“Compassion overrides everything. There are people who stand strong even when there really is no reason for them to stand strong.” – what gives strength to a young woman in Cambodia and how humanity can and does exist everywhere.

Maria Attard, Director of Operations Phnom Penh, HAGAR, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

“Why did you decide to do social work in Cambodia after having been exhausted several times doing social work all over the world?” we asked Maria, a 30 year old Australian, whose parents migrated from Malta. “Well, to tell you the truth, after thinking back and forth a lot about the option of working for HAGAR in Cambodia, I really didn’t want to do it first. I even told Pierre Tami, the founder of HAGAR, that I don’t have enough expertise to do the job as head of operations. Quite disappointed about my decision, he gave me another few days to think it over as he urgently needed me and had the feeling that I could do the job. The following Sunday I went to mass, as usual, and heard the priest saying in the ser-mon: “Sometimes, it is not about the capable but the avail-able.” What chance did I have after this?”
Listening to Maria we recognized once more again that developing work can be extremely intensive and exhausting, but at the same time, Maria assured us that it is giving her great satisfaction again and again. Sometimes she just needs to have a little rest and some time for herself.

Let us give you a short impression of our lively and very interesting discussion with Maria and explain why she plans to acquire some business knowledge next year. You might be able to read more about her and her interesting life in our book “MyImpact”.

Maria Attard’s selected quotations:
“I am not a special person. The women and children we face every day are the special people. They are survivors of unbelievable circum-stances. They deserve to be ad-mired.”

“I always felt strongly for social justice and was driven by it to do social work. It is not a sacrifice for me, but rather a duty.”

“My parents sacrificed a lot by staying in Australia for me to get a good childhood, education and opportunities in life. In a way I am wasting their sacrifice by not taking the opportunities they dreamed of for me. But helping these people is more valuable to me than earning big money.”

“My dream has been to go to Africa, so, after graduation I volunteered in a program in rural Kenya. On the second day there I witnessed someone being stoned. My Kenya experiences significantly changed my life.”

“In the last years I learned a lot about humanity and compassion. And I have seen and felt it in some very difficult and violent areas. Imagine how much compassion is needed in an area where 80% of people have AIDS. Some people just stand strong. And there is no reason for them to stand strong. Except compassion.”

“Sometimes, what I am doing is not easy. Sometimes, I would prefer to go home and be with my family. I believe it’s God who gives me strength and fulfilment. Also, wor-king with our Khmer colleagues is an enriching experience. They went through awful things themselves and here they are, helping others with unbelievable passion. Their hearts are going to change Cambodia.”

Some background on Maria Attard:
Maria’s parents migrated from Malta to Australia, where she grew up in a migrant community. That’s where she feels home, that’s where she did her ba-chelor of arts and graduated in economic development. After college she volunteered for 6 months in Kenya to help in the rural development. Coming back exhausted, she decided to work with mentally ill people in Australia in parallel to her studies.
After graduation, Maria became a Youth Ambassador and has been sent for one year to Cambodia. She worked for the Red Cross as a Youth Program Advisor before being asked to join Hagar. Again and again she planed to go back to Australia for a longer period but again and again did the different assignments and challenges keep her abroad. By the end of 2005 she plans to continue her education in Australia and to spend some time with her family.

Some background on HAGAR:
HAGAR was started more than 10 years ago by Pierre Tami with the vision that all Cambodian people will live in a just and peaceful society that cares with its heart and encourages dignity and prosperity. Hagar focuses on fos-tering hope for vulnerable women and children in crisis through holistic, transformational development and crea-tive initiatives.
To break the cycle of po-verty, HAGAR intervenes in the lives of vulnerable mothers and children by offering prevention, reha-bilitation, and reintegra-tion programs.
Rehabilitation: Providing the vulnerable mothers and children with the necessary life skills and income-earning capacities to transform their lives through a temporary home; counselling; literacy, numer-acy, and health and nutrition training, vocational skills training, schooling and day care.
Prevention: Instituting interventions that will stave off women's downward slide into destitution such as training in literacy and numeracy, income earning skills, children's and women's rights, or job placement.
Reintegration: Mothers and their children are re-estab-lished in mainstream society through livelihood oppor-tunities in agriculture, self employment, garment industry sewing, or in Hagar's micro-businesses.

If you would like to engage with the work of Maria Attard or get to know more about HAGAR, please visit www.hagarproject.org
or, for more specific opportunities, contact joanna.stefanska@myimpact.ch or wolfgang.hafenmayer@myimpact.ch directly