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Although Cambodia's cities continue to grow, about 82 percent of the Country’s population still lives in rural areas. It therefore should not surprise that CWS has focused much of its attention here. Village life is harsh at best, and most families do not have access to basic facilities.

Imagine a world where clean drinking water is scarce, access to healthcare is limited, and where the risk of landmines throws shadows on every step one takes; for many people in Cambodia  this is daily reality. CWS has been addressing issues like these for many years, and as a result we have developed an extensive program for community development. We are currently implementing community development projects in Battambang, Kompong Thom and Banteay Meanchey, wherewe work together with communities toward one simple goal; to improve the lives of poor and vulnerable people. The Community Development Program particularly focuses on the following issues:

To reach these goals, we have divided our work into three stages. In the first stage, community workers go into the village to familiarize themselves with the location and especially its people, their needs, and their dreams for a better future. CWS considers a personal presence in every village as very important for building constructive relationships. Our community development workers therefore sleep and live part of their time in the target communities.  The subsequent stage in our community development approach is to cooperate with community members to actually strengthen people's ability to improve their livelihood. Training and equipment are provided and managing institutions are set up. In the third stage of our approach, we work together with people and their leaders to strengthen organizational structures. Change should not be temporary, and by strengthening village structures, leadership and responsibilities, a community gains the power to remain on a path of improvement into the future. Finally, after all three stages have been completed, CWS will leave the community for it to further develop on its own through the use of skills community members have developed as part of CWS interventions. This moment is often celebrated with an official ceremony in which all acquired knowledge and assets are “formally” handed over to the village. A strong indicator of the effectiveness of community development is the high number of practical solutions that are jointly generated by the community and the project. Our community development projects maximize independence, human dignity, and peaceful solutions through partnership and collaboration.

Community-based organizations and committees

The core of our community development program consists of so called community-based organizations and committees. They are set up and run by the community with the assistance of CWS and function as institutions that manage and coordinate the development process at several levels. The most important community-based organization is the Village Development Committee. After CWS selects a target village, committee members are elected and then serve as a link between CWS and the community. They are responsible for identifying, planning, implementing, and monitoring village-level development activities. They are also responsible for mobilizing local resources and selecting people to be trained as volunteers for more specialized community-based organizations and committees. The other community-based organizations deal with a broad spectrum of issues such as village life stock, birth assistance, the management of  water resources and the organization of credit availability for personal and social development within the village.

Literacy

Due to poverty and a long period of war during which the education system stopped functioning, almost half the population in Cambodia never learned to read and write. Being literate is however a very important skill in today's world. Not only are literate people able to gain knowledge in a more efficient way, but they also have the ability to plan and structure their lives better.  In the village of Tro Peng Pedie for example, village leaders were never able to keep records of things like population statistics, income and expenditure. “It used to be very chaotic here”, village chief Pad Kung told us. “There was only one person whocould write, which made things progress very, very slow.” “Meetingstook hours and if something needed to be reported to the government we would visit them in person.”

IIn villages like Tro Peng Pedie, CWS has focused on increasing literacy through special literacy programs for adults. These  programs enable villagers to take a more active part in community affairs and provides them with the ability to make simple mathematical calculations in their daily affairs. Pad Kung continued; “After CWS offered us the chance to learn how to read and write, we can do much more in less time!” “We can send letters, and all knowledge about the village is being stored in files now”. Furthermore,75 percent of the people attending literacy classes are female and their newly acquired skills have had a major impact on women’s advancement in many villages; every community in our target area now has women in managing positions.

Primary and secondary education for children, of course, also has our attention. We support local communities with the construction of school buildings and the training of teachers. By educating children, we secure the knowledge for shaping a better future.

Micro Credit

Micro credit is the provision of very small loans (micro loans) to people living in poverty who are not “bankable”. These individuals lack a steady income and therefore cannot meet even the most minimum qualifications to gain access to traditional sources of credit. Micro credit is however not just about money. It is also a critical instrument for changing people's mindset and creating a transparent environment in which democratic principles can flourish. In rural areas, CWS works together with so called “self help groups” to supply villagers with micro credit with which they can purchase the things they need. Interest paid over the loans is very low and goes directly to the self help group which uses it to benefit new members. A woman from the village of Trang Ka gave us a good example of the benefit of self help groups. “With the help of my self help group I was able to buy a big pot for storing palm sugar”, she told us. “With the pot I was able to store the sugar until the rainy season when prices increased.” “After only one season I was able to return the money to the self help group!”

A slightly altered version of the micro credit principle is seen back in two special community-based organizations; the so called rice- and cow banks. Cow banks are community institutions that work according to the same principles as ordinary banks but instead of using money, cows are used as the “currency”. The bank's committee members identify recipients and manage the bank's transactions. Cow banks have proved to be a successful means of helping poor farmers by providing them with draft animals for tilling soil. A cow bank begins with the Village Development Committee identifying beneficiaries, who are then given a pregnant cow to care for until its calf has grown to a sufficient size to be used as a draft animal. The mother cow is then given to the second beneficiary, and the process continues. For people who have not enough funds to feed and maintain a cow, chicken- and pig banks are set up according to a similar system. This way, every villager's access to livestock is guaranteed.  
Rice banks follow a similar principle but are particularly used to provide food security in times of shortage or disaster. Villagers in CWS' project areas usually experience a lack of food during the lean months from September to November of each year while waiting for the next rice harvest. Rice banks are established in close collaboration with the World Food Program, which provides the initial stock of rice. Rice Bank Committees are formed in the villages and their members are trained in project management and accounting. At the discretion of the committee, rice is loaned to people in need. After harvest, or when the people can afford it, the same quantity of rice is returned along with a pre-determined amount, which serves as an interest payment. In this manner the bank continues to grow. Rice storage facilities are eventually built with the interest generated from the operation of the bank.

Specially trained development volunteers

Other problems in the community are mostly tackled through the use of specially trained villagers who volunteer to facilitate implementation of programming. These volunteers, who get a small allowance for their services, receive training in provision of basic healthcare. Due to a lack of knowledge, many villages suffer a high incidence of preventable diseases and a Village Health Volunteer addresses these problems. Once trained, they in turn conduct training sessions in their villages on a variety of topics such as nutrition, sanitation, diarrhea, dengue fever, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. In the same fashion, specially trained village members are working in the field of education, poverty relief and water.