Guest Speaker

 

Former Adelaide Light member Tony Williamson spoke passionately about "Cows for Cambodia" which is a project started by Andrew Costello (better known for his TV show "South Aussie with Cosie". Originally Cosie proposed an animal farm in the Adelaide Parklands near the Zoo or Police Training Grounds but this didn't go ahead. Cosie still wished to use his expertise (he has a degree in Agricultural Science) to help people as so was born "Cows for Cambodia" after a trip showed him the poverty that existed in that country.

Cambodia is one of the world’s poorest nations. All rural families dream to own a cow but the reality is that most families will never be able to afford one. Cows for Cambodia is essentially a “COW BANK”. They loan families a pregnant cow, they must look after it and when it has the baby they get to keep the baby and we take our cow back. It’s more about providing an opportunity to break the poverty cycle rather than a direct handout.

Cows for Cambodia occurs around Siem Riep - a rural area where cows are the absolute asset. Cosie currently has one beautiful bull and 25 cows but with the overwhelming success of this project his the long term goal is to have 1,000 cows in the project which will make Cows for Cambodia one of Asia's biggest Agriculture charity projects. Cosie visits the area 3 times per year to vaccinate the cows, do a general health check and ensure that the families are undertaking their promise to look after the cow. Families with children are targeted by Cosie as this teaches the children to treasure the cows, helps educate them about responsibilities and they gain an understanding of wealth generation. With a cow in the family, children are also able to attend school as they don't need to help scrape out a living for the family.

A project being undertaken by Cows for Cambodia in association with the Australian-Cambodian Foundation is attempting to raise (with Rotary Club's help) a total of $4,000 by April 2017 (although the commitment is required by October this year) for more dispersal of cows to worthy families. Currently $A1 million worth of cows are being tended by the families, and Cosi is hoping to achieve a sustainable level of cows and new calves so that more poor families can benefit from the project - and subsequently improve their living conditions which is dirt floors and shanty-like accommodation.

Another project that Cosie undertakes is the Rice Run. They started the rice runs in 2015, with Cosie sending out a Facebook post from Cambodia asking Australians to donate $30 each so he can buy a 50kg bag of rice and deliver it to a family. The Aussie donor gives me their name, suburb and a message for the Cambodian family which is then written on the bag. A photo is taken with the rice recipient and these photos are placed back on Facebook. This all happens IMMEDIATELY with 100% of your donation reaching the Cambodian people in under TWO HOURS! Cosie believes this is the WORLDS FASTEST DONATION TO RECIPIENT TURNAROUND! It’s something they are very proud of.