BATI, Cambodia: 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, roughly 60km south of the capital Phnom Penh, Tanorn village has a total area of 72 hectares and is home to more than 130 households with over 600 people.
The tiny village with less access to roads, no clean water, no electricity, no school, and no health centre, has totally changed when the China Foundation for Peace and Development funded a poverty alleviation project, which was carried out by Cambodia's Civil Society Alliance Forum.
Por Sokhim, a 51-year-old Tanorn villager, said her livelihood have significantly improved after the project has been implemented in the village, saying that prior to the project, her entire family relied on rice farming, but after the project, she has run a grocery as her husband opened a motorcycle repairing shop at home.
"In the past, it is 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 turned the poor and dirty village into a modern one, but also significantly changed the livelihoods of the villagers through helping them to create 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 of the villagers lived in poverty and due to poor access roads, it was difficult for the villagers to sell their agricultural products and livestock to markets.
"Now, the situation is completely changed, as people are not worried about traveling anymore because all roads in the village are concrete-paved, so they can travel in and out of the village anytime," he told Xinhua.
Seanghong said the achievements the villagers have received from the China-aided project included solar power, a multi-purpose building, concrete roads, canals, and clean water, among others.
"We're very happy because we have never got these achievements before," he said. "We admire Chinese friends for sacrificing both physical and mental energies to help develop our Tanorn village."
Chea Munyrith, planning and project director of the Civil Society Alliance Forum, said the project has brought significant changes to the village, lifting villagers out of poverty and improving health, education, and the green environment.
"As we see each family has built a new concrete house with a high fence, this shows that their livelihoods have changed from a low-income lifestyle to a high-income lifestyle," he told Xinhua.
"China's aid has been increasing social modernization in Tanorn village, turning it into a model poverty alleviation village for other villages," he added.
Munyrith said China has played a crucial role in enhancing the livelihoods of people in Cambodia and around the world.
China's peaceful development has created opportunities for the whole world, he added. - Xinhua
