Our goal
In collaboration with the local community we strive to create harmony with and between people. People who care and support each other. We want to involve the parents and carers – in the country these are mostly the grandparents – actively in the activities of their children. With “United by Sports” sporting events, we want to bring together children and grown-ups and promote mutual respect and understanding.
Please support us in our efforts to improve and intensify mutual relations in an underdeveloped province in a country that has still not recovered from terrorism.
We ask for money for football outfits; shirts and shorts and also footballs, goals and other equipment. Many children also need shoes. They play partly barefoot on a hard and uneven ground
Background information
Today, fear and distrust are once again present in Cambodia. For example: before the elections, three years ago so-called land titles were distributed among the Cambodian population. Each Cambodian was given a piece of land. Obviously everyone was satisfied with this piece of land, which was seen as a gift from the government. A consequence of this was, however, that the old communities, which formerly owned the land, were crippled. In addition, the new owners of the country are powerless against the big companies that claim the country. So many people have already had to turn in their land. Because of the crippled communities there is also no support for the individual and therefore also no chance to fight against it. Motto: “Easy come, easy go.”
In Battambang province, with its capital Battambang, about 300 kilometers or 8 hours by bus from Phnom Penh, deforestation and soil degradation become major problems. Even unexploded landmines that remain from the “Khmer Rouge” period still cause many injuries and even deaths every year.
This region in Battambang was also one of the last remaining areas in Cambodia under the control of the Khmer Rouge. During the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge, treason and murder were everyday affairs. This led to deep mistrust in all layers of the Cambodian society. This mistrust can still be felt everywhere in these regions.
Our school project
Because of the lack of jobs and opportunities in rural Cambodia, there is often no other way to find a job elsewhere. Working abroad, in Thailand or Vietnam, is no exception for many parents who are trying to feed their families. This includes parents of children who go to school. Many of them are seeking a decent or, unfortunately, often illegal job in Thailand to provide their families with a basic income and to feed their children. In this very common scenario, the children stay with their grandparents who take care of them while their parents work abroad. Whole villages are therefore only inhabited by children and elderly people. A complete generation is missing.
One of the results is a complete lack of committed parents at schools. This was evident in the construction of our schools. It turned out that almost no one is willing or able, for example, to look after the maintenance of the building and the terrain, even though this was one of the main conditions for the construction of the school.
But there is not only misery ……
In recent years, we have invested a great deal of time and energy in working with a relatively new but trustworthy organization, the PFDA or the Poor Family Development Association. In cooperation with PFDA, we are not only building schools, but we also want to promote sports.
Sport brings people together, providing a solid foundation for more social cohesion.
Project “United by Sport”
With the “United by Sport” project, we are training football teams at the schools. This is why sports and playing fields are created on the school grounds. In these fields the children can meet and play sports, especially football is very popular with girls and boys in Cambodia.
In addition, in cooperation with PFDA, we organize a competition between different villages in the region. Football with a communal meal afterwards. This is the best project you can set up for mutual understanding in this poor and isolated area. Effective cooperation with the village’s chief, the district’s head and school staff are prerequisites for making United by Sport a success. Therefore, this project is organized in close consultation with the above mentioned parties.
Participating schools
The villages of Pong Toek, Chakrey and Orum Check; Basak Municipality, Rokhakiri district in the province of Battambang. The villages of Pong Toek, Chakrey and Orum Check are located in a remote area that has long been ignored by the government.
Number of children (2017) per school
- Pong Toek: 102
- Chakrey: 362
- Orum Check: 371
Current help and problems
We are currently facing the following problems and are looking for solutions together
- Many children have no shoes (project launched)
- Water is not sufficient during sports (donations required for new water solution)
- No sports facilities (football and volleyball)
- Too little sports equipment (balls, nets, shirts, jumping ropes etc) (donations needed)
- No coaches available (currently the teachers are coaching in their spare time)
Result of the first tournament:
The first tournament was played with lots of fun among all participants. The players played 2 semi-finals, the game for place 3, and the final at 37 degrees temperature on the square of Chakrey. The children had a lot of fun and it did not bother them at all that the goals were made of bamboo pipes, many children had no shoes and a tree stood in the middle of the field. Some children have even “shared” shoes to play, which meant that one played with the right, and one with the left shoe at the tournament.
Winner was the team from Chakrey, who won in the final game with 2-0. But afterwards all the teams were the winners of pens, notebooks, balls and more (but of course, depending on the placement there was something more).
The girls had a lot of fun and joy with Hula Hoop tires and a jump rope. Our next goal is to organize next year a volleyball tournament for the girls.
