Our Work

 

What we do?

KCD is a non-religious, non-political, non-governmental Organisation with humanistic perspective. As a Peace Organisation, we understand we cannot promote peace without paying attention to the context in which peace shall flourish. This is why we use Community Development, Education and Sports as fields in which conflicts can be managed in a constructive and peaceful way. This way of working needs time to allow the change of mentality that is necessary for deep rooted peace. In everything we do, we focus on sustainability. Early success is good. But it is even better if it lasts for more than one or two harvest seasons or school years. Especially building peace takes time. The deeper the conflict roots, the harder it is to transform (learn more about this under Place and People).

 

Our Vision:
A peaceful developing multicultural society, in which the genuine needs and rights of all stakeholders, regardless their gender, age, race, religious belief, or social status, are recognized, respected and satisfied, in the respect of environment.

We encourage authorities and inhabitants of all ages to become aware of and to deal with long-time tabooed issues.

Our strategy includes:

  • cooperation with the local authorities based on the mutual respect

  • raising awareness about children’s and women’s rights

  • promoting knowledge of Human Rights, especially with regard to gender issues resulting from individual traditional thinking

  • fostering self-confidence in the Khmer community about its capacity to contribute to the own development, as this is the pre-condition for a beneficial relationship with the Vietnamese co-habitants

  • working with mixed Khmer and Vietnamese groups, as they shall play in the middle term the crucial role in the civil society

  • facilitating the integration of ethnic Vietnamese who wish to become a part of the Cambodian society

     

Our Mission:
Promote inter-ethnic peace, children’s and women’s rights, and development in respect of law and democracy. Strengthen the capacity of individuals to act as well for the own sake as for the sake of society. Promote principals of mutual respect in the interaction of all stakeholders in the community. Promote sustainable livelihood in a multi-ethnic society that respects the environment.

Thanks to the local staff in Prek Chrey and to the Phnom Penh staff who travel weekly to the commune, we could establish close cooperation and trustful relationship between KCD and members of both communities. You can familiarize yourself with what we have achieved together by today with a look at our Projects.

How we work?

What does “Khmer Community Development” in a setting like Prek Chrey’s – a commune in Cambodia predominantly inhabited by ethnic Vietnamese – mean? Prek Chrey is home for two different ethnicities, a term not to be confused with “nationalities”. It is a Cambodian commune with Cambodian people, although many of them don’t receive official recognition of their citizenship. Ethnic Vietnamese are not Vietnamese nationals. Many of them have been living in Cambodia for generations. In this environment, all our activities aim to develop the community towards the best possible equality. Thus, through our projects, two societal characteristics shall be in particular, both individually and collectively:

  1. INTEGRITY – To enhance peaceful community life, KCD encourages ethnic Vietnamese to learn about and to respect Cambodian history, traditions, language and rules. By taking part in Cambodian life without loosing their ethnic traditions they can largely contribute to shaping a stable society, a Cambodian community characterized by diversity and harmony.

  2. SELF-ESTEEM – The ethnic Khmer, who are a minority in Prek Chrey, shall under no circumstances regard themselves as undermined by the large number of ethnic Vietnamese in their Commune. We at KCD let the ethnic Khmer see their numerous development opportunities and help them to discover their own strengths. We encourage them to understand that there is no space for inequalities in an interethnic society.