Oxfam Australia

Recently going back to Australia for Christmas was a culture shock and a half; moving from the ‘developing’ to the ‘developed’ world, there is a ‘world’ of difference.

It’s easy to get caught up in the material anxieties of the holiday season. For a bit of perspective we bring you the story of Maree, a 23-year-old Cambodian woman living with her mother in the Takeo district of Cambodia.

A wrap up of 2011 campaigns, acheivements and ongoing actions.

After being in Cambodia for over 20 months, speaking with communities throughout the country and a whole lot of thinking, here are some reflections on Cambodia.

I recently visited Chumrun village in Takeo province – a village where Oxfam finished working in 2006 – to see how sustainable Oxfam’s projects had been. There were some great results.

Kut Oeun, a 35-year-old mother of four in rural Cambodia, is the face of our 2011 Water Appeal. But she’s more than just a face on a campaign. Oeun and her family spoke to Oxfam Australia at length about life in their village, particularly the struggles that come from having limited access to clean water.

Often, stories about aid work raise as many questions as they answer. So this year we’re trying something new with our annual water appeal. In addition to giving you first-person accounts from the people we work with, we’re also introducing an interactive Q&A feature.

Oxfam launched the GROW campaign in Cambodia yesterday, with small scale farmers showing their importance in feeding the country.