06/25/2003

"We have rice for only two months out of the year because we do not have men to help us clear the land of tree stumps or plow the soil for rice planting," a widow group told RI staff on their recent trip to Mondulkiri, Cambodia.

Sokah was widowed three years ago when her husband, a soldier, was killed during fighting in the Khmer Rouge controlled areas. One year later, she was resettled to her home province in the northeast of Cambodia by UNHCR. She has two daughters and one teenage son. The toll of Cambodia's war is glaringly evident in Sokah's village of 12 families; there are six widows, one widower and two men who had been handicapped by mines.

RI staff members first noticed Sokah because she had a beautiful vegetable garden next to her house. Many types of vegetables and herbs were neatly fenced in among a dozen carefully tended mango trees. As a role model she assisted other widows in her village with vegetable garden plots. When RI staff met with Sokah in May she showed us her plot of farmland in the forested hills behind her home. Sokah had cleared an acre of land, previously filled with dense jungle and trees and transformed it into a fruit and vegetable orchard blooming with many different plants: pineapple, mango, papaya, bananas, gourds and greens. Amazed at the quantity of cleared land and the variety of plants we asked Sokah who had undertaken the difficult task of cutting down the trees and clearing the land. "My son and I did," she responded.

Sokah's situation is better than that of most widows that RI staff members met. Her teenage son can help her with chores considered "men's work" like clearing land and plowing. Most widows do not have help farming and spend the majority of their time caring for younger children alone. Often widows are forced to leave their children unattended while they search in the forest for edible leaves, roots and fruit. Because there is only one adult gathering food or, when possible, earning money, widow families often go hungry. Another elderly widow RI talked to pointed to big gaps in her roof saying that no one was able to help her climb to the top of the house and cover the holes with thatching. As she was explaining this, rain poured into the house leaving only a small spot to keep everyone dry. Basic needs such as food and shelter are often not met for widowed women and their families.

Sokah now oversees an RI funded relief project for widows that supply basic relief items such as mosquito nets, seeds, and tools to dig wells and build gardens. Each family also receives chickens to assist with nutrition from eggs and meat as well as offer a product for income generation or barter. Meanwhile RI is conducting advocacy with local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to encourage them to address the long-term needs of widows and other vulnerable people in Mondulkiri.