(SEARDF)

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)

 Training and Occupation for Disabled Association

 (TODA)

(Poipet, 2002-2004)
 

Vision
Developments
 

July 2001 Visit - Details of a visit to TODA by Mr. Peter Guagliano on July 15, 2001.

IBSNet Electronic Seminar - Progress and results of a worldwide Internet electronic forum titled "Design of an Eco-Village for 300 Families for the Disabled in Poipet, Cambodia". Generously hosted by Jacky Foo of IBSNet.

August 2001 Visit - Visit to TODA land by Peter Guagliano to administer the first donation of livestock.

October 2001 Visit - Visit to TODA land by Peter Guagliano to administer the second donation of livestock.

The TODA Association was formed in 1999 by Mr. Sen Sovantha. Mr. Sovantha lost both legs above the knee in a landmine accident in 1996. Since then he has worked tirelessly in the fight for the disabled in Cambodia. In a prosperous country disabled persons are faced with a reduced chance of attaining an average standard of living. For a disabled person living in a country as poor as Cambodia, opportunities to eke out a living are essentially non-existent.

The Association presently has 218 families of disabled registered. Several programs are ongoing to assist them. Their effectiveness depends on the availability of funding. A Self-Help Group rehabilitates recent amputees, offers group support and encouragement for members. There is a Literacy Group, which teaches Khmer reading and writing to children and adults. A Handicrafts Group makes handicrafts for sale at the border market. Additional activities are added, as funds become available.

Various donor agencies have previously provided funds to build low cost housing villages for the poor, repatriated war refugees, and internally displaced persons. TODA has not participated in any of these programs as of now. These earlier villages were typically located on new undeveloped land some distance from existing commerce. The programs were very well received and initially successful, but many were unsustainable. Three major problems developed. First, creating housing, but not creating jobs, does not address the long-term problem of how to put food on the table. After the initial excitement of a free house died down with the realization that there were no jobs, people gradually abandoned their homes in the more remote villages and returned to the border slums of the cities to find work. Second, with no jobs available many people, in desperation, borrowed money from unscrupulous loan sharks at exorbitant interest rates (typically 10% per month!) using the land document as collateral. Of course, without jobs, they were unable to repay bck the loans and, subsequently, lost the land and house. Third, no comprehensive water management plan was in place, and soon the villages experienced water shortages. These villages do not have sustainability.

To avoid this calamity TODA is preparing a proposal to build an Eco-Village for the disabled. The goal is to make the village self sufficient and sustainable. The village will use the Integrated Bio-Systems Concept as a model.

As a demonstration of the target group's commitment TODA has raised 450,000 Thai Baht (approximately US$10,000) from member families to purchase 45 hectares of suitable land from a sympathetic village headman. The land purchase was finalized and the legal documents signed (thumb printed) on October 4, 2000.