The fate of Cambodia shocked the world when the radical communist Khmer Rouge, under its leader Pol Pot, seized power in 1975 after years of guerrilla warfare. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died during the following three years. As a result, the United Nations Development Programme has ranked Cambodia as the 87th most impoverished country out of 135 in its 2009 Human Poverty Index. Cambodia has no meaningful welfare system and relies heavily on aid from Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) to fill the vacuum.
The United Nations, together with the Cambodian Government, has tailored its own Millennium Development Goals to specifically meet the needs of Cambodia’s poorest and the first six objectives are to: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal, nine-year, basic education; promote gender equality and women’s empowerment; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
In Mondul 3 Village, on the outskirts of the tourist town of Siem Reap, the top six Millennium Development Goals for Cambodia read like a checklist for the needs of the village’s impoverished inhabitants. What was once an army base for the Cambodian military, and only a few kilometers from the town’s five-star hotels, is now a slum for broken army families, karaoke/sex workers and displaced HIV sufferers.
Today, New Hope, with the assistance of sponsors and volunteers, treats over one hundred residents per day for illnesses such as severe malnutrition, HIV, hepatitis, typhoid, tuberculosis and dengue fever. Each month, families in need receive food packages and New Hope provides free education to four hundred children and young adults.
NEW HOPE CAMBODIA CURRENT ACTIVITIES and AID
- New Hope Cambodia educates 400 students per day with English/Math/Moral, Computer, Sewing/Cooking, Sport
- has enabled approximately 150 poor students to also receive a formal Khmer education
- feeds 180 impoverished families per month
- treats up to 100 patients per day (that otherwise would mostly never have received treatment)
- runs education classes for mothers on Family Planning, Child care and Food Hygiene and builds awareness of gambling, Drug and Child trafficking issues.
- provides a Shelter Home for orphaned or abused women and children
- provides crisis counseling and support for victims of domestic violence
- feeds 42 starving babies per month with nutritious milk formula
- provides training and permanent employment for 30 poor Cambodians each month
- provides a further 15 casual jobs for illiterate Khmer laborers monthly
- repairs housing, installs water pumps, provides mosquito nets, blankets, woven mats, and bicycles
- encourages and supports independent family businesses
- establishment of self sustainable Farming projects and agricultural training for the poor
- established a Training Restaurant in Mondul 3 village
