Overview

The Asian economy is growing at an unprecedented rate, with local economies flourishing. In the face of this regional prosperity however, poverty and food security continue to be major issues, particularly in rural areas where the growth has not been felt as in more urban areas. Cambodia is no exception, with the country developing economically at a 6.2% growth rate and projected to keep increasing in following years. It is ranked number three in the region for economic growth. However, Cambodia remains one of poorest countries in Asia. According to the World Bank report in February 2014, a significant portion of the population remains ‘near poor’ as they are still at high risk of falling back into poverty at the slightest income shock. The impact of losing US$0.30 a day in income would double the poverty rate to 40%. The gospel came late to Cambodia. The first Protestant missionary arrived in 1923 and the Bible was not translated until 1953. Its message was not welcomed and few believed. In 1965 the Government’s anti-American crusade forced missionaries to withdraw, but in 1970, with the rise of the pro-American regime, missionaries returned and the Church started to flourish. And despite Pol Pot’s attempt to crush the Church, a small remnant has grown from a few hundred Christians to approximately 300,000 today. However, this is only 2% of the population; therefore, there is a great deal of work to be done. Asian Outreach Cambodia (AOC) is a Christian organization existing in Cambodia since November 1993, and is a member ministry of Asian Outreach Alliance (AOA). AOC is registered as an INGO with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Cambodia and has an agreement MOU with the Ministry of Rural Development. As a Christian INGO, we endeavor to “restore hope and dignity to Cambodians by breaking the poverty cycle in rural communities” as we meet the physical and spiritual needs in people’s lives. We strive to help and empower those identified by the Cambodian government as IDPoor in that they live below the poverty line. Our projects span across three provinces - Kandal, Prey Veng and Stung Treng. These areas have been chosen by AOC because of their need and potential. Kandal and Prey Veng were greatly impacted by the civil war and Khmer Rouge areas, being so close to the capital. Therefore, our primary focus was on these two provinces for many years, establishing transformational projects in rural villages which have greatly benefitted the people with tangible positive outcomes. We are now strategically moving towards sustainable community ownership of the projects, especially by the local churches, so that AOC can exit successfully in the near future. With the rapid economic development in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) in recent years, Stung Treng, an agrarian driven province in northeast Cambodia, is at the centre of the progressing GMS advancements and one of the most unreached places in the country. AOC’s expansion to Stung Treng in 2010 is a direct response to prepare and equip the populace in anticipation of the pending changes and spiritual vacuum.

Background

• 1993-1995: AOC established a presence I n Cambodia, working in Phnom Penh and surrounding provinces. Initial projects included medical health, renovation of health facilities and commune infrastructure, facilitating overseas mercy teams, training and seminars for local faith-based group leaders and their members, and food provision for victims of annual flooding. • 1996-2008: AOC developed a relationship with the RCG in the Lvea Em district of Kandal province. AOC’s most prominent program was launched during this period, the Boat of Hope, which brought health care to hard-to-reach areas along the Mekong River. During this period AOC greatly expanded their project work to include mobile clinics, a birth spacing program, HIV/ AIDS testing and support, TB education, emergency hospital evacuation, capacity building of local health centres, health education, health awareness and vaccination, water and sanitation, annual flood relief, bridge building, road development, and working with existing faith-based groups to help their communities through children’s programs, youth programs, and a women’s empowerment program. • 2008-2013: This period saw project area expansion from Lvea Em district, Kandal province to include Pearang district, Prey Veng province. The project work during this period focused on water and sanitation, agricultural training, income generation (former HIV/AIDS-TB), a youth centre providing English and computer classes, the Assisting Children To School project, and school health education, which stopped in 2010 due to a lack of funding. 2010-present: AOC expands into Stung Treng province in the far north, providing services such as water and sanitation, non-formal education, and beginning development of a multi-purpose training centre, as well as agricultural and livelihoods training. Major sector for organization work: Agriculture Training, Water & Sanitation, Assisting Children to School, Community Hope Development, Model Farm and training Center,

Value

AOC Core Value: • National Vision and Leadership: We believe in serving and facilitating the vision of nationals and empowering local leaders to effectively fulfill them. • Sustainability and Accountability: We strive for excellence, transparency and sustainability in all our projects, resources and communications. • Restoring Dignity: We treat all people with respect through relationship, dignity and compassion. • Christian Witness: We are witnesses of our Christian identity, message and values. • Partnership: We actively pursue partnership and networking, both locally and internationally.

Mission

Equipping and empowering rural communities through training and resource development in education and life skills, health and hygiene, and livelihoods and food security.

Vision

Restoring hope and dignity to Cambodia by breaking the poverty cycle in rural communities.

Goal

THE GOAL OF AOC’S THREE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN Holistic Community Development is the system of collectively implementing health, economic and education initiatives to strategically transform a community. It is a development methodology that suggests that sustainable change can be accomplished when the health, economic, educational systems are improved together in collaboration with community members. For Asian Outreach Cambodia (AOC) it includes the essential component that is at the very heart of all of our projects – Jesus Christ - the spiritual. We exist to make Him known. Realising holistic transformation for communities is no easy task and will take time because it is not only meeting the tangible needs such as provision of clean drinking water, but it requires a sensitive challenge of false belief systems and taboos if we are aiming at long-term sustainable changes. For this, we look to the Holy Spirit to renew people’s minds and do a radical transformation of their worldview. It also calls upon the solutions to be very local and culturally relevant so that ownership is accomplished. Basically, it is about helping local people to assess the needs of their communities and find local solutions for local problems as much as possible. Therefore, we envision and will endeavour to work towards equipping and entrusting the local churches to play the key role in changing the mindsets of its own people and in the hands-on implementation of our projects. We see our job at AOC is to establish an environment of empowerment, responsibility, motivation, trust and hope. We do so through ongoing education and training that are both inclusive and equitable and the provision of sustainable resources in the projects we implement at the village level: Water and Sanitation (health), Assisting Children to School (education), Agriculture Livelihood (economic) and the spiritual through the Community Hope Development project that is incorporated into and integral to each one. Our goal for 2016 to 2018 is “To increase the integration between AOC projects and work through the Church to bring sustainable holistic transformation to poor communities in Cambodia”. We have done so to an extent in the past, but we endeavour be much more intentional in bringing it to fuller realisation in the next three years.

Project Summary

Lack of education is a large contributing factor to generational poverty in rural Cambodia, and as the cycle continues, poverty then becomes one of the main barriers preventing children from attending school. Statistics show that although 80% of Cambodian children start school, the dropout rate in the primary grades up to grade 6 is 8.8% in the rural areas, but goes up significantly in the lower secondary level (grades 7-9) to 22.9% and even higher in the upper secondary level (grades 10-12) to 30.4%. Girls have by far the highest dropout rate, especially when they reach the age of puberty and take on more responsibility within the household. There are three main contributors to children not receiving an education or dropping out before they finish school: financial poverty, poor health and the country’s education system.

Staff