mark’s frequent  on-site visits tonreview  our projects were essential to insure efficient use of our limited  resources.

Cambodia still has strict travel restrictions.   At the end of April  Cambodia was  closed to entry by Americans and Europeans, making it impossible for Mark to visit.   Consequently,   we reluctantly made the decision,   to suspend, for the time being,  further operation of our Rural Assistance Program.  Now , as then, it  is our assumption that this  suspension may   last  until  the end of calendar year 2020. 

Our decision was based on the following factors:

1) Donor funds could not then, nor now,  provide funding adequate to maintain the program at its necessary  levels. 

2) In the US and Japan ,where most of our donor base lives, the  economic impact of the coronavirus crisis  has  combined with weather extremes - ranging from typhoons, hurricanes and most recently , wildfires  in California to  create   urgently competing needs  for donor funds.

3) Consequently,  we feel that we have no choice but to continue  the suspension of our program’s operations   as we wait to see how things develop. 

We are disappointed that this is where we find ourselves, but we feel that  we have no  choice but  to  continue our suspension through year end as  we  evaluate what might be possible in the new year.   We will keep you posted on any updates as they occur.

We are deeply grateful to you,  our donors , for your  generous and long time support of this program. It is our sincere hope that we  will be able to move forward in 2021.

With heartfelt thanks for your understanding,  

Barbara & Mark Rosasco 

Since our last project report in January, the world has changed dramatically  due to the impact of the COVID 19 virus. The global economic impact combined with strict travel restrictions have made it difficult to continue to maintain the  high levels of close supervision and staff support of our program which we know have been critical to the success  of this program over the past 20 years. 

At the end of April ,  Cambodia remaned closed to entry by Americans and Europeans, making it impossible for Mark to travel    and even local quarantine restrictions remaining in place in Cambodia , inhibiting travel by locals throughout the country.  Consequently,   we reluctantly made the decision to suspend, for the time being,  further operation of our Rural Assistance Program. It is our assumption that this may potentially   last  until   the end of calendar year 2020. 

Our decision was based on the following factors.

1) Donor funds do not currently  provide funding adequate to maintain the program at its previous levels. 

2) We believe that, due to the coronavirus crisis now gripping the world and the unlikelihood that it will be resolved this year, fundraising through the balance of 2020 is going to be extremely difficult.

3) Given #1 and #2 above, we felt that we had no choice but to suspend the operation of our program, as we wait to see how things develop. 

We are very disappointed that this is where we find ourselves , but  without  a firm committment of funding, we have not choice but  to pause for now as we  evaluate what might potentially  be possible with reduced resources  once travel restrictions begin to ease.  We will keep you posted on any updates as they occur.

We are deeply grateful to our donors for their generous and long time support of this program and it is our sincere hope that we at some point we will be able to once again move forward.

Barbara & Mark Rosasco