Overseas aid = a hand-out……or does it?
Generally speaking, disadvantaged people don’t want a hand-out. They want a hand-up, a bit of help to set them on the road to self-sufficiency, in reasonable health, providing for themselves and giving their families a chance of a better life.
And that is what Support Cambodia tries to do…most of the time.
Our beneficiaries are all encouraged to contribute in some way to whatever help they are being offered eg: women’s groups who receive toiletries bring a few riels [local currency] or some coconuts to the group meeting, students receiving support for their training do some community service and where our charity has put in water wells, the local community are responsible for the maintenance.
But there’s one situation where that approach doesn’t work.
A young mother…maybe with no partner, very little money, out of work through no fault of her own, living in a remote rural location, maybe in poor health or undernourished and unable to produce milk ….and a hungry, screaming baby.
At that point, she needs help…..NOW…not next week.
In Cambodia, formula milk for babies between birth and 12 months costs £10 – £15 a tin. A baby will need between 2 and 4 tins a month, depending on age and health. The average rural worker earns around £15 a week.……so a hand-out is the only sensible solution. And if the mother or her baby is HIV positive, then formula is also the safest solution.
Support Cambodia have been funding Formula Milk programmes for many years…starting pre-2015 in Nikum, Poipet and Svay Sisophon, more recently in Pailin Province [via Sister Vangie Dunton] and Siem Reap Province [via Betty Millena] and now at Pet Yiey Chee Health Centre in Battambang.
Baby Sayon [above right] is just one of 20 babies under 12 months who, together with their mums , are being monitored by staff at the Heath Centre.
All the mothers have been identified as severely disadvantaged, most requiring medical treatment for HIV/AIDS and none have sufficient milk to feed their babies because they are themselves undernourished.
The Centre receives support from, among others, a Spanish NGO but a recent hike in the price of medication has, funding has had to be diverted to this, leaving the formula milk programme with no money and facing probable closure.
Dr Nhor Chamrom [above left] has asked for help and Support Cambodia has sent $2,500 which will provide 2-3 tins per baby per month from July to December 2024 after which the project will be reviewed. The Trustees are enormously grateful to a private donor from Suffolk who has very generously offered to cover the cost of this project.
The charity’s support for Formula Milk programmes continues year-round as part of our Nutrition Fund [click on our PROJECTS page for more about this]. If you would like to contribute to the Nutrition Fund, please go to the DONATE page, marking your donation ‘Formula’.