Japan-supported Cambodian villagers give back with disaster aid donation

Cotton threads produced by Cambodian villagers supported by Japanese NPO Nature Saves Cambodia are seen in this recent photo. (Mainichi)

(Mainichi Japan)
April 19, 2011

Large amounts of financial and material aid have poured into Japan since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami ripped into the country's northeast, and while amidst such a huge volume a mere 80,000 yen may tend to go unnoticed, the donation from poor villagers in Cambodia, who have been helped by Japanese aid in the past, is worthy of special mention.

"The amount may be small, but for the poor people who gave it, this is a great deal of money," Japanese non-profit organization Nature Saves Cambodia -- which is helping the villagers build a small-scale cotton industry -- told the Mainichi. "We were deeply moved that these people in such difficult circumstances would think of Japan in its time of crisis. We want to communicate their feelings to the disaster area."

The money was collected from villagers in Cambodia's mine-ridden northwest and the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Many of these villagers, now raising organic cotton and making it into finished products like stoles, have lost a limb to the mines that dot the countryside -- a grim remnant of the country's long and bloody civil war. Nature Saves Cambodia began its support program for the impoverished villagers in 2009, helping them build a steady income through cotton products.

The 80,000 yen was collected over the course of about a month from the 30-some artisans and dyers working in the small cotton industry. The sum is about 10,000 yen more than the average annual income for a family in this poor district.

After the March 11 disaster, women from the outskirts of Phnom Penh apparently went to local temples to make offerings and pray for the victims. People from a village still surrounded by a minefield also sent a message to the NPO reading: "We landmine victims were shocked and saddened by the news that so many Japanese had died in the earthquake and tsunami. Please let us share in your sadness in some significant way."

Nature Saves Cambodia spokeswoman Maki Ishii told the Mainichi, "These people who have benefited from Japanese aid asked to give us support of their own. Considering how deeply they sympathized with Japan, we decided to accept the donation. It's really something to be proud of."