MDGs

Know more about MDGs (Please refer to Vol.139 "What is MDGs?")
Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Kampong Luong Floating Village, Cambodia
By Mr. Masashi Shinoda (Karasaki Church, Kyoto Diocese)

<Mother and child health care>
This time I introduce Mother and child health care program operated in Kampong Luong Floating Village. In the floating village we have everything that is available on the land.
There is also a hospital and it is called "health center". Seventy percent of the people in the village are Vietnamese but very few of them use the center. It is because the staffs are only Khmer and the Vietnamese have the barrier of language and in dry season the water level becomes lower and the center is far on the land which the village people do not have an easy access by transportation. As a result many Vietnamese do not know what the health center is for. In order to let the people know what the center is operating and how necessary it is, we hired a doctor from the center and started the program to set up the free clinic a year ago.
Our intention was to contact all the patients but this time we targeted pregnant women and infants and hired a gynecologist. It was because the infants' lives were lost in the floating village due to the unbelievable causes.

Know more about MDGs (Please refer to Vol.139 "What is MDGs?")
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Kampong Luong Floating Village, Cambodia
By Mr. Masaya Takahashi (Yonezawa Church, Niigata Diocese)

Kampong Luong Floating Village is floating on Tonle Sap Lake which is the biggest lake in South East Asia and located at the center of Cambodia. The people live in the boat houses there. Excrement of human and animals, waste and oil are mixed with the lake water and the people use it for the domestic water. Many infants die in the unsanitary environment as their immunity is weak.
Most of the women give birth in their boats being assisted by midwives. As they are not educated midwives but traditional ones who have experiences of only childbirth assistance, the mother and child sometimes face the risk of their lives. According to 2009 UNICEF statistic, sixty eight babies out of one thousand died under one year old. (Ref. http://www.unicef.or.jp/library/toukei_2011/m_dat01.pdf) As there is a gap between city area and countryside, it is suspected that one baby out of ten dies in Floating Village. For comparison, the mortality rate of babies under one year old is two-one thousandth in Japan.
The situation of environment is very serious for infants in Floating Village. They die very easily here.
Under the said circumstance the mother and child health program was started in June, 2009. The obstetrician and gynecologist come to the classroom of literacy education in the morning every Saturday and Sunday and conduct medical check up for infants and pregnant women. All together 278 pregnant women and 431 infants (monthly average is 11 and 18 respectively) have come to the clinic in these two years.
We hold the monthly workshop, too. Mothers gather at the workshop and the staffs from Village Health Center give talk under the topic of mother and child health such as health control before and after childbirth, sign of dangerous disease during maternity period, how to keep power milk and contraception. They also vaccinate the infants and mothers (against tetanus and measles), distribute iron supplement and vitamin A and so on. The health education is provided to the mothers. Having appropriate knowledge protects infants from risks and saves their lives.
The mother and child health program is partially supported by the Global Citizen Foundation（HP http://www.gcf.or.jp/）.

Know more about MDGs (Please refer to Vol.139 "What is MDGs?")
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Women's Independence Center, Cambodia
By Ms. Mari HAMADA (Matsaubara Church, Tokyo Archdiocese)

- For the achievement of MDGs -
In the women's independence center we protect the victims of sex trade, DV and sexual abuse and support their restart of life.
Beside the shelter for them to stay temporally, vocational training of dressmaking is provided. Their cases vary. One of them came here and gave birth by herself. Her lover ran away when she told him about her having got pregnant. Others came here due to sexual abuse by uncle, violence by the owner of the house where the woman was working as a maid, DV by husband and so on. Most of them are with small children. We protect them and provide them healthcare, heath education, vocational training and literacy education for the limited duration so that they can become independent.

"Know more about MDGs" Vol. 2
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Children's Center and Scholarship program in Taom Village, Cambodia
By Ms. Aiko HAYASHI (Tomigaoka Church, Kyoto Diocese)

Many children cannot go to primary school in the world, which we do not come across in Japan. The reasons vary such as that there is no school nearby, they have to work and parents do not have enough money. I will write about MDGs Goal 2 "Achieve universal primary education" practiced in Taom Village where I am working.
The education system in Cambodia is six years for primary school and three years each for secondary and high school. The fee is free. There is an examination for promotion at the end of each year and only those who pass the exam are promoted. They have to pay for the exam and it is difficult to pass without taking the supplementary class which they have also to pay.
Holdover is common because they cannot catch up the class or cannot pay for the exam and supplementary class or cannot pass the examination for promotion.
In many cases a brother and a sister take same year because it is safer for girls to go to school with their brothers. According to UNESCO Statistical Institute, the literacy rate of Cambodian from fifteen to twenty-four years old is 87.5% (in 2008) and it is getting higher. But compare to 89.4% for male, 85.5% female is low. In Cambodia there is no such custom that children enter to school at six years old which is practiced in Japan. There are various ages of children in each school year due to parents' financial problems or holdovers.

"Know more about MDGs" Vol. 2
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Mariano Schoo in Kompong Luong Floating Village, Cambodia
By Mr. Masaya Takahashi (Yonezawa Church, Niigata Diocese)

Tonle Sap Lake situated at the center of Cambodia is one of the biggest lakes in South East Asia. Kampong Luong There is Floating Village on the lake and the village people live in the boats. About seventy percent of the residents are the immigrants from Vietnam. As most of the children cannot speak Khmer (Cambodian Language), they cannot enter the primary school.
They help their parents' fishing since young in the closed Vietnamese community and do not have contact with Cambodian society.
Under the situation we, JLMM missionaries, help Mariano School run by a local Catholic church. Written Khmer is taught to Vietnamese children there and we work on to let those who have completed Mariano School enter Cambodian public primary school. We draw the children's potential so that they can be given more choices for their future and mix with Cambodian society.
I am often asked, "What does Cambodia need the most?" I answer, "Education is the most important." This is my true feeling through my five years' stay here.
Two million people died during Pol Pot era (1975-1978) in Cambodia. In the country of ultra communism intelligentsias, engineers and cultural figures were the targets of the purge and many of them were executed. It became a big barrier for Cambodia to rebuild the country after the civil war. Leaders on every area disappeared. Junior cannot be cultivated without leaders. Human resource is tremendously lacking to rebuild Cambodia. Then, what is the current situation like?
Cambodia is being rebuilt with the support from Japan and other countries. Economy develops remarkably and the recent real economic growth rate is 10% each year. I can feel it when I go to Phnom Penh. There are more luxury cars than before and high-rise buildings are under construction everywhere. As I am "a countryman", I am excited saying, "Wow! Oh, KFC was opened there!" But when I am in the village the life still remains as I started five years ago. Why is that so? Only cities are being developed.

"Know more about MDGs" Vol. 2
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Children's House in Steung Meanchey, Cambodia
By Miyuki Asano (Kikuna Church, Yokohama Diocese)

Children's potential will be raised by the surrounding environment and the education. When we think about the education for the better future, there are a lot of problems and challenges before the children in Russey Village. The attendance rate at primary school in Cambodia is considered high, but many children drop out of school half way. The reasons are varied such as parents' financial problem and lack of understanding about education and problems in Cambodian educational system.
Many children in Steung Meanchey do not have an access to the educational institution due to the poverty of their families. As the children want to help their parents, they do not go to school but work at the refuge dump to contribute to their families' income. Families must have cash income to get their children to receive the education but some of them waste money on alcohol and gambling.
The parents of the children in Children's House were farmers in the country. They came to cities as they could not earn enough money to support their families. They did not have opportunities to receive the education due to the long-lasting civil war and they are now busy making their living. To them their children are the important labor power and the children have to help the house work and look after their younger brothers and sisters. Some of the parents understand the importance of their children's education but they have no choice but to depend on their children's labor. In their houses there are no toy, picture book and other educational material for their children.

JLMM agrees the campaign by JANIC (Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation) "Reduce by half the world's poverty. MDGs2015" which is to promote and educate about MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) and has been working on the projects as a member.

We start the serial article "Know more about MDGs" to help you to understand MDGs through JLMM activities.

What is MDGs?
MDGs stands for Millennium Development Goals and it is the world's promise to achieve the goals such as to reduce by half the world's poverty by 2015.
In September, 2000 the Millennium Declaration was unanimously adopted by 189 UN member states. In the declaration the international society announced to work on the challenges together to build the prosperous and fair world with peace and to end the poverty.

There are eight numerical targets to be achieved by 2015.
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

"Know more about MDGs" Vol. 1
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Food stall project in Steung Meanchey, Cambodia
By Ms. Miyuki ASANO (Kikuna Church, Yokohama Diocese)

< Steung Meanchey District >
Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is rapidly developing. Foreign enterprises are very active and high-class residential area and high-rise buildings for commercial facilities and hotels are coming out. The number of cars has increased rapidly and there are traffic jams everywhere. We can often see luxury cars such as Lexus. There are also fancy cafes and restaurants but they seem to be only for foreigners and rich Cambodians and a different world for most of Cambodian people. The benefits of the development go to those with power and foreigners and most of the nations are left behind. There are more poor people who came from countryside to find jobs.
People in Russey Village, Steung Meanchey whom JLMM is supporting are also out of benefits of the development and live in a bad environment selling recyclable items from refuge dump. People have sometimes to borrow money from loan sharks for wedding or to pay medical fees when they get sick as there is no essential welfare service in Cambodia. As a result they have no choice but to live hand-to-month. It is their severe reality that children are considered as labor power.
They were formerly farmers but they could not earn enough money to support their family because the agriculture technology was backward and the water for farming was lacking. They came to cities to work but it is very difficult to find a job for those without special skill or educational background as the country is not industrialized other than sewing industry. After all they work in a refuge dump. The refuge dump is the income source for many poor people in Phnom Penh.
JLMM started "Food stall project" for them in 2007. We rent food stalls and provide the business knowledge to those interested. It aims that their life will be stabilized by the new job which is healthy and sanitary replacing the job in the refuge dump. The food stall business requires a hard work but only little capital and no special skill and it produces an income to support families. They go to markets and schools to sell inexpensive sweets with good profit and "rotti" which is a popular sweet in Thailand.

Vol.139 (This issue)
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
* Cambodia Food stall project in Steung Meanchey

Vol.140 (to be issued in late March)
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
* Cambodia Children's center in Taom Village (Scholarship, etc)
* Cambodia Children's house in Steung Meanchey
* Cambodia Literacy education in Kompong Luong

Vol.141 (to be issued in late May)
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
* Cambodia Renacer
* Thailand Plang Jai Pooying

Vol.142 (to be issued in late July)
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
* Cambodia Maternal and child health in Kompong Luong
* East Timor SISCa project

Vol.143 (to be issued in late September)
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
* East Timor SISCa project
* Cambodia Maternal and child health in Kompong Luong

Vol.144 (to be issued in late November)
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
* East Timor SISCa project

Vol.145 (to be issued in late January, 2012)
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
* Cambodia Water clarification project in Kompong Luong

Vol.146 (to be issued in late March, 2012)
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
* East Timor SISCa project