SMILING GECKO
PROJECTS
WHY CAMBODIA?
HOW DOES SMILING GECKO HELP?
Since the middle of the last century, Cambodia has
been ravaged by decades of civil war and suffered
terribly during the Vietnam War and the terror
regime of the Khmer Rouge. 1.7 million people were
killed as a result of malnutrition, disease or executions during the reign of the Pol Pot regime. The
bulk of the nation’s institutions and infrastructure
was destroyed, leaving the majority of the population without any job training and causing them to
live in poverty. The aftermath of this reign of terror
is that Cambodia is still ranked among the globe’s
most poverty-stricken regions - even though the
Vietnam War has been over for more than 35 years
and the end of the country’s civil came to a conclusion two decades ago. Today, the majority of the
14 million people living in the country have fallen
below the poverty line and are forced to live on less
than 1 US dollar a day. In its capital Phnom Penh
alone, tens of thousands of children live on the
streets, in the slums and on landfills where they are
exposed to hunger, illness and abuse. Destitution
in Cambodia takes many shapes and forms: The
ability to grow in many adolescents is hampered
by undernourishment, and the child fatality rate in
children under the age of one is at nearly 3.4%.
It is primarily the impoverished population in the
countryside who bear the brunt of the fallout from
an inadequate educational system, infrastructure
deficiencies and a lack of basic health care. Worse
yet, most of them have no social safety net that
would allow them access to essential services.
In recent years, Smiling Gecko has been able
do a lot of good through their projects – thanks,
of course, to the financial contributions of their
donors in Switzerland. Apart from providing
direct aid and supporting other NGOs, we focus
on fighting the causes of poverty and helping
people to help themselves. In the meantime,
Smiling Gecko Cambodia has developed into a
social start-up company that secures dignified
work and sustainable income for several hundred
Cambodians in an area of around 100 ha with
its 6 cluster projects in the northern province of
Kampong Chnang.
To provide these children and their families with a
life in decency, we need to provide them with aid
that will have a lasting effect and addresses the
hardship they face in their own communities.
The open cluster module is currently based on
six intertwined pillars (agriculture, production,
trade, industry and tourism, as well as education)
that should contribute to a self-sustaining unit in
the mid-term future.
All cluster projects share the following common
goals:
• Fighting hunger and poverty
• School education and vocational training for
young Cambodians
• Benefit to the community
• Economy
• Ecology
Our vision is an exemplary model of a rural
community that functions independently and curbs
rural depopulation and urbanisation while enabling
relocation from the slums and poor quarters around
Phnom Penh.
AGRICULTURE FAMILY PROJECT
SUSTAINABLE GARMENT
EDUCATION & PRODUCTION
Agriculture
Production
Launched in 2014, the agriculture family project
currently offers 12 families, who, in part, originated
from the slums of Phnom Penh, a way to earn a
regular and dignified living. The village close by
boasts an additional 300 local farmers who are
able to cultivate their produce for the cluster project
thanks in no small part to the technical and financial support they receive from Smiling Gecko.
Another undertaking that is projected for 2018 is the
construction of a sustainable garment education
and production facility that will include comfortable
housing with common and recreational rooms for
the workforce. Initially, the garment production site
is intended to train and to employ around 300 local
people, paying fair wages and offering equally fair
and safe working conditions.
VILLAGE SCHOOL PROJECT
FARMHOUSE SMILING GECKO
Education is the linchpin for the development of
any society and is, therefore, a factor of paramount
importance to the cluster project Smiling Gecko has
set in motion. The nearby village school was given
an overhaul in 2015, and 2017 the first implementation stage of the innovative and modular village
school projects for which we have joined forces with
the ETH and the Zurich University of Teacher Education has started. The project involves the creation
of a pilot school for nearly 1,000 students varying
in age from preschool to senior high school. The
school is intended to serve as a model for the entire
Cambodian school system and is supposed to be
adaptable by countries outside of Cambodia as well.
Opened in December of 2015, the Farmhouse Smiling
Gecko is the first guest house to go into service on the
premises of the cluster project. At present, the operation employs a staff of 20 in the areas of food services
and hotel business. In an attempt to tap additional
revenue options, the farmhouse has been expanded in
2016/2017 to offer additional leisure time facilities.
Education
Tourism
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
DONATIONS
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION &
TRAINING CAMPUS
Industry
SMILING GECKO CARPENTY
Trade
The Smiling Gecko carpentry workshop started
operation in August of 2016. The new operation
has created additional jobs and apprenticeship
positions for up to 15 young Cambodians. The
carpentry workshop is in charge of any work that
needs to be done on the cluster’s premises, thus
reducing the original costs and the maintenance
costs associated with the infrastructure. In addition,
it offers its services to external parties as well,
thereby generating additional revenue for the overall
project on site.
To place our operations on a wider footing going
forward, Smiling Gecko is forging partnerships with
well-known national and international companies
from the sectors of construction and architecture,
metalworking, woodworking, textiles and food
processing, and trade to establish even more commercial operations in the cluster area. This creates
additional jobs at fair wages and under humane
conditions while offering the possibility of regional,
national and international training and continuing
education in the industrial sector. The campus also
serves as a training centre and meeting place for
pupils of the Village School Project and from the
surrounding area.
DIRECT AID
Apart from the sustainable cluster projects, Smiling
Gecko provides aid with monthly contributions such
as rice, food, hygienic articles to alleviate suffering
and to quickly improve living conditions for persons in
need. While we are fully aware, that these provisions
are not a long-term solution, the contributions bring
relief to families living slums and poor quarters in and
around Phnom Penh.
Our projects are in urgent need of financial support.
The overall Smiling Gecko cluster project comprises
six sub-projects designed to be self-financing in the
long-term and we have already achieved a great
deal.
Of course, we are only at the start of a long road,
which is why we need your additional support and
aid. Get in touch with us and tell us which of our
projects your donation should support. We will
ensure that your contribution will be used according
to your wishes and thank you on behalf of the
beneficiaries for your generosity!
Smiling Gecko account at Postfinance
Name: Smiling Gecko
Account no.: CH48 0900 0000 6132 5384 6 CHF
BIC: POFICHBEXXX
When you support the Smiling Gecko charity, you
can be rest assured that your donation will go directly towards our projects. All members of the board
of management of the association are volunteers
and do not receive any salaries or expenses. All
members of Smiling Gecko provide their expertise,
skills and time free of charge.
Your donation is really valuable - as it reaches the
people who need our support.
VISIT
COOPERATION WITH NGOs
Smiling Gecko provides local support for other
non-governmental organisations and maintains
close contact with them. Experience is shared in
the exchange of environment and further light is
shed on the current situation with respect to medical and educational matters.
You can also visit our social project during a trip to
south-east Asia. By staying at ‘Farmhouse Smiling
Gecko’, you support the sustainable Smiling Gecko
cluster project and contribute to its success.
Information and booking online at
www.farmhouse-smilinggecko.com
Beginning with the planning phase and continuing
through the implementation and operational phases,
Smiling Gecko has worked closely with renowned
Swiss Institutions in order to ensure sustainability.
Our projects could not be realised without their
involvement.
Verein Smiling Gecko
c/o Hannes Schmid GmbH
Luegislandstrasse 105
8051 Zurich
+41 (0)44 321 67 70
www.smilinggecko.ch
[email protected]