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Out of balance

2/10/2014

We see imbalances everywhere. Large economies dominate and it is very difficult for small economies to compete. Huge corporations have more wealth, power and influence than many of the smaller countries. How can small business compete with big business and how can a small country like Cambodia catch up?

The graph below shows how wealthy nations tower above the rest of the world. On the one hand, I am thankful for the blessings that we have in my own country but, on the other hand, I wonder how much of our wealth comes at the cost of other people’s suffering. Has God blessed us or are we just greedy?

This makes me feel really uncomfortable about just pursuing my own interests in life. What can I do to make a difference? I have a busy life. I'm raising a family, I have a very small income and I'm busy studying a difficult degree. But I have found that if I manage my time carefully (chop out TV, etc) there is a bit of time left over each day to do something useful - sell Cambodian curry!!!

The beauty of this curry project is that my customers are happy because I supply them with a delicious product and it also helps provide jobs and income for Cambodian people. By selling Vissot curry in Australia, it helps their industry to build their capacity so that they can start to be more competitive.

Thank you very much to those who continue to support and buy Vissot curry.

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"The best curry ever"

17/5/2014

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Thank you to everyone who has 'liked' the new Vissot page. A number of people have signed up for a distribution pack to help distribute our first crate of curry that we plan to import into Australia soon. We are receiving continued positive responses to our new website and the Vissot curry paste in Australia:

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Indicators of success

13/3/2014

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Between my study, I have had a lot of fun promoting Vissot curry to church members and staff in the hospitals (I have sold about $5000 worth in the last year-and-a-half). It’s fun because I know it’s helping a good cause, giving people jobs and, most of all, Vissot has been really looking after me as a customer. I don’t have to worry about the safety or quality of their product and they deliver product quickly when I order.

Vissot was very fortunate to have a volunteer couple help with packaging designs:

Indicators of Vissot’s Success

1. Growth

For the first time since I left in 2009, Vissot has started to have consistent growth. Last year, sales grew by 15%. This is not big growth but it is a strong indication that positive things are happening.

2. Customer satisfaction

I can’t speak for others but, as a customer selling their product, I have never been happier with Vissot’s curry and the quality of their product and service. Like never before, since I moved to Australia, Vissot has been looking after my needs as a customer which means I can focus on promoting their products.

3. Improvements in quality

Over the past two years, Vissot has focused on improvements. Improvements are hard to achieve but Vissot has worked hard to get professional advice and feedback from customers to help make important improvements.

Improved Package Designs

Most people don’t realise the hard work that goes into product designs. Last year, I found a volunteer couple willing to visit Cambodia and help Vissot improve some of their package designs. The volunteers did a great job, but what impressed me the most was Lyndon Paul's leadership skills in managing the project. He did not rush the process but coordinated everything well and worked hard to get feedback and advice from professionals and customers. He sent out a number of design drafts for us to comment on. He printed out samples for customers to give their feedback. With limited resources, Vissot developed some great new designs. I am really impressed with the quality of their work.

A couple of the new designs:

Please pray for Vissot’s continued success and support to help them continue to grow and develop.

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Special request from Vissot's GM

28/2/2014

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Lyndon Paul, the general manager of Healthland, is working very hard and needs our continued support. Lyndon has a way of making me feel appreciated for any support we give which has done wonders for my motivation! With the help of some friends, we are setting up a not-for-profit organisation to help support Healthland and find export opportunities for Vissot’s products. I will let everyone know when the website is finished and the organisation is registered. I am excited about the support we will be able to raise for Lyndon through this website.

In the meantime, I asked Lyndon to let us know what his greatest needs are right now so I can forward it onto you. Please read below:

Greetings from Vissot!

Healthland/Vissot has been blessed by all our gracious supporters, who donate their valuable time, finance & their Idea's for our growth. And thanks to them we are moving forward.

With in the past few years Healthland/Vissot has seen progress in a few areas, such as our Granola production and sales, Curry Paste, and also the Project that we our doing with ADRA Cambodia and Sanitarium Australia. These activities have kept us really busy as well as putting us in need of upgrades in order to maintain our Product Quality without loosing the Value of the Product.

So this has brought us a few challenges as well, especially the major upgrades and new purchases. Such as;

- Storage Facility - Granola production needs a few 100kgs of oats every month. But our storage is too hot for us to purchase large quantities. Also Mission Health Food Co in Thailand, are willing to sell us quality oats for a quarter of the price we are purchasing currently. Also our ADRA project needs quite a bit of cold storage to store Rice Porridge & and the Fortified Flour.

- Accounting Technical support - For the past few years we have been using QuickBooks as our accounting software, and we have been able to derive some important figures. But, it was not 100% accurate. Every time we had to use our Excel sheets to confirm certain transactions. Therefore having support in fixing certain problems would be helpful.

I hope this information would be valuable in making decisions towards supporting Healthland/Vissot.

Thank you again for having the thought of supporting us.

Best regards

Lyndon Paul

In summary, Sanitarium Health Food Co has advised Lyndon that the best option for storage would be to convert one of the storage areas at Vissot into a cool room. This will cost up to $5000. Also, are there any accountants willing to fly over to Cambodia for a week or two some time over the next 6-12 months to help Lyndon improve Vissot’s accounting system? If you are interested in volunteering some time, please get in touch with me.

I will be praying and working hard to help Lyndon get the support he needs.

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The dilemma of tax deductibility

6/1/2014

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Your support many years ago continues to help people

Healthland has received little funding support since I left, however, it has sold more than a quarter-of-a-million US dollars worth of product during that time. The donation you gave 5 or 10 years ago is continuing to help Vissot provide jobs for needy people, buy produce from peasant farmers and provide valuable experience and inspiration for young people. Soon, we plan to use profits from export sales to help fund a health clinic. Cambodian people making quality products to generate funds to help their own people. That is what Healthland is all about.

Why all the fuss about tax deductibility?

Some people choose not to support Healthland because it cannot provide tax-deductibility. There are many funding sources for non-profit organisations as well as means for raising tax-deductible donations. Unfortunately, these funding sources are usually very heavily regulated by government policy (to be eligible for tax-deductibility) as well as the purposes and philosophies of the donating agencies.

Tax deductibility provides a small reduction in your tax, however, investing in Vissot yields great returns on your donation. With tax-deductibility, Vissot would lose a lot of its freedom to operate as a business and to make decisions and mould itself as it chooses. Australian government law excludes not-for-profit agencies from funding projects with the purpose of expanding business or activities of a faith.

Should Healthland seek venture capitalists to grow Vissot?

For similar reasons, I would prefer Vissot not to seek funding from investors who want profit from the industry for personal gain. I would like the industry to remain 100% Cambodian and I would like the industry to be managed by Healthland board. This will help the industry to be able to operate freely and to be able to reinvest profits where it chooses.

So how can Healthland get support to grow?

Some friends are helping me to register a not-for-profit organisation to support Healthland. We are negotiating with ADRA for a training project to support students which may be tax-deductible. However, by choice, the organisation will remain largely non-tax deductible. This means the organisation will be free to operate as it chooses and expand its business to generate profits to support projects it wants to support. But it also means that funds are more difficult to raise. Our organisation in Australia will help Healthland raise support for training, machinery and land for Vissot. It will help Vissot find export opportunities and it will help find experts and professionals to train Vissot staff. Another aim will be to help raise support for the health centre. After the organisation is registered, I will let you know how you can support.

I would be interested in your suggestions regarding these ideas to share with the Healthland board and management. Please pray that we can raise the support that Healthland needs to continue the good work it is doing.

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What Healthland needs in 2014

12/12/2013

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I have finished my forth year of study and will begin my rotations in mid-January. With the free time over my break I have decided to set up a not-for-profit organisation to support Healthland. Fundraising is not a fun job but the growth and success at Healthland has kicked me into action. ADRA, Australia is helping us develop a project to support the industry and Sanitarium Health Food Company is providing technical support.

Cambodia making profits to support their own people

Vissot Co. Ltd is the name of Healthland's food industry. When people support Vissot the industry grows. In 2000 the food industry sold about $700 worth of product per month. Now they are selling $7000 per month and growing. If we keep supporting them, it won't be long before sales reach $70000 per month. With the profits, Healthland would like to fund a health centre and, eventually, a hospital.

Cambodian people developing their own skills to produce their own exportable products to generate funds to support their own people. This is what Healthland is all about. It's a long term goal but is well worth the effort.

How to help

Sanitarium is advising Vissot on what machines and equipment they need. Healthland needs $90000 for machinery, training and product development. This amount of money would really help to boost the industry's capacity and train staff to continue to produce high quality products. Organisations and businesses are continually approaching Vissot to manufacture products for them. For example, a Cambodian government organisation recently approached Vissot to produce a product for severely malnourished children. With your support, Vissot will be able to respond to these requests. Here is a list of some of the things the industry needs:

Thick paste cooker/mixer:

Filler for thick pastes:

Cooler and convection oven:

The mission building team have build the foundation for refrigerated storage for Vissot:

Preparing product for export:

Staff training:

Land for a larger factory and for a future hospital

On top of these immediate funding needs, we would also like to help raise funds for land for a larger factory and for a future hospital. This would be a very worthwhile investment.

Thank you for your support. Please pray for Healthland's continued success.

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Out of balance

"The best curry ever"

Indicators of success

Special request from Vissot's GM

The dilemma of tax deductibility

What Healthland needs in 2014

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