Tuesday, July 12, 2016 took place the closing ceremony of the CADP . The heads of the target villages , representatives of the VDC ( village development committees ) , our entire team , and the authorities of Thateng , the Sekong province and four representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Foreign Affairs , gathered in Thateng to look back and rejoice at the progress made during those three years:

• The animal dying rate have decreased of 55%
• At least 160 families started a new garden and 570 families have started to plant more vegetable varieties
• 5 700 fruit trees have been planted in more than 400 families
• 625 pour-flush latrines have been built, 4 community water systems, 4 gravity fed water systems, and 6 boreholes have been drilled
• Almost every family know how to prevent malaria, worms and how to treat diarrhea
• 80% of the families can say what a balanced meal is

But the most important work done in the three years of the project was the establishment of Village Development Committees (VDC). Each village now has a functional committee, able to take charge of operations. And it is the whole community, with a fundamental role of village leaders , and with the support of the authorities, which will allow VDC to continue to contribute to the development of their village. This event was an opportunity for us to present the future project locally: the second phase of CADP start in October 2016, still with the support of the AFD, Tear Australia and SME, whom we thank for their dedication at our side.

During the ceremony, a few Significant Change Stories have been shared.