Peik Snaing & Farm of Jesus

Day 1 (09 Dec 2008):

Local people call the 57.5-hectare farm in New Piek Snaing village as Chomka Preah Yesu (farm of Jesus). It is located about 25 kilometers northeast of the town of Siem Reap, and about 20 kilometers north of the ancient Angkor Wat temple complex, Cambodia's prime attraction for foreign visitors.

Despite the farm's close proximity to the world heritage site, the people living nearby are very poor. After working in Old Piek Snaing for some years, Fr Heri Bratasudarma S.J. dreamed of having a piece of land to help the poor in the area. The plan was to demonstrate effective land use, to supply a variety of seedlings and to provide training for the people to grow these vegetables and trees for additional income.

Following a mission exposure trip to Cambodia in July 2007 The New Evangelization Team (NET), a group of lay persons under the umbrella of the Singapore Archdiocesan Commission for Missionary Activity, helped raised US$49,700 from their families and friends in just two months. A single donor from the United States contributed the other US$1,000 needed to purchase a piece of jungle land in Siem Reap.

Since the land was purchased in September 2007, the Jesuit mission together with local people have worked to build a reservoir-cum-fish pond, a greenhouse and nursery, a fruit garden, a chapel and a cow shed.