Rice Farm Land

On the last day of February we met our deadline for a $750,000 matching grant. During March we purchased 500 acres of rice land, measured it and marked the boundaries with concrete pillars. This would be a logistical problem in a developed country. Imagine consolidating 500 acres from 20 different sellers all deeply indebted to the banks, none of whom have a checking account and all want to be paid in Thai Bhat cash. There are no viable electronic transfer methods in Cambodia for $750,000 USD, which means you have to transport the cash over dangerous Cambodian roads. One stretch is so bad it takes 3 hours to go 10 miles; then, change that much US cash into Thai Bhat, let every seller examine every bill, and finally have the local government officials, sellers, buyers and witnesses 'thumb print' each document to verify the sale. The amazing thing for many foreigners in Cambodia is the integrity of our Cambodian staff. They handled all the transport of funds and distribution of payment without a foreign presence. Ten years ago I could never have done that.

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