We were in this same village with our first corporate group in October 2006, building 16 houses, the first Tabitha houses there. At the time Tabitha had been working in the village helping the locals via the Community Development program for about 4 years. It was a great achievement for the families who had saved for their land or their contribution to their new dwellings.

Fast forward just one year..... - our group arrived to build another 10 houses in the same village. This time, these were not the only houses being built – the activity all around us demonstrated how much more energy there was in the village, with several other houses going up being built by the villagers.

Eager to see how our 2006 houses were holding up, we arranged with Vorng for a tour of the village. Houses we built a year ago were proudly decorated; the timber supports had been creosoted to preserve them. The walls had been painted or coated in some cases (our 2006 houses were in timber). One house even had a side extension, a back extension and a portico! And we met up with the families again - deservedly proud of their achievements.

When Tabitha started work in this village about 15% of the children went to school. After 5 years the number is 85%. We saw wells and walked by crops, including a patch where sugar cane was being propagated and some recently harvested corn. One family in the program had a large pond of fish that they were planning on selling in the new year. One man had saved about $100 through 4 savings cycles to buy an outboard motor for his fishing boat. Other families had stacks of new fishing traps, about 2000R or 50 cents each. Everywhere we went we saw evidence of the impact of Tabitha’s work in raising standards and giving people a real sense of being able to achieve so much more.

For many of our group this was their first time in Cambodia and they sensed the impact Tabitha makes but for a few of us who had been the year before, we had this enormous sense of joy to see what one year can bring. For me this was great vindication for the Tabitha approach – and a sense of the long term investment needed to turn around. My guess is that it is probably about this stage – the 4th and 5th years – when the program really has spread through the village to lift a whole community.

Ian MacDonald

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