We finished breakfast and were ready for our first visit for the day prior to leaving Phnom Penh for Kampot. We sat with Don, the leader, and waited about 45 minutes after the scheduled departure time because, presumably, the two Cambodian women to accompany us had not arrived. As it turned out, they were outside at the bus with Panith, the guide waiting for us. This situation is an example of some of my feelings about some internal communication and organization issues re this tour. Maybe more about that later, but, in any event, it will be in my evaluation.

We set off for Krousar Thmey ("a new family") , a Cambodian run NGO with 14 centers in Cambodia that provide special education for blind or deaf children, a child welfare program for abandoned children, orphans, street children, and child victims of trafficking, and cultural and artistic development. The facility we visited is a shelter for children 8 to 15 on the street. The director presented the program to us which starts with connecting with children on the street, then giving information about services the shelter offers, and then some discussion about their future. The process is often slow. If there is a family and it can be identified and, if appropriate, efforts are made at family reunification. For children taken into the shelter, there is a health evaluation and for elementary school, an on site school. Referrals are made as necessary for drug rehabilitation. We were able to visit the classroom while in session and see the girls' dormitory. This is one of many good examples of the Cambodians working to help their own and recognizing the importance of children to the future of this country.

Then we departed for Kampot, south of Phnom Penh. Stops included lunch ( we had box lunches from Phnom Penh - mine was roasted vegetable pannini with potato chips (lost their crispiness and just sort of bent) and a cookie and some photo ops - people harvesting rice and two men selling ceramic pots on carts pulled by oxen. Apparently there are very few of these left (15) and only 200 for which the carts are pulled by motorcycles, so we were lucky to see them stopped at the roadside. The oxen were eating and the men seemed to be washing themselves and their clothes in the stream near the road.

We arrived in Kampot, drove around the roundabout that has the statue of the giant durian and drove a couple of blocks to the Little Garden Guesthouse. Once settled in, we heard a presentation from Haeng and Pahlla, the two women that accompanied us from Phnom Penh about our upcoming activities - visiting with high school students sponsored by Friendship with Cambodia (for $360/year) and visiting with women who have started savings groups to improve their economic conditions. Pahlla works with DKA (Day Ku Aphiwat), the organization that supports the savings groups and Haeng works with SEDP (Southeast Asia Development Program) which is involved in the selection process for the students who received the scholarships. I believe the two organizations work together.

The following is from the DKA website:

DKA was founded in1999 and registered with the Ministry of Interior on 13 September 2000. DKA began work in coastal communities in Kampot province that year, and soon focused on facilitating the development of community fisheries. Several years later this work expanded to nearby communities in Sihanoukville.

In 2000, also, DKA began working with a group of NGOs to build communities' capacities for advocacy (focusing on the use of active nonviolence) around the country. This led in 2006 to the formation of the Community Peacebuilding Network, a nation-wide network of community-based advocates.

In 2005, DKA helped four members of the Network start a project in Siem Reap province, organizing communities along an upland stream to protect natural resources (particularly fisheries resources).

In 2005 DKA started to provide scholarships to high school and junior high school students with the hope that some will play leading roles in social movements in Cambodia in the future.

From the SADP website:

Behind all of these stories is SADP. We help people see the world in new ways, make the most of what they have, work together to build their communities, and protect their resources. We work to empower individuals and communities to create a better society:

• We help the poorest people, who are left behind by other development programs
• We help communities protect the environment while at the same time protecting their sources of income
• We empower women
• We help young people attain higher education
• We help families and communities build up savings

Our approach is different from that of other organizations:

• We build Cambodian capacities to carry out their own development. We treat people as partners rather than as recipients of assistance. More than almost any other organization providing support to Cambodian NGOs, we have been able to work in a partnership relationship with them. Program staff members of the NGOs feel comfortable approaching us when they face problems, and they also feel comfortable challenging SADP when their views differ.
• We support individuals and communities in ways that promote self-reliance rather than dependence or hierarchy. Often we help them mobilize their own resources or ensure that government programs serve their interests (a rights-based approach to development). Our programs are sustainable, and we continually phase ourselves out of projects.
• We continually innovate and respond to new situations. Our programs reflect an in-depth understanding of specific communities and different groups within them.
• We help communities pioneer new ways of protecting the environment for their own benefit (community-based natural resources management).

The combination of our philosophy and our low administrative costs means that we are able to achieve significant results on a small budget.

Dinner was Khmer (Cambodian) at the restaurant here at the guesthouse.