Village Focus helps families in rural villages in Laos and Cambodia. Dependent on the natural abundance of the wilderness around them for all things, they are often victims of profiteering in many forms. Images from Pajujeun, Pajudon, Ta-oy, Saneung and Phorbeuy villages in Laos, and Siem Reap province, Battambang and Mondulkiri provinces in Cambodia. Scenes of bomb craters, Typhoon Ketsana's destruction, a sacred forest reserve, water and sanitation projects, and food cultivation.
Laos remains one of the poorest countries in Asia and least developed in Southeast Asia, eighty per cent of Laos public investment programs are funded by foreign aid. We work with villages along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which was bombed more heavily than any location on earth during the U.S.'s "Secret War" on Laos during the Vietnam War
VFI has been working in Cambodia for 7 years now. Our ECOSORN Project aims to provide water supply and sanitation facilities, and to improve sustainability by introducing appropriate technologies for villagers.
We operate this project in 3 provinces, 14 districts, 36 communes, 78 villages in the most remote parts of Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap Provinces. Our project goal is to build 6,000 latrines; 110 water wells; 1,000 water storage jars; and 5 large ponds
The forces of globalization, especially private investors from China, Vietnam and Malaysia are accelerating pressures on Cambodia, putting enormous pressure on ethnic Bunong traditional lands, natural resources, and cultural heritage. Exacerbating the situation, the Cambodian government permits -- even encourages -- foreign interests access to Bunong lands for mining, agricultural concessions, hydro-power, and other uses.
Youth Bamboo Shoots Slum School (YBSSS) is a project of VFI Cambodia.
The goal: to provide a safe and creative place for over 65 children to attend school in the dilapidated slum area near Battambang City's central railway station.