Find other resources at www.caritas.org.nz This set of fact sheets corresponds to lessons outlined in the teacher booklet Hear the cry of the earth and the poor. The experiences of indigenous Cambodians are explored through various themes. Hear the cry of the earth and the poor * Lent 2016 * Whakarongo ki te tangi o Papatūānuku me te hunga pōhara 1 Fact Sheet 1: Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Agency for Justice, Peace and Development. Indigenous peoples Our Mission Statement Caritas has a commitment to working in partnership with a small number of Māori We work for a world free of communities to assist them in achieving their goals poverty and injustice. of self-determination and economic independence. We are part of Caritas Internationalis, a global confederation of 165 Catholic aid, development and social justice agencies working in over 200 countries and territories. We have five strategic goals which guide our work. Reduce poverty Caritas works in partnership with grassroots organisations to address the causes of poverty in their Students and teachers from Te Kura Taumata o communities and work towards social transformation Panguru at the hand-over of a resource about the and ecological sustainability. In Cambodia, Caritas local forest produced in partnership with Caritas. works with a local organisation called Development and Partnership in Action (DPA) to support small farmers adapt to climate change and find ways to increase their Crisis response productivity. As part of an international network Caritas is able to respond rapidly to disasters. In 2015, we launched a campaign to assist the Nepalese in building back after the earthquakes. We also support Caritas organisations in the Middle East who are caring for refugees from Syria and Iraq. Murray Shearer from Caritas visits a farming co-operative in Trapeang Chres Village with local DPA staff. Environmental justice In 2014, Caritas produced a ground-breaking report on environmental challenges in Oceania and how they are Awareness and connection affecting people at the grassroots and specifically at the coastal edges. The report was called Small yet strong: Our strategy is to inspire and empower Catholics voices from Oceania on the environment. In 2015 a in Aotearoa New Zealand to work for a world free follow-up report was produced. Caritas intends to of injustice and poverty. We do this by providing continue to monitor and report on climate related issues. schools and parishes with our resources. Social Justice Week in September and our Lent Appeal are two of our best opportunities to engage with the Catholic community each year. In 2014, we launched the Caritas Challenge as a way for teenagers and young adults to engage with some of the issues facing people living in poverty. In early 2015 Caritas hosted Ursula Rakova, a community leader from the Cartaret Islands in Papua New Guinea. Ursula’s community is being forced to leave their islands because of rising sea levels. 2 Hear the cry of the earth and the poor * Lent 2016 * Whakarongo ki te tangi o Papatūānuku me te hunga pōhara Fact Sheet 2: Cambodia Key Statistics Country: Kingdom of Cambodia Capital: Phnom Penh Language: Khmer Ethnic breakdown: 90% Khmer, 5% Vietnamese and 3% indigenous Population: Approximately 16 million Currency: Riel (currently 2,822 riels to 1NZD) Religion: 97% Buddhist, 2% Muslim & 1% Other Leaders: King Norodom Sihamoni (since 2004) Prime Minister Hun Sen (since 1985) Land area: 181,035 km2 (Compared to New Zealand’s 268,021 km²) Temperature: Between 24°C and 39°C Provinces: 24 provinces and 1 municipality Rural living: 80% live in rural areas / 20% live in urban areas Poverty line: 20% live below the poverty line / 20% just above the poverty line People Cambodia’s population is more than three times that of New Zealand. Indigenous Cambodians make up less than three percent of the population and comprise around 24 different groups. Caritas is involved in projects with a number of the larger indigenous groups including the Kreung, Bunong, Tampuan, and Jarai people. The Khmer ethnic group makes up the vast majority of the population (about 90%). Other ethnicities represented in Cambodia include Vietnamese and Chinese. Only 20% of Cambodians live in towns and cities. The majority of the people (80%) live in rural areas in village communities. There is a close connection to both land and nature, and villagers are reliant on farming and fishing for their livelihoods. Children commonly work hard within their families, helping at home and on the farm. In 2001, the percentage of children between the ages of 5-14 years who were working was 39%. In fact, over 1.3 million children are engaged in some form of work. As of 2012, approximately 2.66 million Cambodians were living on less than $1.20 per day, and 37% of Cambodian children under the age of five were suffering from chronic malnutrition. Cases of bacterial diarrhoea and typhoid caused by drinking unclean water are common. There are many land-mine victims in Cambodia. Millions of mines were laid by the Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese and government forces, which have led to thousands of deaths and disabilities since the 1980s. In 2013, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia was 75,200. Although the prevalence of HIV/AIDS has reduced recently, this is still among the highest in Asia. The spread of HIV has been largely due to the sex trade within Cambodia. Hear the cry of the earth and the poor * Lent 2016 * Whakarongo ki te tangi o Papatūānuku me te hunga pōhara 3 Environment Located in Southeast Asia, Cambodia, lying just above the equator, is a small country with a tropical climate. Cambodia has three neighbouring countries: Thailand (to the northwest), Laos (to the north) and Vietnam (to the southeast). Low-lying plains stretch across the land. Just over 30% of this land is used for agriculture and over 50% is enclosed by tropical rainforests. There are a number of dominant geographical features including: Tonle Sap (the Great Lake), the Mekong River, the Cardamom Mountains, and the Dangrek Mountains. Like many countries near the equator, Cambodia experiences two very different seasons. Monsoon rains generally fall between May and November and result in widespread flooding. The dry season follows in December through to April leading to occasional droughts. The impacts of climate change are very real for the people of Cambodia with the timing and intensity of seasons changing annually. Within Cambodia the environment is under threat not only from the impacts of climate change (such as soil erosion), but also from the actions of human activity. Overfishing, illegal logging, and strip mining are just a few examples of human actions damaging the Cambodian environment. Food Cambodia is nominally self-sufficient in rice production and has recently begun exporting rice to the global market. Secondary crops include corn, cassava, beans, cucumbers and cashew nuts. There is still a high degree of food insecurity in Cambodia due to the poor quality of some agricultural resources (such as seed and equipment) and also to the effects of weather events such as droughts and floods. The other barrier to food security is animal disease such as avian (bird) flu. The majority of Cambodians rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Organisations like Caritas and DPA are helping rural communities build their resilience to flooding and drought. DPA is working to improve farmers’ access to quality seeds and other inputs, and providing training in new farming practices. It is assisting farmers to grow other crops in addition to rice, such as vegetables and fruit, and to engage in livestock rearing and fisheries. Doing these things will help ensure a better supply of fresh, nutrient-rich foods for farming families and more income opportunities. DPA is also working to strengthen community-based organisations engaged in agricultural production, processing and marketing, such as local farming co-operatives. Part of this work aims at improving access to markets. Hear the cry of the earth and the poor * Lent 2016 * Whakarongo ki te tangi o Papatūānuku me te hunga pōhara 4 History The golden age of the Khmer empire was from the 9th to the 13th century when huge temple complexes were built, most notably Angkor Wat. In the 19th century Cambodia became a protectorate of France lasting until 1953 when it became an independent kingdom under King Norodom Sihanouk. Through the late 1960s the Vietnam War extended into Cambodia, fuelling the rise of the Cambodian Communist Party – the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge began as an underground movement which slowly gained ground against the ruling government of the Khmer Republic. In 1975 the Khmer Rouge took control of the capital city, Phnom Penh, and ordered a mass exodus of citizens from the city to the country to undertake agricultural work. The Khmer Rouge began to carry out a radical genocidal communist programme so severe that people lived, worked and died within small farming co-operatives with no freedom of movement whatsoever. Over the next four years the leaders of the Khmer Rouge executed hundreds of thousands of intellectuals, city residents, minority people (such as the Cham, Vietnamese and Chinese), and many of their own soldiers and party members, who were accused of being traitors. Many were held in prisons where they were detained, interrogated and tortured. The fall of the Khmer Rouge began in December 1978 when Vietnam invaded Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge leadership fled to the west. Various forms of coalition government - some including members of the Khmer Rouge - ruled Cambodia until 1993, when after years of isolation, the war-ravaged nation was reunited under the monarchy.