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Autumn 2004

Unions Helping in Cambodia Too

Give a woman a fish & she will eat for a day...teach a woman to fish and she will feed her whole village.

The Christmas Period is usually a time of hope and expectation, as we look forward to the many promises the New Year holds. For the first time, Mrs Keo Sokhom of Cambodia is also optimistic about the future.

Mrs Keo Sokhom is a subsistence rice farmer who lives in a wooden house on a small plot of land with her children.

Until recently, Mrs Keo Sokham and the other villagers were unable to afford basic medicines or send their children to school without falling into debt.

Since the establishment of Union Aid Abroad's Aquaculture Skills Training Project, life in the Dong Tung District of Cambodia is looking up. Union Aid Abroad has begun training locals such as Mrs Keo Sokhom to teach other farmers in the district to raise fish in household ponds. The fish are used to provide food and a rare source of protein for poor families who mostly eat rice and vegetables grown in their own plots. Fish farming also generates additional income to pay for necessities such as medicine and education through the sale of surplus stock.

For a Cambodian woman such as Mrs Keo Sokhom, the chance to learn new skills and teach others is rare.

During her lifetime, most educated people were killed by the Pol Pot regime and even today many girls do not finish primary school. The three-month aquaculture training course costs only A$50 and has improved the lives of Mrs Keo Sokhom and everyone she has shared her knowledge with.

By joining our Global Justice Program and donating $10 a month you can help other people living in developing countries look forward to a positive future. Please call 1800 888 674 or visit www.apheda.org.au and join the Global Justice Program today.