The first time I set foot here in Cambodia, the sight of men clad in saffron robes caught my attention. Prior to my arrival I had very little knowledge of Buddhism as a religion, much less an understanding of the Buddhist concepts (which remains little up to now even while I am working with them). So I had this natural curiosity about their religious beliefs, their lives in the wats (pagodas) and the reason for their entrance to monkhood. I later found out that it was mostly because of the free, but limited, education.

Cambodia is a Buddhist country with about 90% of the population following the Buddhist teachings. The wats and the monk community serve as the actual and symbolic centers of community life. After years of suffering under the Khmer Rouge regime when religion was officially banned, and the subsequent years of civil war, the pagoda is now reemerging as an important center of village life.

I made several attempts at experiencing Buddhism by talking to the monks (but it was difficult as I speak very little Khmer and the monks that I encountered spoke little English although they were very eager to practice speaking with a foreigner). Visiting wats and inhaling the incense smoke permeating the air, attending religious ceremonies wherein they chant the sutras (which I don't understand), trying to sit in a position where my feet don’t point to any of the monks, and trying not to take pictures with my back to the Buddha’s image. I learned that the female population shouldn’t be too close to the monks, nor any part of their robe or body be touched by women. Women are considered “unclean” and therefore shouldn’t be in physical contact with the monks. So, to first timers, never offer to shake a monk’s hands. Instead, clasp your palms together in a prayer-like fashion and touch them to your forehead, that’s the culturally-correct approach for greeting a monk, or any Cambodians for that matter. Shaking hands is a western gesture, foreign to most here.

From the veranda of our apartment, R and I would sometimes catch a glimpse of monks early on Saturday mornings as they go from house to house collecting alms, food and other offerings. (In a poor country like Cambodia, it is amazing that they are still able to hand out a little something for the monks.) We would then raid our kitchen cupboard for some things that we could give away to the monks and race to the door only to find out that they have left the vicinity. How fast they move! Same as the nompang (bread) sellers. They’re already gone by the time you open the gate. They should be in the national running team.

I tried meditation, but with no success. More often than not I fell asleep and bumped my head on something, or someone.

The embarrassment.

But I digress now.

Four years after setting foot in Cambodia, I finally got to work with the Buddhist monks. Here at ABE.

ABE stands for the Association of Buddhists for the Environment.
There are several NGOs in Cambodia today that are making significant impacts in addressing the needs and the problems of the monk community. ABE was established to enhance the Sangha (community of Buddhist monks and nuns) with the aim of protecting the environment.

Of all issues, why the environment?
The state of Cambodia’s environment is rapidly declining due largely to deforestation, hunting, and poor waste management. Approximately 85% of Cambodians reside in rural areas and depend directly on natural resources to support their livelihoods, the destruction of these resources has had a highly detrimental effect on rural people. Forest cover has decreased from over 70% in 1970 to around 35% today (depending on which source you are using), and many globally important mammals such as kouprey, tigers, and elephants are on the path to extinction. The forests, upon which local people depended for firewood, medicines, building materials, and religious or spiritual value, have been ruthlessly destroyed by logging companies. Poor management of solid waste caused by a lack of toilets and waste disposal systems is causing illnesses as well as eyesores in the rural landscape.

Given the traditional prestige of Buddhist monks among the population and the natural ecological orientation of Buddhism as a belief system and way of life, monks are a prime target group for environmental education and awareness (EE) programs in Cambodia. They are capable of playing an important social role in guiding local populations in understanding, protecting, and improving the environment and in exerting moral pressure on those abusing the environment to change their behavior. A complementary relationship exists between pagodas (the wats and the watarams - the temples and their compounds) and their villages, instructing and providing guidance for the local populations on ethical and practical aspects of environmental protection, management, and enhancement.

In Cambodia there are on average 300-400 villagers to each pagoda, and the pagoda is visited by all the members of the community at least once a week for the t’ngei sel (holy days) and festivals. All village and commune meetings are held in the temple with the Chief Monk who is consulted on all village decisions. This makes the temple an excellent place to create a model environment with projects such as tree planting, composting, resource centers, bulletin boards, educational programs, vegetable and fruit gardens, community forestry, indeed, anything which has a positive benefit for the community.

On a spiritual level, monks hold the highest position in Cambodian society. Although they may live in poverty, they are very highly respected. Most however, have very little education and only rudimentary knowledge on how to take care of the forests, how to discuss illegal logging and wildlife hunting, and especially how to encourage a community to strive for sustainable use of natural resources.

Pagodas and monks need more support to revive their role in the community.
ABE was established early this year, and in July, I joined the organization as a part-time Technical Advisor. My duties require me to fundraise for ABE. However, since the organization is very young, I have been also in charge of project planning and mentoring the ED and PM on project management. Mlup Baitong’s Executive Director (who happens to be my other boss) is also a de facto Advisor for ABE.

ABE has a board of directors with 9 members and 21 monk representatives. The monk representatives have been selected in order to provide liaison and information sharing about the monks of each province and municipality. Although only a few months old, partnerships have been made with UNESCO, with whom the monks are collaborating to enhance their revival of traditional arts and crafts in the Buddhist Sangha program by providing an environmental dimension to the project. This component is under the management of the Advisor of one of our English donors, ARC- Alliance of Religions and Conservation, an organization supported by the Duke of Edinburgh, HRH Prince Philip.

Meanwhile funding has been received for a 15 minute film documentary on the monk’s role in community forestry from the USAID through the California based Community Forestry International. Production is currently on-going.

International organization WildAid is also supporting an environmental education program in Cambodia as part of its international awareness campaign on wildlife conservation ACAP. This project commences in February next year, outreaching from temples into local communities with environmental and wildlife protection awareness-raising by key monks.

As an aside, ABE’s Director has been chosen as one of WildAid’s campaign spokespeople in Cambodia, and will appear in WildAid’s advertising campaign on national TV in the same way as famous personalities like Jackie Chan, Ralph Fiennes, Ang Lee and Minnie Driver have already appeared (internationally).

ABE is also one of the few local NGOs in Cambodia (along with MB) that has bagged support this year from the European Commission’s Small Grants Programme for the Promotion of Tropical Forests for its Environmental Education and Livelihood Support Program through Pagodas Project. This pilot project will be implemented in Kampong Chhnang province for a period of 18 months. With this project, ABE seeks to utilize the special role of monks through four pagodas in Kampong Chhnang in order to educate the community on environmental issues and seek sustainable solutions to local natural resource management problems. Through ABE’s network, it will bring together monks to support each other and exchange ideas, materials and information for furthering the role of the pagoda in conservation. The pagodas will also demonstrate better resource management practices to surrounding villagers, by managing tree seedling nurseries, installation and management of water resources, composting, and tree planting. In the future, activities will extend to pesticide-free vegetable gardening, building toilets and use of improved cookstoves (ICS) to reduce firewood consumption in the community.

So the monks have been busy too, they are not only religious leaders but caretakers of the community and environment, fully capable of advocating for changes in society and implementing those changes.

Pagodas and monks need more support to fully revive their role within the community. ABE, as well as Mlup Baitong’s Buddhism and Environment Project, welcome any forms of assistance in furthering their goals of achieving the re-building of the capacities of the monks in Cambodia.

For more information on ABE, click here.
For Mlup Baitong’s Buddhism and Environment Project, click here.

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Buddhist monks in Cambodia are also involved in other issues including HIV/AIDS awareness and care for PLWAs, peace-building, and issues affecting children such as child-trafficking, drugs, homelessness, and education.