Lang Ol was found three years ago, lurking at the bottom of a tiny boat in the reeds of Tonle Sap Lake in Siem Reap. It was the monks of the nearby pagoda who alerted the authorities. Since then, he has been living in Phnom Penh, in the Kien Khleang hospital, run by the CIOMAL Foundation.
He has multibacillary leprosy, no nose or fingers and has just had a leg amputated. And he has a very strong reaction to the treatment that should allow him to recover. In addition to the medical follow-up, the CIOMAL teams have explored with him ways to make him autonomous again.CIOMAL.
Indeed, this father of three was left without a roof over his head when, in 2015, the family realized that he had the terrible disease. On the small plot of land granted by his younger brother, Lang Ol could build himself a roof, with the support of CIOMAL. To subsist, he could raise two cows and get a good price from their offspring.
In this way Lang Ol would move serenely towards his old age.

Two cows for Uch Chhim and his wife Yei Mao allowed this loving couple living in the province of Kratieh to escape from hunger. Both of them, heavily damaged by the after-effects of leprosy, have just married.
After more than 20 years of assiduity, Uch Chhim finally obtained the consent of his sweetheart.
It is in the 1990’s, while ploughing the rice fields, behind his buffaloes, that Uch Chhim sees Yei Mao for the first time, a young woman at the time. Love at first sight was immediate. But the latter did not want to “burden herself with a husband”.
After multiple attempts, Uch Chhim marries another woman.
Widowed years ago, with no children, he resumed his courtship with Yei Mao, who finally agreed. Both of them work hard despite the stigma. She plants some vegetables and catches small fish, he makes rattan baskets under their shed.
This year, the Covid-19 and the drought that has hit the country do not even allow them to ensure their meager pittance.

Pich Nheob was discovered by the CIOMAL Foundation’s mobile teams during an early leprosy detection campaign in the Kampot region in the south of the country.
It was there that she lived sparsely with her husband in a thatched cottage that CIOMAL then restored. Treated in 2017 with triple therapy, she bears almost no after-effects of the disease. She and her husband go to banquets to collect beer cans for resale. Thanks to the generosity of the villagers, they are able to plant some vegetables on a small plot of land. During the rainy season, they prepare small fish that they sell at the market. But this year, there is no water and no fish. Coronavirus obliges, there are no banquets, no cans. Without family, Pich Nheob and her husband must also prepare their old age. The prospect of owning two cows gives them a glimmer of hope.

In Cambodia, cows are not dairy, but they can produce calves that sell for good prices.
Taking care of cows is easier and less risky than raising pigs or chickens, which require more care.
The cows are hardy and graze on the grass or leaves of the surrounding trees and can drink water from wells or ponds.

Cost of a robust cow : CHF 500
Cost of a small house : CHF 2’500