Country: Cambodia
Demographic Information:
Form of government: Constitutional Monarchy with two legislative houses (Senate and National Assembly)
Chief of State: King (whose role is largely ceremonial and advisory)
Head of Government: Prime Minister
Capital: Phnom Penh
Official Language: Khmer (differs from neighboring languages such as Thai and Lao. Khmer is not a tonal language, and it has strong Sanskrit and Pali influences).
Official Religion: Buddhism
Population estimate (2008): 14,242,000
Total area (sq mi): 69,898
Economy: Cambodia is one of the world’s poorest nations. In 2006 its total gross domestic product (GDP) was $7.3 billion, yielding a per capita GDP that is among the lowest in the world. Agriculture is 30% of the GDP, manufacturing is 26% of the GDP, and Services (small-scale commercial activities and tourism for example) account for 44% of the GDP (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570298_4/Cambodia.html).
Natural Resources: Of Cambodia’s total land area, only 21% is cultivated. Currently deforestation is the most serious threat to Cambodia’s environment. The country’s once "ample timber resources have been poorly managed and are being rapidly depleted by local and foreign entrepreneurs (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570298/Cambodia.html).
Religion: Theravada Buddhist 95%, Muslim 3%, Christianity/Other 2%
Note: Theravada is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka (about 70% of the population) and most of continental Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand). Theravada Buddhists number over 100 million worldwide, and in recent decades Theravada has begun to take root in many Western cultures. Theravada follows the teachings of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, and reveres Buddha as a single supremely gifted, yet mortal, teacher (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theravada&oldid=266115879).
State of the Church:
The Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia estimates there are approximately 130,000 Christians meeting in several thousand small churches around the country.
In 2007 - The state Ministry of Cults and Religions in Cambodia ordered that Christian groups no longer be allowed to visit door-to-door in Cambodia. The mandate further stated that Christians have freedom to perform various activities inside their institutions, but cannot engage in any formal evangelistic activities in public.
"Authorities said the limit will be applied to all non-Buddhist groups, but its target is the Christian community, which the government accused of participating in campaigns such as
offering clothing, food or language lessons, and then introducing people to Christianity" (http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56932).
Problems: Mistreatment of Children - Cambodia has one of the highest rates of child prostitution, domestic violence, and child labor in the world today. Child trafficking is also on the rise.
Undereducated and untrained - Cambodia now has 5.1 million children under the age of 15 – a full 38% of the population
that will eventually enter the economic environment, unskilled and undereducated (http://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org/cambodia-child.html).
AIDS and HIV are ravaging the country. Cambodia is one of the world's hardest-hit countries for these diseases with more than 100 new HIV infections per day. According to the UNAIDS organization, 3.7% of adults between the ages of 15 to 49 years are infected with HIV or AIDS. "Prime Minister Hun Sen has said that AIDS has done more damage to the country than decades of war" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1049014.stm).
Demographic Information:
Form of government: Constitutional Monarchy with two legislative houses (Senate and National Assembly)
Chief of State: King (whose role is largely ceremonial and advisory)
Head of Government: Prime Minister
Capital: Phnom Penh
Official Language: Khmer (differs from neighboring languages such as Thai and Lao. Khmer is not a tonal language, and it has strong Sanskrit and Pali influences).
Official Religion: Buddhism
Population estimate (2008): 14,242,000
Total area (sq mi): 69,898
Economy: Cambodia is one of the world’s poorest nations. In 2006 its total gross domestic product (GDP) was $7.3 billion, yielding a per capita GDP that is among the lowest in the world. Agriculture is 30% of the GDP, manufacturing is 26% of the GDP, and Services (small-scale commercial activities and tourism for example) account for 44% of the GDP (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570298_4/Cambodia.html).
Natural Resources: Of Cambodia’s total land area, only 21% is cultivated. Currently deforestation is the most serious threat to Cambodia’s environment. The country’s once "ample timber resources have been poorly managed and are being rapidly depleted by local and foreign entrepreneurs (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570298/Cambodia.html).
Religion: Theravada Buddhist 95%, Muslim 3%, Christianity/Other 2%
Note: Theravada is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka (about 70% of the population) and most of continental Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand). Theravada Buddhists number over 100 million worldwide, and in recent decades Theravada has begun to take root in many Western cultures. Theravada follows the teachings of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, and reveres Buddha as a single supremely gifted, yet mortal, teacher (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theravada&oldid=266115879).
State of the Church:
The Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia estimates there are approximately 130,000 Christians meeting in several thousand small churches around the country.
In 2007 - The state Ministry of Cults and Religions in Cambodia ordered that Christian groups no longer be allowed to visit door-to-door in Cambodia. The mandate further stated that Christians have freedom to perform various activities inside their institutions, but cannot engage in any formal evangelistic activities in public.
"Authorities said the limit will be applied to all non-Buddhist groups, but its target is the Christian community, which the government accused of participating in campaigns such as
offering clothing, food or language lessons, and then introducing people to Christianity" (http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56932).
Problems: Mistreatment of Children - Cambodia has one of the highest rates of child prostitution, domestic violence, and child labor in the world today. Child trafficking is also on the rise.
Undereducated and untrained - Cambodia now has 5.1 million children under the age of 15 – a full 38% of the population
that will eventually enter the economic environment, unskilled and undereducated (http://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org/cambodia-child.html).
AIDS and HIV are ravaging the country. Cambodia is one of the world's hardest-hit countries for these diseases with more than 100 new HIV infections per day. According to the UNAIDS organization, 3.7% of adults between the ages of 15 to 49 years are infected with HIV or AIDS. "Prime Minister Hun Sen has said that AIDS has done more damage to the country than decades of war" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1049014.stm).
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Thanks, Mike G.... this is sobering information, yet very helpful.
ReplyDeleteIt is so true that the children you will be teaching, have there very own special faith, hope and truth and happiness that some of us have not even come close to attaining.