Brasat Bey
| ប្រាសាទ បី Brasat Bey |
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| Coordinates | 14 ° 7 ′ N , 103 ° 15 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Cambodia | ||
| Oddar Meanchey | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | KH-22 | ||
| Residents | 840 (April 1, 2008) | ||
 Main street of Brasat Bey
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Brasat Bey ( Khmer ប្រាសាទ បី , three temples, also Prasat Bei ) is a village in Cambodia , located in the province of Oddar Meanchey between Beng and Kouk Mon on the Thai border. The name Brasat Bey means three pagodas. The district capital is Samrong (also Samraong).
geography
Geographical location
Brasat Bey is located in the north-west of Cambodia near the border with Thailand. Brasat Bey belongs to the administrative province of Oddar Meanchey. The village is inhabited by 179 families with a total of 840 people. The road to the provincial capital Samrong, which leads to Thailand, goes through the village. The next larger town, Beng, is approx. 6 km away. The health center and a larger pagoda are located there . The nearest town, Kouk Mon, where there is a market, is about 11 km away.
climate
The climate in Brasat Bey is tropical-monsoonal. There are two seasons: the rainy season between May and September and the dry season between November and April.
During the rainy season, the southwest monsoons blow and bring heavy rainfall. The prevailing wind direction during the dry season from November to April is north-east. At this time it rarely or never rains.
The temperatures are very stable over the year and are around 27 degrees Celsius. However, the humidity fluctuates greatly. In the rainy season it is over 90%. In the dry season it can drop below 50%.
administration
Brasat Bey belongs to the administrative province of Oddar Meanchey. The provincial capital is Samrong. Around 170,000 people currently live in the province. The subordinate administrative unit is the "Beng Area" with around 15,000 inhabitants. The village is represented by the "village chief", who is determined by the central administration. The center of the village is the public community hall. All relevant problems and tasks are regulated by each of the established committees.
traffic
A main road (clay slope) leads through the village. It is the artery to Thailand. Means are bullock carts, mopeds (Motos), bicycles and Ku-Yon ( "Motorkuh") and some cars.
Infrastructure
Power supply
Brasat Bey is not connected to the general electricity grid. When it gets dark (around 6.30 p.m.) it suddenly becomes dark in the whole village. Many households have a lamp for domestic use that is powered by a car battery. The car battery must be charged up to four times a month, depending on usage. This is done by a villager for a fee (around € 0.10). The diesel engine of a Ku-Yon is used for this.
Water supply
There are two man-made ponds in Brasat Bey. One pond is unusable due to heavy pollution, even for watering the plants. The second pond was created in 2003. It measures 40 m × 20 m and is 3 m deep. In 2007, a picket fence was drawn around the pond to protect it from contamination by cattle. In normal years the basin fills up with enough water for the dry season during the rainy season. The water is used as drinking and industrial water. A separate washing point protects the drinking water from contamination. In the rainy season, the residents of Brasat Bey get drinking and industrial water from rain barrels.
The water of the pond is generally drinkable. Nevertheless, the population often suffers from diarrhea, such as diarrhea. Most families in Brasat Bey have water filters.
health
Cambodia has one of the highest child and maternal mortality rates in Southeast Asia. In Oddar Meanchey, 83 children out of 1,000 live births die before their 5th birthday (source: Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey 2005). Only 30% of the births take place under good hygienic conditions, many women give birth at home in their huts, in the immediate vicinity of the animals. Once complications arise, the mothers are at high risk of losing their child or even dying.
history
The name Brasat Bey (Three Pagodas) is slightly misleading. Pagodas are said to have stood here once, but not a single one is there today. The ruins of the last pagoda are said to have been used as building material many years ago. Like all of Cambodia, Brasat Bey belonged to the French colony "Indochina" for many years. Today, French influences can no longer be discovered in Brasat Bey. Independence and changing structures of rule brought hardly any changes for Brasat Bey. The area in and around Brasat Bey was occupied by the Khmer Rouge for a long time. Known for their cruelty, these communists came to power in Cambodia in 1975. Although the rule of the Khmer Rouge was ended by a Vietnamese invasion in 1979, the Khmer Rouge in the north, supported by foreign powers, held out for a few years. For many years there were armed conflicts with dispersed guerrilla units in the region. Only the surrender of the last Khmer Rouge guerrillas and the death of their leader Pol Pot in 1998 ended the almost 30-year-old civil war in Cambodia. The civil war led to a stream of refugees across the nearby border to Thailand, from where many refugees did not return to their villages until 2002.
In Cambodia, especially in the regions along the Thai border, the wounds of the civil war are slow to heal. The area is still contaminated with mines today. Anti-personnel mines in particular repeatedly claim victims. This often affects children who collect herbs or play in the unsafe forests.
religion
In Brasat Bey, as in the rest of Cambodia, Theravada Buddhism is practiced. It is the only school of Hinayana Buddhism still practicing today. This form of Buddhism had become the folk religion in all of India. The goal of Theravada Buddhism is to become a fully enlightened arhat. However, only very few monks manage to do this. Therefore, many lay followers content themselves with achieving many merits in their life in order to have a better rebirth in the next life.
Language and education
Khmer is the name of the people of Cambodia and their language. English as a second language is practically not represented in the village structure of Brasat Bey. Despite having a primary school in town, only a few residents of Brasat Bey can read and write fluently. Often a fingerprint serves as a signature.
politics
All topics relevant to the village are discussed in the community hall on a grassroots basis. State politics has little influence on the village.
economy
Gainful employment
The residents of Brasat Bey are almost 100 percent rice farmers. In addition, subsistence farming is practiced. In the dry season in particular, people fish, collect herbs, and hunt birds, frogs and scorpions. Ants, snakes and beetles are also a regular part of the menu.
Sideline
In the dry season in particular, many villagers have a sideline job. Boards are sawn, bast mats are made and cattle are raised. Herbs are often collected and sold through intermediaries in Thai markets near the border.
trade
The villagers live on rice - their entire lives revolve around this topic. The rice is grown for personal use and what is left is either sold to middlemen - who export the rice to Thailand - or at the market in Kouk Mon. All technical equipment as well as high quality food such as vegetables are imported from Thailand.
school
In Brasat Bey there is a primary school with four grade levels and a total of seven classes. The class building consists of two classrooms. One class is taught in the open air. The school has 191 students in 7 classes (three ages). 3 classes are taught in the morning and 4 classes in the afternoon. Schooling in Cambodia is compulsory from the age of 6. Regular school attendance is common, especially in the dry season.
School starts at seven in the morning. Attending school is free, you have to bring your own books and pens. Reading, writing and math are on the schedule. The teachers receive the equivalent of € 17 per month. This covers about 1/3 of the monthly requirement of a family in Brasat Bey.
A secondary school is 5 km away.
leisure
Sport and play
A popular sport among the residents of Brasat Bey is net takraw, which is similar to Chinese spring football. This is very popular throughout the region. In addition, volleyball is very popular. There are several private volleyball fields in Brasat Bey. The school has a poorly playable soccer field, which is mainly used by the children of the village.
Popular children's games are the hit game "Hnnnnnng", the jumping game "Heaven", a variant of the game "Heaven and Hell" known in Western Europe, and Angkung .
Regular events
In Brasat Bey, too, there are celebrations at regular intervals. When enough money has been raised, a dance event will be organized at the community hall. For this special occasion speaker boxes are ordered from Thailand. The whole village then meets in the center of the village, local and Thai music is played. The population dances a special round dance for hours.
Cinema evenings
In Brasat Bey, three people own a television with a DVD player. These are used for public DVD evenings every other evening. Thai and Chinese films are preferred. For young people, the entrance fee (converted) is € 0.005 and adults pay € 0.01.
The village teacher has a television with a DVD player that he rents out for public events.
nutrition
The staple food in Brasat Bey, as in the rest of the region, is rice . This is grown around the village and harvested once a year, in November / December. In addition, the people in Brasat Bey feed on various native plants and animals, some of which they prepare very tasty. There is hardly any regular visit to the market or trade in groceries for daily needs.
In Brasat Bey, rice is preferred with various sauces, some of which are very spicy. Rice is also used to make rice noodles and sweet rice banana crackers. Scorpions, insects, beetles and various herbs are also part of the menu. Often the rice is eaten pure due to the lack of vegetables and other side dishes. There is seldom meat.
A culinary specialty is Lok Lak, a rice dish with meat and dark sauce.
Problems and current situation
After decades of war, peace has returned to Brasat Bey. The people live from growing rice. However, some fields still cannot be tilled because the area has not yet been completely cleared of mines. The 2007 rice harvest was 1/3 lower than in previous years. A poor harvest is also expected for 2008 due to low rainfall.
The rapidly increasing price of rice is currently worrying the entire region. In April 2008 the Cambodian government imposed an export ban.
One major problem is child mortality, which continues to be alarmingly high, especially in rural areas. Malnutrition due to the one-sided rice dishes is also problematic, especially for children. The poor hygiene and unclean drinking water lead to many diseases. Malaria and dengue fever are common.
Some local and international non-governmental organizations have been operating in the region for years. Together with a local partner, Malteser International is particularly active in Brasat Bey.
Development cooperation in Brasat Bey
Several aid organizations are active in Brasat Bey: Malteser International has been involved in the Oddar Meanchey province since 1999. Other organizations are CHHRA (Cambodian Health & Human Rights Alliance) and Unicef.
Community-based health insurance
With the support of Malteser International and CHHRA, several village communities in northern Cambodia have set up community-based health insurance schemes to improve access to public health care and prevent people from falling into debt through illness. A village committee organizes the administration and membership fees. The families pay their premiums directly after the harvest and thus avoid the risk of extremely high expenses in the event of illness. Malteser International and CHHRA support the insurance committee in administration, management and financing, conduct advanced training and help to adapt the service packages to people's needs. Thanks to the village health insurance fund, families can take advantage of treatments in health centers (e.g. in Beng, 6 km away), but also financial benefits in the event of deaths and house fires.
Obstetrics
In Cambodia, many home deliveries still take place under disastrous hygienic conditions. Traditional obstetricians are not sufficiently trained to recognize possible complications in good time and to act accordingly. Obstetricians provide information in the villages and accompany the pregnancies. In the meantime, significantly more deliveries are taking place in the health centers where the Maltese provide intensive educational work. Malteser International also organizes “Mother Support Groups” in which pregnant women and young mothers receive support. At the regular meetings, they learn more about important topics such as nutrition, diseases and how to prevent them, as well as problems that can arise during pregnancy.
Improving mother-child health
Since January 2006, Malteser International has been running an extensive community-based project on mother-child health. The extremely high child mortality rate is partly due to the fact that many deliveries still take place at home under poor hygienic conditions. The traditional midwives in the villages are not all sufficiently trained to recognize possible complications in good time and act accordingly. Malteser International carries out intensive educational work, trains midwives and trains traditional obstetricians. The employees inform pregnant women and women of childbearing age about the risks of home births and the advantages of giving birth in the health center. The educational work has meant that significantly more deliveries are now taking place in the health center.
In addition, Malteser International, together with the obstetricians rooted in the village, organizes “mother advisory groups”, in which pregnant women and young mothers receive support. At the regular meetings, they learn more about important topics such as nutrition, diseases and how to prevent them, as well as about problems that can arise during pregnancy. The focus is on imparting knowledge that leads to a change in behavior.
Home gardens
Children in the region around Brasat Bey in particular are malnourished because they lack vitamins and minerals in foods such as fruit and vegetables. Their immune system is often unable to withstand illnesses and they quickly become seriously ill from often harmless infections.
Malteser International instructs the residents of the village, especially women and mothers, to create small vegetable gardens, so-called “home gardens” (homegardens). Specially trained promoters drive from village to village, initiate meetings, conduct training courses and help the owners of the house gardens with cultivation. Typical garden products are cucumbers, beans, cabbage, pumpkins, herbs and lemongrass. The house gardens help to improve the nutritional situation in the village and strengthen the children's defenses.