Fr Hernan Pinilla of the Yarumal Society for the Foreign Missions bought a six-hectare plot of land in the village of Keov Mony in 2004. He intended to develop it to promote sustainable agriculture in Cambodia. Today, the once empty land is a complex of demonstration farm, residences for staff, volunteers and guests, a school and health clinic.
“We gave it the name CROAP. It means ‘seed’ in the Cambodian language but we expanded it to mean: Centre for Research on Optimal Agricultural Practices”, related Br Noel Oliver SJ, CROAP Project Manager.
It all started when Br Oliver raised to the parish priests in the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang that MISEREOR, the German Catholic Bishops’ Organization for Development Cooperation, was keen on supporting projects in sustainable agriculture. He had accompanied then MISEREOR Director Msgr Josef Sayer and Bishop Franz Kamphaus to various projects of the prefecture for five days.
“Fr Pinilla showed real interest in pursuing an agricultural project, but it was important for him that it should go beyond agriculture and benefit the community in other ways”, recalled Br Oliver.
Fr Pinilla’s first concern was the situation existing at the local primary school. It had a building with five classrooms but no room for the staff and principal. A few years after setting up CROAP, an additional classroom and an office for the principal and teachers were added to the existing building. In due course, playground equipment was provided for the schoolchildren who were also encouraged to perform at certain functions. In turn, many visitors to CROAP were encouraged to provide learning materials for them.
Soon, the local kindergarten got support and a health programme for the community was started, a local doctor from Phnom Penh visited the village once a week. Together with supporters and volunteers of the Prefecture of Battambang, a number of families were given better houses. Other families were given some support for agriculture. Finally, the Soriya Montessori Learning Center and a health clinic were established.
When Fr Pinilla left Cambodia to return to Colombia in 2011, one of the challenges the Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, Bishop Kike Figaredo SJ, faced was the care and further development of CROAP. On March 1 the centre was officially turned over to the Karuna Battambang Organization (KBO), the Caritas of the prefecture.
Among KBO’s plans is to make CROAP a “welcoming centre” for those who would like to use the premises for various programmes, like trainings in agriculture and social work for youth/women/farmers’ group, and for those who would like to visit for some days of quiet and reflection.
“For this, we need to refurbish all the wooden houses that are already there, to make sure that the surroundings are attractive and well maintained, and to make use of the fields not only for planting rice using the System of Rice Intensification method but also for other more productive purposes”, said Br Oliver.
The first house was constructed in early 2004 and the second house a few months later. A simple chapel was also constructed near the first house. The houses are connected by a wooden bridge to the other side of the stream, where a number of simple structures to accommodate groups had been built. All need to be refurbished.
Beyond the wooden houses is a small forest, which Jesuit Service Cambodia has helped to plant and reforest.
“We need to reinvigorate the community to work together, then we can find ways to meet their other needs”, said Br Oliver.
KBO also intends to support the Soriya Montessori Learning Centre started in 2007 with assistance from Irmgard Paulik and her parish in Tiefenbach, Germany. Children aged three to five go to the centre in the morning, while older children, who are in Class 1 to 6 in the local school, attend the “Enrichment Class” in the afternoon. There are about 25 children who attend in the morning and about the same number in the afternoon.
The local school principal says the students who have gone through Soriya and those who attend the Enrichment Class are usually the best students in the school. Some years ago, there was mention of making Soriya the “core centre” for spreading the Montessori system of learning to the other kindergartens and learning centres in the prefecture.
“This is something that KBO will take on seriously”, said Br Oliver. He acknowledged that a lot of work has to be done to achieve this. Apart from the obvious repairs and refurbishment of the existing building and playground, support is needed for the students as well, although their families are expected to contribute according to their abilities. Teachers from the local schools in Keov Mony and the other villages also need to be trained in the Montessori way.
“We realise there is much to do but that it can only be done step by step”, said Br Oliver.
To know more about CROAP, click here.