[Original by Mariko OMURA, Cambodia Project (February 13, 2020); Translated by J. Tsuchiya/M. Olagoke] Following the previous blog report, I’d like to tell you about my official trip to Phnom Penh, the capital, which I make once or twice a month. A four to five-hour drive completely changes the landscape I go to Phnom Penh by the JVC car or by bus (one-way costs $11). There are many domestic flights to Phnom Penh, so I suppose that most businessmen prefer traveling by plane. From our project site to the capital, it takes four hours in the fastest case or five hours if the traffic is heavy. Phnom Penh is in…
A Day in the Life of a JVC Cambodia Office Representative @ the Project Site
[Original by Mariko OMURA, Cambodia Project (December 25, 2019); Translated by J. Tsuchiya/A. Taguchi] I came back to Japan for one month from the middle of last November. Whenever I am in Japan, I often get questions from the people who attend events about what kind of work I do and what my daily schedule is. So, I would like to write here how “A day in the life of a JVC Cambodia office representative” is like. I will start with my tasks at our project site. 7:30 Morning Meeting. Everyone wakes up early in the morning in Cambodia! In Cambodia, many corporations and organizations start work at around 7:30-8:00.…
Challenge! Peace Action in Tora Bora (2)
[Original by Maki KATO, Afghanistan Project (November 6, 2019); Translated by M. Goto/K. Takemura/A. Taguchi] (continued from Part 1) The JVC staff and the residents of Kuz Kunar district finally arrived at the Tora Bora area in the Pachir Wa Agam district. The exchange program about peace talks started here between the residents of Kuz Kunar and Pachir Wa Agam districts. We had a preliminary meeting at the house of Mr. Mahir, who brought JVC into contact with Tora Bora. He is the leader of the Spin GharYouth Association and once visited Kuz Kunar as a participant of the previous Peace Action. His friends explained the security situation of this…
Coriander Challenge Part 3 – The First Day of Shipping
[Original by Mariko OMURA, Cambodia Project (November 25, 2019); Translated by E. Miyazaki/ A. Taguchi] (Continued from Part 2) The first day of shipping It was early July 2019 when we shipped our coriander for the first time. Unfortunately, Ms. Chomno was absent for another appointment, and we could not take any pictures of her. Here, we report how Ms. Bopper did it. We made a video of her journey from the day of the first harvest until the shipping, so please take a look at the video clip. She looks so happy that it makes us smile! (Video captions) She lives with her mother. This reservoir was made with…
Coriander Challenge Part 2 – Coriander Growing Training
[Original by Mariko OMURA, Cambodia Project (November 21, 2019); Translated by E. Miyazaki/A. Taguchi] (Continued from Part 1) Coriander growing training JVC provided training on growing coriander to two women, Ms. Bopper and Ms. Chomno, who wanted to try shipping their coriander to the restaurant. The training took place at the end of April 2019, after we went on the study tour to Siem Riep in March. Weekly follow-up After the training was completed, JVC staff conducted a follow-up with Ms. Bopper and Ms. Chomno at least once a week to check how they were doing and if there were any concerns. In order to ship coriander at a constant…
Mahir’s death
[Original by Maki KATO, Afghanistan Project (April 22, 2019); Translated by H. Ueda/M. Olagoke] The vernal equinox day, March 21, is New Year’s Day in Afghanistan. It is a national holiday called Nowruz, when people gather to share joy with their families, relatives, and friends, celebrating the new year. On this very day, when I was just simply pondering; “People must be having a good time in new clothes and eating delicious food,” a local staff brought me some sad news. Mahir-san was killed. The following is the information provided by Sabirullah, our local staff: Khan Aga Mahir, a strong partner of the JVC Peace Action, was killed. He was…
We dug a reservoir!
[Original by Mariko OMURA, Cambodia Project (June 4, 2019); Translated by M. Goto/M. Hajjaj] Hello, I’m Omura from Cambodia. Today I would like to report about the reservoir which I reported in “Where should we dig a reservoir?” and “Behind the meeting.” After narrowing down the candidate places in the meeting with villagers, we interviewed residents about the access condition to water, conducted a geological survey, and consulted with the village headman and the local administrative officer. We finally decided the place to dig a reservoir at the end of January 2019 and held orientations for villagers to explain the rules on how to use it. For instance: “Do not…
Behind the Meeting about “Where should we dig a reservoir?”
[Original by Mariko OMURA, Cambodia Project (February 14, 2019); Translated by M. Goto/A. Taguchi] Here is the inside story of the meeting about “Where should we dig a reservoir?“, which we have reported on recently. Two members of the JVC activity area named Somach and Pok planned and facilitated the meeting that was held at the end of December 2018. Pok is a daughter of a farmer whom JVC has supported. By looking at her mother who had been enthusiastically attending the training organized by JVC, she got interested in JVC and applied to become a staff as well. They have been working here as assistants for a few years…
Coriander Challenge Part 1- Observation at Siem Reap
[Original by Mariko OMURA, Cambodia Project (November 20, 2019); Translated by E. Miyazaki/M. Hajjaj] I have an achievement that I would like to write about that as a blog on social media networks. I will start sharing that as series from today. Since I regularly update these stories also on Facebook, please would you follow up them also on Facebook (in Japanese)! Study tour to Siem Reap The story goes back to March. There are several farmers of JVC’s project sites, who succeeded in expanding their vegetable gardens and grow their vegetables. Ms. Bopper is one of them. She usually sells her surplus of the vegetables to a middleman, but…
Challenge! Peace Action in Tora Bora (1)
[Original by Maki KATO, Afghanistan Project (September 2, 2019); Translated by M. Goto/K. Takemura] One day in February, I got a Skype contact from Sabirullah, the representative of the local office in Afghanistan. He said, “Maki, finally!” Today is a very special day in our peace action activities. Seven villagers of the Kuz Kunar district, where we have implemented our projects, are going to visit another area with JVC staff and experience interaction with the villagers there! This program required long time for preparation, since the area is so insecure that even the transportation of people is difficult. The destination is an area called “Tora Bora” in the Pachir Wa…