Shells into Bells
In 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia, beginning a four-year reign of terror which killed one million Cambodians. The nation's infrastructure, agricultural base and spirit were broken.
Cambodia now lives with the plague of millions of landmines. These landmines are planted throught the countryside in fields where families tend their crops and animals. Often there are fatal and crippling accidents. As people go about their daily activities in the fields, many gather scrap metal to add to their family income (estimated at less htat $400 per person per year). Some of these scraps of war - spent shell casings, old artillery shells, electrical wire, and soda cans - are sold to village foundries where they are melted and recast into little bells. The bells are used to adorn the harnesses of cows, oxen, and water buffalo, indispensable cornerstones of Cambodia's agriculture.
Today, the Cambodian people are reconstructing their lives and their villages - there are new roads, new schools, a return of cultural traditions, and a growing confidence that the people can solve their own problems at a community level with the help of partners like Church World Service.
Shells into bells... a moving witness to the transformation underway in Cambodia.
In 1979, Church World Service was one of the first to respond to the results of Khmer Rouge brutalities. Today, CWS is working in partnership with people in villages across Cambodia - digging wells, clearing landmines, establishing "cow banks," training village veterinarians, fighting hunger and poverty, lifting up the role and special needs of women, offering health education, and developing a sense of community.
A multination team serves as your CWS representatives in Cambodia, and the Cambodianmembers of hte team are all "survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide. Please remember them in your thoughts and preyers as they work to rebuild their nation.
Cambodia now lives with the plague of millions of landmines. These landmines are planted throught the countryside in fields where families tend their crops and animals. Often there are fatal and crippling accidents. As people go about their daily activities in the fields, many gather scrap metal to add to their family income (estimated at less htat $400 per person per year). Some of these scraps of war - spent shell casings, old artillery shells, electrical wire, and soda cans - are sold to village foundries where they are melted and recast into little bells. The bells are used to adorn the harnesses of cows, oxen, and water buffalo, indispensable cornerstones of Cambodia's agriculture.
Today, the Cambodian people are reconstructing their lives and their villages - there are new roads, new schools, a return of cultural traditions, and a growing confidence that the people can solve their own problems at a community level with the help of partners like Church World Service.
Shells into bells... a moving witness to the transformation underway in Cambodia.
In 1979, Church World Service was one of the first to respond to the results of Khmer Rouge brutalities. Today, CWS is working in partnership with people in villages across Cambodia - digging wells, clearing landmines, establishing "cow banks," training village veterinarians, fighting hunger and poverty, lifting up the role and special needs of women, offering health education, and developing a sense of community.
A multination team serves as your CWS representatives in Cambodia, and the Cambodianmembers of hte team are all "survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide. Please remember them in your thoughts and preyers as they work to rebuild their nation.