"Climate change means much more than just: it's hot!"

Socheata, you teach English at the Bible school, train pastors in leadership issues, work on a village development project - what do you like doing best??

My favorite thing is to be in contact with the farming families. I've experienced what it's like when you don't know what you're going to eat tomorrow. My family is not rich, but we are doing well, we eat three times a day and that is a luxury. I want to help make sure that others are well off too. That's my passion, that's why I came back from the USA.

What does the work with farming families look like?

The aim is to support 480 farming families in 25 villages so that they have better yields. The rain used to always come at the same time. Now it comes irregularly, sometimes too much and sometimes too little. The rice plants rot or wither. Families lose the livelihoods they work so hard for. Climate change means poverty and not just that it is hot! In Workshops farming families learn what they can do: For example, spread netting over the fields and over the animals because there are more pests. Or planting other rice varieties. Cambodian experts train people in the villages, who then instruct others.

We have a saying: "What the farmer doesn't know, he won't eat". What is it like for you when you introduce something new?

And that is understandable. Rice is our staple food. There is the traditional, aromatic rice that is harvested once a year. And a new variety that can be harvested every six or even every three months. The new variety doesn't taste as good; if you serve it, you have to offer meat with it. Many people don't have the money for this and stick with the old variety. But if you have enough space, you can grow both: aromatic rice for the family and rice to sell.

And what is your job?

I network all those involved. I organize workshops, put experts in touch with village leaders, prepare meetings. I am not a farmer. Why should farming families trust me? They don't understand that you can study agriculture - you just plant. So I have to bring them into contact with other farming families who are successful, then the sensitization works. And I like to encourage them.

How do you do that?

I ask how things are going and listen. If a chicken dies, we think about what could have caused it. Sometimes I say: "Look, others do it this way." I don't give instructions. I want to stand with people, not above them. I'm not better, I'm like them. I want to empathize, really empathize and respect their dignity. When they tell me to "sit on the chair", I ask them how they are used to doing it. If they sit on the floor, I sit with them. In the beginning, I asked too much of them. I was impatient when they didn't follow instructions. Then I said to myself: "They live remotely, they only know their village." Many old people live here; they cling to the old. Sometimes it works with the new, sometimes not. But yes, I need time and patience, a lot of patience.

Why is it mainly older people who live in the villages?

The boys go away to the city. The grandchildren stay in the village. Some boys find a job where they are treated decently and send money home. Others become victims of drugs, exploitation or human trafficking. This is a silent tragedy that affects many parents. Some never hear from their children again, they don't even know if they are still alive. Their children have simply left.

What does it take to make people in Cambodia better off?

Corruption is a major problem. To put an end to it, people would have to have a livelihood; enough to eat, healthcare and education. Those who are hungry will do almost anything to provide for their families. First the corruption in the government would have to stop, but I have little hope... The opposition is suppressed; many are in prison. There are young people in green T-shirts who don't want any more trees to be cut down. They take to the streets and are brave. But they are arrested. I can't understand that! They haven't done anything, they haven't said anything against the government.

What gives you hope, despite everything?

Stories like this: I recently visited the Heng family. The father had a job in the city, but he was rarely free and could hardly be with his family. That's why he put some capital aside. He now uses it to grow traditional rice for his family and the new variety to sell. His mother breeds grasshoppers, which she fries and sells. This family has enough to eat and their daughter goes to school. They can live modestly, but well.