Amanda Legal, from Ross, on one of her sight seeing tours in Cambodia.
Last summer, a young lady from Ross spent 18 days in Cambodia as part of a youth peace group on a life changing trip.
Amanda Legal, from the small community of Ross, a third year student at College Universitaire de St. Boniface, made the trip as part of the Development and Peace Youth Group along with five students from Quebec.
“We made this trip to represent the Development and Peace Youth Group,” explained Legal. “This was considered an awareness trip to promote Cambodia’s culturally rich background but monetarily poor living conditions.”
While there she also got to see first hand things that were already accomplished by Development and Partnership in Action.
“One of the aspects they focus on is agriculture – they show the locals how to create food and animal banks and how to maximize agricultural growth and animal reproduction using existing resources,” explained Legal.
Other aspects she got to see first hand was the running of a program called the Youth Resource Development Program that focuses on the encouragement of youth to become leaders in their communities. A third is called Banteay Srei which helps women take leadership roles in their community and educate them of their rights and how to deal with family violence.
“This trip was not all work; we managed to combine work with play,” adds Legal. “During our sightseeing tours we took in the ancient Angkor Temples, the National museum and the Palace. We were given a ride on an elephant which was amazing.”
As a result of this trip, Legal has decided that she wants to continue to work with the organization.
“It was a trip that helped provide motivation to continue to support Development and Peace and to teach others the difference that a few dollars can do in a third world country,” Ross adds. “I hope to one day return to Cambodia and see the progress made as a result of Development and Peace. I am confident that the work that was done to help the people of Cambodia to become more self sufficient was by far the most satisfying part of this experience.”
Despite a significant rise in economic development within the last few years, Cambodia is still one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia, with approximately 90% of the population living in poverty; most of these people are found in rural areas.
For more then 35 years, Development and Peace has supported communities to work to improve conditions that would end poverty and bring about justice.
Overseas, the organization helps set up community based programs that involve local people focus on justice, human rights and participation in society. At home, the group works to educate Canadians about the causes of poverty and injustice that affect people in these countries.
