I'll change that scene one day

My head sinks when I realise she is crying. She paces around the small room before turning away, burying her head in a frayed handkerchief. Sitrin looks at her with wide dark eyes while I sit shell shocked on a rotting stool. I plead with Sitrin to apologise on my behalf which he does in a warm soft voice. Karona quickly regains her composure before, to my utter amazement, answering my question “My daughter died when she was 13 from dengue fever. She died and then we were moved here by government”. Her eyes fill with tears once more.

Andong is a community for displaced peoples situated 25km from Phnom Penh. It is a 3 hectare plot of land housing 1554 families. The community was moved in 2006 from Phnom Penh when their land was ‘acquired’ for development.

“Officials would be very rough and push us off our land. Sometimes in the night they would burn our houses. Sometimes bulldozers would start in the early morning. Once the houses were destroyed trucks come to collect us and bring here.”

Karona’s neighbour, a man with a broken leg nods in silent agreement. His cast rests elevated beside me upon a plastic container. Breaking the silence he points to a partially completed two story house across the thoroughfare. Chuckling heartedly he mimics his weightless body falling before hitting the dirt below. A warm breeze gathers dirt and blows it about their homes. We sit awhile watching children drag tin cans along dusty paths. Heat exhausted dogs lay in the dirt drinking from manmade drains.

Sitrin explains that he has brought me to Andong to see, firsthand, the work and positive impact of Friends-International. Karona explains how she, with assistance from the Friends home based production program, is able to earn money for herself and her son. Home based production is a training initiative that teaches parents production skills to make items from recycled material which Friends purchase and on sell in their Phnom Penh stores. Karona has been able to earn up to 100,000 riel or USD $25 per week (The average Cambodia monthly wage is $50USD per month - Asean Comparative Wages) through the program. With the money earned she has begun settling the accounts for her daughter’s funeral and building materials for her new home.

While many of the other women in the community commute to Phnom Penh to work in beer gardens, laundromats, karaoke bars or construction sites, Karona, with the help of Friends, is able to stay at home and work providing stability for her son.