Battambang, KH – Relay Planting and Pig Fattening Pay For Solar Light – 17 Apr 2015

The YY family live in a rural village outside Battambang, Cambodia. They have been involved in the organic FAITH (Food Always In The Home) vegetable garden program since 2013 and have worked very hard to make their garden a success.  Their success with the vegetable garden and more recently with pig fattening means that the family is a good example for other families in the neighborhood who also want to improve their lives.

In addition to inspiring their neighbors, the YY family also invigorates the Healthy Life Reinforcement Garden Shop (HLR) team. Whenever the team visits the family at their home, they are filled with joy and excitement at seeing the garden beds consistently filled with healthy vegetables including; morning glory, long bean, and spring onion.

The family are quite poor and are just able to scrape together a living by planting vegetables and working as casual building labor. They are raising three grand-children who were left by parents  when they went to work at the Thai border, a common occurrence in Battambang. The lack of jobs in the Battambang area forces many people to leave their homes for the border in order to earn a better income, often leaving behind children with grandparents or other relatives.

The FAITH garden design only lives up to its name if the family consistently relay plants their garden beds. Relay planting means planting a variety of vegetables with different harvesting schedules so that the garden consistently produces enough vegetables to feed the family. The YY family’s garden is successful because they have been consistently relay planting their garden beds. They can earn from US$10 – US$15 each time they harvest. This small amount of money contributes to their grand-children’s education, living expenses and home improvement.

The hard work they put into their garden has qualified them for two separate pig fattening loans. With the first loan they earned US$150 by fattening two pigs over a six month period. They spent that money on their grand-children’s education. The second loan, which they just paid off, earned them US$200. The family earned more money because they learned how to fatten the piglets more efficiently. The latest income earned from selling the pigs was used to buy a solar electricity system, so that they can have light for their grand-children to study at night.

Security is always a concern in rural areas in developing countries, so the YY family have taken precautions with their newly purchased solar system. They have bolted the solar panel on a tall pole near their home so that any greedy thief would have to use a ladder and various tools to steal it. The proximity of the solar panel to their home will also deter thieves.

The YY family dream of expanding their organic vegetable garden in order to earn more income from it. They have also applied for another pig fattening loan which they hope to receive in May 2015.