SMILING GECKOPROJECTS

WHY CAMBODIA?

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 exe-cutions during the reign of the Pol Pot regime. The bulk of the nation’s institutions and infrastructure was destroyed, leaving the majority of the popula-tion 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 con-clusion 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.

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.

HOW DOES SMILING GECKO HELP?

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.

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 Agriculture

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 finan-cial support they receive from Smiling Gecko.

VILLAGE SCHOOL PROJECTEducation

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 implemen-tation stage of the innovative and modular village school projects for which we have joined forces with the ETH and the Zurich University of Teacher Edu-cation 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.

SUSTAINABLE GARMENT EDUCATION & PRODUCTION Production

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.

FARMHOUSE SMILING GECKO Tourism

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 opera-tion 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.

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 medi-cal and educational matters.

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.

INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION & TRAINING CAMPUS Industry

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 com-mercial 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.

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.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

DONATIONS

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 PostfinanceName: Smiling GeckoAccount no.: CH48 0900 0000 6132 5384 6 CHFBIC: POFICHBEXXX

When you support the Smiling Gecko charity, you can be rest assured that your donation will go direc-tly 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

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

Verein Smiling Geckoc/o Hannes Schmid GmbH

Luegislandstrasse 1058051 Zurich

+41 (0)44 321 67 70www.smilinggecko.chinfo@smilinggecko.ch

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.