Local to make difference in Cambodia

Sarah Junkin

Cochrane Times

A young Cochrane woman is preparing to travel to rural Cambodia, not only to help out, but to teach villagers how to achieve sustainability after she's gone home.

Corrie Butler, 21, along with her boyfriend Jamie Lesueur, 24, will be volunteering with an organization called Sustainable Cambodia from May until the end of August.

The grassroots, Rotary-supported group is a not-for-profit organization that works with residents of Cambodian villages to help them achieve sustainability and self-sufficiency through a variety of means.

"We'll be working directly with locals on empowerment projects," said Butler of the program that includes help with wells, irrigation systems, schools, and other employment training. "For example, (Sustainable Cambodia) might fund a pair of animals which the villagers will use for breeding and then pass on to another family."

Butler was referring to a successful rural development model originally developed by Heifer International.

When a family receives a pair of breeding animals they agree to attend classes in animal care, and then they have to find two more families who wish to receive a pass-on animal. Those families in turn contract to also take the animal care classes, and thus the gift of the first set of animals grows geometrically over time.

Butler, currently finishing her third year at Mount Royal University, admitted it requires a fair bit of advance financial planning to spend the summer volunteering as opposed to working.

"We've been planning this since last October," she explained. "We've both been working and fundraising and trying to get scholarships. But this is something I really think is important, so it's worth it."

The pair intends to rent an apartment in a rural village and live as the residents live.


But despite her tender age, this is not Butler's first foray into international aid.

In 2008, when she was only 18, she travelled extensively throughout Asia where she volunteered with several humanitarian organizations including an orphanage and some groups dedicated to helping victims of the 2004 deadly tsunami that hit south-east Asia.

This time, she said she and Lesueur spent a fair amount of time deciding where they could best help out.

"We were looking around and when we found this organization, we just knew it would be a good fit," she said.

Butler is also an avid photographer, and currently volunteers for the Red Cross in their public affairs department.

"I'm planning on interviewing the people I meet, and recording their special interest stories," she said. "I'll also be blogging about my experiences."

sarah@cochranetimes.com