In Cambodia the approach focuses on the community, because the vast majority is so poor. Just like in the early nineties in Vietnam.

In Vietnam the extremely poor are 5-10%. One obtains the list of the poorest households very easily from the local authorities, too happy to receive help for this shared goal, they targets to meet.

The government lists are quite accurate. When the authorities do not know Thiên Chí or Viêt Nam Plus, there are about 10% changes to the list. Once the NGO is well known locally, that everybody is fully aware the team does a detailed house-to-house work, then the lists are almost totally accurate.

The teams visit every listed household, several times and for several hours, to establish confidence and a real picture of the condition of the family.

Usually there is an accumulation of problems: a disease or an accident for instance, which compelled the people to sell their little assets, the husband is deperate and drinks too much... The priorities must be decided together, taking into account the real capacities of the family. Then also work with the neighbors and mobilize their support. For livestock the teams rely much on the network of paravets and other village workers trained by the program. They are given the responsibility to visit each household in their area at least once a month, often more often, and are paid accordingly (presently 12.000 VND/household/month). A microcredit of 30-50 euros allows a first economic activity to be started, then a second etc.