Geri Murphy
Founder & Owner of The Shophouse
Tabitha was brought to my attention through the association of employees and customers of The Shophouse. From that began a sponsorship for the charity that now spans over 4 years. Twice a year, The Shophouse hosts the Tabitha Silk Fair with all proceeds going to the Charity. The commitment to the Charity has been an easy choice for us even though we are regularly approached for similar support. The philosophy behind the Charity and the transparency of process for actually effecting results have always earned our unwavering commitment to Janne and the people she helps.
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Gordon Longmuir
Canadian Ambassador to Cambodia, 1995-99
Not long after I was appointed Ambassador to Cambodia in 1995, I encountered a struggling grass roots non governmental organization called Tabitha, directed, seemingly effortlessly, by an unlikely Canadian saint, Janne Ritskes. The ambitious purpose of this project was to give
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hope to some of the most destitute of Cambodia's people in achieving sustainable and dignified livelihoods. Janne was a member of the advisory committee of our Canada Fund for Initiatives, and brought to it her own irreverent counsel, often refreshingly at variance with official aid doctrine, drawing on her unique experience with Tabitha.
Tabitha has helped Khmer families establish productive lives with jobs, land, homes, better health and sanitation. This has been realized in large part through the imaginative use of credit and savings, generated initially by the production of cottage industry products sold to visitors or exported to expanding markets abroad.
Tabitha emphasized then, as it does now, self help and confidence in the future. Its work in 1995 was concentrated in and around the capital, Phnom Penh, with one outlet for its products. With a little help from the Canada Fund, the organization set up its second branch in Siem Reap, near the ancient Angkor ruins. Today, Tabitha has expanded remarkably, with a popular handicraft outlet at Siem Reap Airport and broadly based programs in Prey Veng and Kampong Som.
Aside from Janne (who has herself recently acquired Khmer citizenship), its staffing is entirely Cambodian and unlike numerous Cambodian NGOs, it maintains a remarkably modest demeanour. The Tabitha Foundation, from a small support group in Ottawa, has blossomed into a multi-country operation. In addition to growing international monetary support, it has attracted scores of enthusiastic volunteers from Canada, Australia and elsewhere for village building projects.
I warmly commend the extraordinary work that Tabitha has accomplished over this past decade, both in its own program and as a fresh example to others of what hard work and visionary management can accomplish in a developing country. September 2002.
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Tony Kevin
Australian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, 1994-97
"Tabitha Cambodia assists the people of Cambodia to develop skills and resources within themselves resulting in work that brings dignity and respect, which in turn brings about a tangible and visible improvement to their lives. Through the work of its dedicated staff, Tabitha Cambodia has had an extraordinarily positive impact on the lives of 50,000 people to date. I recommend Tabitha Cambodia as an organisation worthy of support."
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