Tabitha USA

Pots, pans and glasses

Normally eight to ten people drink from one shared metal container, waiting their turn. For a family to drink out of glass instead of metal or plastic is seen as a family's first step out of poverty. Also, a family usually shares the same cooking pot. For a hungry family eating their only meal of the day, eating off plates and dishes can help bring domestic harmony.

$25

Pigs

Access to an amount of money large enough to do something substantial like build a home, buy a motor bike or bicycle, or even get out of debt, is difficult to come by. One possible means of doing this is to develop a live piggy bank . A family can buy two piglets, raise them for 4-6 months and then resell them for eight or ten times the original cost.

$30

Fishing net

Cambodia is surrounded by water—e.g. Tonle Sap, Mekong—as well as irrigation dishes and ponds. During the six months of floods, fishing is the sole source of income for many families, so a fishing net is essential, especially in Prey Vang, Siem Reap, Kandal and the port families in Kompong Som.

$35

Education - One Year's Tuition, Uniform, Books and Pencils

Each child must pay several hundred riel a day in school fees (R200 R300 in the countryside; R500 R1,000 in urban areas). If a family's income is less than USD0.50 per day, the cost of sending two or three children to school is prohibitive. In Cambodia school uniforms are mandatory. The rationale behind this is that no-one can distinguish between the rich and the poor. This is yet another obstacle and financial burden on a poor family. Although text books are provided by the school, because they consist of newsprint they are very easily damaged and each student must pay for the replacement. Pencils and writing pads are yet another financial burden.

$62

A water well and hand-pump

Only 1 percent of families associated with Tabitha have access to clean potable water near their home. Not only is everyone entitled to access to clean water, but such access dramatically reduces the incidence of diarrhea and infection and doubles a family's income. During times of drought, water can be pumped and used to irrigate the fields. The impact of a well has both immediate and long-term effects and serves five families.

$85

A simple house

Generally, it will take about two and a half years for a family to save enough to buy posts, wood for the frame and tin for the roof of their own home. They will then construct that and live in it without any walls for a further two and a half to three years. (An average house measures 4m x 5m.)

$960