Helping hand in Cambodia

A NEWS story by The AJN that was followed up by the US-based news agency, Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), has inspired a major involvement by Israel in a project to help young Cambodians advance their education and improve their lives.

Israel’s ambassador to Cambodia this week described it as “a cross-continental Jewish collaboration … the power of shared values … demonstrating that anything is possible”.

As reported over the years by The AJN, the Palti family of Melbourne founded the not-for-profit Cambodia Rural Students Trust (CRST), which has set up social enterprise projects in the town of Siem Reap in the country’s north-west.

CRST began after a visit to Cambodia by the Paltis, a Temple Beth Israel family, in 2009, when daughter Stephanie volunteered to teach at a school at Bakong near Siem Reap.

The plight of local Cambodian youth dropping out of school to work for meagre wages to support their families stirred Aviv, his wife Michelle, daughters Stephanie and Jessica, Aviv’s parents Nili and Uri, and other family members. They felt compelled to offer a helping hand.

When The AJN first exclusively reported on the Paltis’ initiative in Cambodia in 2016, Aviv had recounted, “At first we were a bit cynical because we’re the westerners and they could see people like us as a cash cow … After we’d returned to teach several times over a two-year period, we decided as a family to register our own NGO with the Cambodian government.”

CRST’s early ventures included a social enterprise in the form of a yoghurt shop to help students learn commerce. Another social enterprise has seen young women at risk from crimes such as human trafficking and domestic violence volunteer to pack feminine hygiene kits which are distributed to rural Cambodian women as part of a Days for Girls program.

Today CRST sponsors 104 students from rural families to study at the best local high school and university to become Cambodia’s future leaders. All donations from a growing base of supporters are used for education, mentoring and community projects.

A handful of students are picked for occasional visits to Australia to greet and brief supporters. In May this year, The AJN reported on the impressions shared by five visiting students with their Australian supporters, tracing their journeys from rural poverty to opportunities for higher education, and becoming role models for Cambodian youth.

The report was followed up by JNS – and the news caught the attention of Orna Sagiv, Israel’s ambassador for Thailand and Cambodia.

Meanwhile, the May news story – originally reported by The AJN – about an Australian family easing the plight of young Cambodians – went mainstream in the USA, with The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a daily in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, splashing it to its readers.

After consulting Jessica Palti, CRST’s co-founder, Sagiv made proposals to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which has now approved funding for two key CRST projects.

Israel will help fund CRST’s Project B, Bicycles for Education, which distributes bicycles to students who walk many kilometres to school, deterring some from attending. Israel will fund the purchase of bicycles.

Israel is also taking a major stake in CRST’s Project T, Trees for Life, a land reclamation program in which semi-mature shade trees are planted on desolate terrain. Israel will fund trees and a watering program.

Aviv, as CRST’s co-founder, visited South-East Asia in August to join two CRST students, Tongly Ton, CRST assistant manager, and Doeb Chhay, CRST executive director, and one of its original students, in a meeting at Israel’s Bangkok-based embassy with ambassador Sagiv and her partner Isaac Sagiv, the embassy’s political attache.

The ambassador, who has served as a senior Israeli diplomat in Canberra, hosted the visitors to discuss details of Israel’s involvement in CRST. Aviv will be in Cambodia this month to accompany the envoy to Siem Reap, where she will help to distribute bikes and to plant trees.

In a statement to The AJN this week, ambassador Sagiv noted, “It is truly remarkable how a small article on a website can rapidly evolve into a cross-continental Jewish collaboration. This highlights the power of shared values … demonstrating that anything is possible.

“After spending four memorable years as a diplomat in Australia, building many friendships along the way, I feel privileged to cooperate with CRST, an incredibly generous organisation established by the Melbourne-based Palti family.”

Sagiv said the two projects Israel is supporting “are just the beginning of a prosperous and strong partnership between CRST and the Israeli embassy in Thailand and Cambodia”.

Jessica Palti reflected, “Isn’t it amazing how an article in The Australian Jewish News about a Melbourne family breaking poverty cycles in Cambodia has led to an article in the Jewish News Syndicate in the US, which was in turn picked up by the embassy of Israel in Thailand and Cambodia?

“This is truly reflective of the values of our international community, which will lead to more incredible impact in Cambodia.”

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