Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

THE CHENRAIWA
RISE FROM STRUGGLE
A chat with the writer
In this article, we, Pat and his assistant Nueng, went to Cambodia to gather
some informations about Cambodian peoples poverty. We went for some research of
their lifestyle and what they do to keep them and their family survive through crises.
First off, we made a decision which province we should travel for the information.
We dont even find it difficult for us to choose the place. Battambang is the right place
for us since it is on the edge of Cambodia and it can show us the example poverty
perfectly since it is far from the capital of Cambodia.

Cambodias currency

Riel
1 THB = 116.413
KHR

1.00 USD =
4,088.98 KHR
The Area of
Battambang

11,702km
Population

15.9
millions
Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

MEET THE FAMILY

We finally arrived at Battambang airport. It was so small that we didnt
recognize it as one. Even though there were almost nobody at the airport, the
statistic of people coming to Cambodia is more than we expected. As soon as we
came out from the airport, we walked by the main road and ended up being in
front of the University of Battambang. We decided to ask a person in the
universities for methods to travel to the edge of Battambang. They suggested to
take the local bus to the west.
Itve been a few hours since we continue taking buses and the sky began to
turn dark. We decided to stay at a hotel called Battambang resort and called it a
day. In the following day, we continue to travel to the edge of Battambang. As we
travel along the edge, we found a tiny village not too far from Sangker river. Nueng
suggested we should interview a house in the front most of the village. Finally, we
found a family whos willing to share their stories to us.

Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

Chenraiwas Family

Benjarong - Father
Angsana - Mother

Dee - First son

Dum - Second son

Dang - First daughter

Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

Duang -Second daughter

(Passed away)

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

Chenraiwas Life in 2016

In the beginning of 2016 the economic of the family is very
unstable. In that time, The Chenraiwas were still living in a natural
material house. They cant get enough amount of money no matter how
Q: How did you feel about your oldest son went working abroad?
Angsana: I felt so proud of him so much that before he left, I leaked of
tears of happiness. He was the one whos willing to go for making more
money for our family. told me that he chose to go because he thinks that
working abroad will make more money than working in the country. He
said he would come back every month and help us with the work here

Thus, this is one of the factor which helps the familys economy.
The month later, everything turned just like a flip of a hand. Flood hit
the village and, moreover, their father got sick. Whats even worse was

Q: What does it feels like when your family had to face all these
problems all at once? How did your family get past all these problems?
Benjarong: I feel so hopeless. In my mind, in that time, the only thought
that I thought was I wouldnt survive this for sure. It was the hardest time
in my life; to deal with this large amount of problems. I was wrong. We, as
a family, we are able to pass through this crisis. To survive this crisis,
consciousness was important for us. Without it, we couldnt solve
problems fast and accurate and wouldnt make the correct choice. Luckily,
aids arrived. We paid less cost of food than the price it should be.
Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

The flood affects the

health of the family in a
long term so it is hard to
recover than usual. In the
next month, they started to
recover.
Heavy rains starting in
the third week of
September 2013 resulted
in floods in 20 provinces
throughout the north-west and
along the Mekong River in central
and southern Cambodia, killing
188 people and affecting more
than 1.7 million. At the height of
the floods, more than 144,000
people had been evacuated.

Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

FROM: http://reliefweb.int/report/cambodia/floodshumanitarian-response-forum-hrf-situation-reportno-06-08-november-2013

By the end of November, waters

had mostly receded from all
provinces, with the exception of
Kampong Chhnang, where the
impact of Tropical Storm
Krosa at the end of October
caused longer stagnation of
water. With the recession of
waters, people resumed their
livelihood activities, in
particular farming.

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

The following month, an organization searched for houses with women

and helped them. Surely, this family was no exception. The mother got
helped in the form of loan which we had to repay it within 5 years.

Q: With this loan, what did you do with it?

Angsana: I spent it for a small business on the 154 road. Since I love to
cook food, I own a cafe which sells food and bakery. It is both easier and
more enjoyable to turn your hobby into a job. This way, there would be
less stress but more income. In addition, I can work longer and still get
enough rest.

In the month after, the greatest loss of the family occured. Dum got
sick and Duang caught Malaria. The recovery of Dum was better than

Q: What happened in that period of time?

Dee: When I was back from the monthly break from working abroad,
I came home and found that both Dum and Duang had fevers. Later in
the middle of the month, Dum recovered but Duang hasnt. We took
her to the doctor and found out that she caught Malaria. We paid for
the basic treatment but at last, she didnt get any better. Doctor suggest
us to pay for her final treatment. We didnt.

Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

Q: Why did your family chose not to pay for the treatment?
Angsana: We think about this over and over. We discussed that if we
pay for the treatment, there would be almost no money left. Also, the
treatment wasnt 100% sure so if we pay for Duang, then other members
such as Dang and Dum would hardly survive. We came up with this
conclusion: For the sake of Dang and Dum and also other members
life and survival, we really had to let Duang finally rest in peace with our
grandfather and grandmother. We hope that she would live in a better
place than us.

The number of malaria deaths globally fell from an estimated 839 000
in 2000 (range: 653 0001.1 million), to 438 000 in 2015 (range: 236
Most deaths in 2015
were in the WHO African
Region (90%), followed by
the WHO South-East Asia
Region (7%) and the WHO
Eastern Mediterranean
Region (2%). The malaria
mortality rate, which takes
into account population
growth, is estimated to
have decreased by 60%
globally between 2000 and
2015.

FROM: http://www.who.int/gho/malaria/
epidemic/deaths/en/

Thus, substantial progresshas been

made towards the World Health Assembly
target of reducing the malaria burden by 75% by
2015, and the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership
Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

In the following month the government came up with many policy

and plans. One of them is to clear out Mafia in each area of cambodia.
Since they force people to pay them bribes, the economic will become
better if they were extinguished.

Q: Is the policy of the government helpful to you?

Benjarong: This could is very useful. The local mafia wouldnt have to
force us for any money anymore. Our income will still stay the level it
should be and moreover, the amount of the criminal in the country will
decrease. This can also affect our childrens education since it is much
safer for children to travel from home to school and vise versa. In the last 6
to 7 month, we didnt send our children to school because the money is
insufficient and the environment is dangerous.

FEMALES

51%

MALES

49%

Net primary school

enrolment ratio
The number of children enrolled in
primary school who belong to the
age group that officially
corresponds to primary schooling,
divided by the total population of
the same age group.

Males 93%
Females 90%

Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

FROM: http://www.savong.com/
SAVONGSCHOOL/
EducationFactsandFiguresCambodia/tabid/114/
Default.aspx

Pat & Nueng

Cost of Living in Battambang

Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

After that month, the lifestyle and the economic returned to the
normal state. Everybodys health become better, the savings increases
but still, they always struggle for their life.

FROM: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/
Battambang-Cambodia

Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

Family Budget Overview

During the interview, Dum brought us a kind of old
book from the house. He really wanted to participate
our interview though he couldnt. We were very lucky
that we got this old looking notebook since it was a
Ledger. From the beginning of this whole crisis until
the end, their ledger - a notebook which was used for
keeping track of incomes and expenses - is a very
useful document for this interview since this ledger tell
us about the movement of the familys money.
In the first month everything went fine except the
familys health. Everyone wasnt healthy since they had
to save the money for the other month.
In the second and third month, the savings were
unstable and very little. They didnt drink any clean
water at all.
The fourth month was better since the mother was
helped by an organization. Savings are in a higher
amount than the past month.

Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

CAMBODIA POVERTY ANALYSIS

The story of this family showed us how poverty
looks like. With the fact that they are living in a rural
area of Cambodia, they have less chance of getting
access to all of the resources in the same time such as
food and water. After the flood in Battambang,
everythings prices went up very highly and the
Chenraiwa were all in a bad state of health. They had
to decide whats the best to buy. Not only in the flood
period does they have to make choices wisely, but also
many other events. An example of a very serious case
would be Duangs case. They had to carefully think
about all the trade-offs of helping Duang together with
how to make the whole familys survive. This all means
that poverty lowers the choice that can be made from
human due to less amount of limited resources.
As a conclusion of this magazine, in economic,
you cant choose all the choice possible since there
are limited resources, time and chance. You need to
make the best choice in order to decrease as much
consequences as possible.
Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang

Pat & Nueng

Oct 21 - Nov 2 2016

Despite impressive reduction in poverty, these hard

won gains are fragile. Many people who have
escaped poverty are still at high risk of falling back
into poverty,
- Neak Samsen, Poverty Analyst of the World
Bank in Cambodia and the co-author of the
Poverty Assessment Report.

"Reducing poverty further and helping families who

have just escaped poverty to stay out of poverty is
possible,"
- Ulrich Zachau, World Bank Country Director
Manager for Cambodia and Southeast Asia.

Poverty in Cambodia: Battambang