News Updates

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
(Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher, 570 - 490 BC)

SEARDF, Inc. continues to solicit donations from the public. As soon as sufficient funds are available, the next project will involve the local school, Raksmey Sangha Primary School, near Taok Vean Village, Batambag Province, or building an orphanage for children whose parents died from AIDS or were killed by exploding landmines. CRESARD staff will get involved as mentors to teach the children how to take care of animals and plants and other necessary life skills. US dollars $7,000.00 would go a long way in erecting one building for boys and one for girls.

Description of Proposed Project: The Greening of Raksmey Primary School.
As soon as the rainy season starts around June 2008, 100 school children, ages five to 15, will receive hands on training on how to grow trees. After the training, each student will receive two (2) trees, one for planting and the other one will be kept as a reserve plant at CRESARD Eco-Farm nursery in case the first tree dies. The tree can be planted either in their school compound, at or near their home, or along the way to school.
Parents will help their children to put a fence (usually with bamboo) around the tree to protect it from being eaten by wild life or cattle.
During school days, the children will carry a PET bottle of water to water their own trees.
Trees can also be planted at the at the 100 ha Protected Forest of Ratanak Mundol District under the stewardship of CRESARD Eco-Farm.

Educational Impact:
Students will become knowledgeable about species of trees, their care and economic impact in their environment. Parental involvement will strengthen the bond between child and parent and increase their understanding of the importance of trees in protecting the environment.

Proposed Budget:
Baht 300.00 per tree (approximately $8.00)
200 trees = $1,600.00
(two trees for 100 students)

Tasks:
Before: Students are instructed on how to plant and take care of a tree by plant nursery manager.
During: Students receive hands-on training on how to clear the area, where the tree is planted,
how to prepare a deep enough hole and how to properly plant the tree.
After: Students are encouraged and supervised by parents and CRESARD Eco-Farm staff to
water tree regularly, remove weeds around the tree, check for pest infestation, check
support stakes and bamboo fencing and promote interest in planting more trees in the
future.

Other Sources:
Cost not covered by approved grant proposal to SEARDF, Inc. will be carried by CRESARD Eco-Farm, such as seed costs, tools, and other necessary materials.

Raksmey Sangha Primary School
Raksmey Sangha, Battambang Province, Cambodia
(last update: 03 Dec 2007)

Raksmey Sangha Primary School has 348 students (Sept 2006) of ages between 6 and 16 years old. More than 50 % of the students are girls. There are 14 teachers. The school has 2 buildings with 8 rooms, 6 of which are classrooms. The school has no tap water supply so students bring their own drinking water. There are 2 toilets.

Raksmey Sangha is a small rural town in a dry forest zone in North-East Cambodia. The rural populations are usually poor farmers, and people who have small businesses selling agricultural produce and groceries. So it is very special for the children to be able to go to school. Their mothers usually spend time to make sure that their children have clean school uniforms and look smart when they go to school.

Visit:

CRESARD Eco-Farm manager (Mr. Tout) met with the school staff (Principal: Mr. Mehn Senoun) in Sept 2006 to discuss a Tree Planting Campaign. The school staff expressed their interest and that school children will be asked to participate in the Campaign. The School staff also indicated that there are other needs where assistance could be directed to, e.g. donations of used English and Khmer books to the school library, local magazines and novels, used bicycles for children and teachers who live several kilometres from the school, more toilets and a rainwater harvest system.

Intentions:

SEARDF, Inc. plans to adopt Raksmey Sangha Primary School and will investigate how their needs and ideas could be developed into international project proposals and self-help activities that will involve students and school staff to improve school facilities and participate in extra-curricular activities. Some of the ideas are:

Greening of the school compound
Play a leading role in the Tree Planting Campaign
Cooperation with CRESARD Eco-Farm for hand-on training on how to grow plants in a plant nursery
Adopt a CRESARD Eco-Farm pond, protect it, feed fishes and have access to part of the fish harvest

SEARDF, Inc. has developed an international project proposal entitled
"Full cycle involvement in a Tree Planting Campaign and the Greening of Raksmey Sangha Primary School, Battambang Province, Cambodia."

SEARDF, Inc. has also developed a budget to welcome donors and co-sponsors who may wish to contribute to this effort.

Budget Required:

Projects	Number /units	US$	Minimum Amount (US$) needed to start project	Amount (US$) received so far
Greening of school compound and Tree Planting Campaign	4000	2000	500
Adopt a pond		200	100
Children's Garden		200	50	5
English and Khmer Book donations		none	none

(SEARDF)