What a phenomenal result!! £4,685 [around $6,287] has been raised in in 10 days for our ‘Food for Families’ Appeal [which also includes medical supplies].
This will be shared as follows:
1. food packs for displaced families being hosted in the villages of Tompoung and it’s near neighbour, Knach Romeas.
2. medical supplies for displaced families currently living in evacuee camps in the border area of Oddar Meanchey Province.
UPDATE 14th August: as of today this aid will also now include food packs for 96 families sheltering in the pagodas near the border and identified as being in real need.
Dr Chamrom from the Health Centre in Battambang [see below] intends to visit w/b 18/8 to do health checks and distribute medicine.
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3. the small amount remaining will be ring-fenced and remain in the Support Cambodia account to support displaced families going forward, as this is an ongoing situation which will take some time to play out. In the event of it not being needed, it will be put into our Nutrition Fund to support our Rice Soup and Baby Milk programmes.
The video clip below is from Tampoung, taken on Sunday 10th August, during distribution of food packs. The group are saying “Thank you Support Cambodia”!
So far, 30 families in Tampoung and 30 in Knach Romeas have received food. That may seem a very small number but as far as they are able, the distribution teams are having to make sure the aid only goes to bona fide displaced families, not a general hand-out. This involves interviewing each individual family and recording their details before giving them the food packs – a time-consuming process which accounts for the seemingly small number helped so far. And these are fairly remote rural villages, both about an hour on the road from Battambang, partly on dirt roads, so access is not instant. Pictures from the Tompoung distribution on Sunday.
The medical supplies are mostly needed for people sheltering in temporary camps further north and west, in Oddar Meanchey Province, nearer the border, around 3 hours from Battambang. Here food is being distributed but, as we understand it, medical assistance is in very short supply. People here, in addition to losing everything, have also been traumatised by the fighting and, with no medical centres nearby, have little or no access to medication or treatment.
Dr Nhor Chamrom, good friend of Support Cambodia is the Manager of the Health Centre at the Catholic Prefecture of Battambang. On a visit to the border area a week ago, she identified the need for medical assistance and plans to return to Oddar Meanchey in the next fortnight with medical assistance funded by the Support Cambodia Appeal.
These pictures are from Dr Chamrom’s first visit Oddar Meanchey.
