China’s poverty alleviation project turns Cambodia’s far-flung village into a modern one

Started in 2021, a China-aided poverty alleviation project has transformed a formerly isolated and tranquil Tanorn village in Cambodia’s remote area into a modern one.

Situated in Takeo province’s Bati district, approximately 60 km south of the capital, Phnom Penh, Tanorn village spans a total area of 72 hectares and is home to more than 130 households, comprising over 600 people.

The tiny village, with limited access to roads, no clean water, no electricity, no school, and no health center, underwent a significant transformation when the China Foundation for Peace and Development funded a poverty alleviation project carried out by Cambodia’s Civil Society Alliance Forum.

Por Sokhim, a 51-year-old villager from Tanorn, said her livelihood has significantly improved after the project was implemented in the village, noting that before the project, her entire family relied solely on rice farming.

Still, after the project, she ran a grocery store, as her husband had opened a motorcycle repair shop at home.

"In the past, it was difficult for us to do business because there were no good roads. All roads were unpaved and dusty, and few people traveled in and out of the village,” she told Xinhua on Sunday.

“But since China has funded a poverty alleviation project in my village, we have got concrete roads, sewage system, solar power, and particularly clean water,” the mother of four added.

She said the project has not only transformed the previously poor and dirty village into a modern one, but also significantly improved the villagers’ livelihoods by helping them establish clear occupations.

“I would like to thank the Chinese people for helping reduce poverty in my village. I’m very happy. I can’t find anything that makes me happier than this,” Sokhim said.

Touch Seanghong, 57, said that in the past, most villagers lived in poverty due to poor access roads, making it difficult for them to sell their agricultural products and livestock to markets.

Now, the situation is completely different, as people are no longer worried about traveling because all roads in the village are concrete-paved, so they can travel in and out of the village at any time,” he told Xinhua.

Ref: China’s poverty alleviation project turns Cambodia’s far-flung village into a modern one