The more you give, the more you receive

Li Kaiwen, a high school student in Beijing, poses with kids in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where she spent her summer vacation as a voluntary worker.

2012-08-29
ByZhang Yue ( China Daily)

Before leaving for Cambodia to do voluntary work, Li Kaiwen thought she was going to a poor country to offer her help. But, that was only half the story - she gained more from the experience than she ever imagined.

The Chinese high school student remembers trying with all her might to saw some plywood under the scorching sun of Siem Reap. She was sunburned, and beads of sweat rained down her cheeks. Yet she could not get the work done.

A 5-year-old Cambodian boy, seeing her struggling with the wood, ran to her and gently wiped off the sweat on her forehead with his sleeves. He offered to show Li how to saw the wood, which seemed like a piece of cake.

The 16-year-old from one of the best international high schools in Beijing says at that very moment, she felt like an idiot.

"If both the kid and I were left on a lonely island, the little one would be able to build himself a wooden shelter," she says. "But I, well educated, well fed and raised, would freeze to death."

Will the Chinese volunteer comrades help rid Cambodia of the neo-capitalist bloodsucker Hun Xen?

Xu Jiatian and other volunteers help build wooden classrooms and dormitories for children in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Xu Jiatian and other volunteers help build wooden classrooms and dormitories for children in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Chinese volunteer workers in Cambodia

2012-08-29
By Zhang Yue (China Daily)

Xu Jiatian was a high achiever in college. Instead of climbing the corporate ladder, he is now a volunteer worker in Cambodia. He shares his motivation with Zhang Yue.

Xu Jiatian is better known as Kurt to kids in many orphanages and primary schools in Cambodia.

"Kids would happily scream and run out of the classroom once they see Xu's smiling face outside the classroom window," says Boran, head of the PACDOC orphanage in Siem Reap.

Xu, 24, has been a volunteer in Cambodia since he graduated from college two years ago.

Latter-day Saint Charities Assists Abandoned Cambodian Children

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7oaHAoYKas

Thursday, August 23 2012
LDSmag.com

Many abandoned Cambodian children who are struggling to survive have received help from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As part of Pacific Partnership 2012, the Church donated medical supplies and hygiene, injury and school kits to help the Cambodia Children’s Fund Rescue Center. The center is located near a garbage dump where many children live and have grown up.

During Pacific Partnership 2012, nearly 100 Latter-day Saint professionals took a leave of absence from their various practices and donated a significant amount of time and skills to help heal people who don’t have access to medical care.

Cambodian girl getting medical treatment in Taiwan goes home

Reachny Mich at her arrival in Taiwan in 2010.

By Christie Chen

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) - A four-year-old Cambodian girl brought to Taiwan two years ago for medical treatment returned to Cambodia Monday with her condition improved, said one of her doctors.

Reachny Mich, whose case of Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome caused massive swelling of her right arm, was discovered by a Taiwanese medical team that visited Cambodia in April 2010 to provide free medical services.

"After undergoing drug therapy and rehabilitation in Taiwan, the circumference of Mich's right arm has been reduced by around half from 32 cm," Chang Teh-kao, a pediatric hematologist who treated the girl, told CNA.

Mrs. Mu Sochua's response to donor for poor O'Char students

Dear Savy,

O'Char is a commune in the city of Battambang. Please see Rozeth stories posted on my blog for more info. She is very dedicated and will surely look after the boy and other families who are in her constituency.

You are the first generous contributor.

With sincere thanks,

Sochua

-----------

Currency: U.S. Dollars

Purpose:Mu Sochua Justice Fund

Contributor: Savy K Hang

Message: To Ms Sochua, This $50.00 is to help Sochea and his family to get foods, school, and clothes. Please use this fund for the education of O'Char's children through Ms Mu Sochua. Can someone tell me where O'Char is? In what province?

Thanks, Savy Kennedy Hang, Bridgewater, MASS, USA 02324

http://khmerization.blogspot.com/2012/07/help-for-ochar-children-to-be.html#links

Girl, 12, on a mission: Help Asia’s enslaved girls

Tuesday, April 24, 2012
By Ben Nelms
The Citizen (Fayetteville, Georgia, USA)

Twelve-year-old Caroline Statzer is clearly on a mission. It is one aimed at providing needed items for girls in Cambodia after they are rescued from that nation’s notorious sex trade.

Caroline’s Little Princess Project is making a personal difference in the lives of young girls who already have seen horrors that many of us could never imagine.

Caroline makes a host of different items from T-shirts and sells them on Facebook and at a local women’s ministry shop in Fayetteville. The funds raised go to girls once trapped in the sex trafficking industry in Cambodia, with a smaller percentage designated for a local safe house project for girls.

Cambodian Children Fund Receives Generous Donation from Credit Suisse (Hong Kong)

Three New Schools to Service the Most Impoverished Communities

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia and HONG KONG, April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Cambodian Children's Fund (CCF), a non-profit charity that provides education and other social services to impoverished children and families of Phnom Penh, announced that it has received a US$90,000 donation from Credit Suisse (Hong Kong).

"We are very thankful for Credit Suisse's generosity to our cause," said Scott Neeson, Executive Director of CCF. "With their support, we are able to expand and build schools to allow more children into our program."

Based in Steung Meanchey, a district of Phnom Penh, the organisation has educated hundreds of children using its internal education system teamed with the public school system. However, CCF is seeing more children enrolling in school faster than they can build classrooms. With the donation from Credit Suisse, CCF is able to open three more satellite schools.

Lucky Children Get Second Chance After Major Heart Surgery

Eight-year-old Nan Kini remains in the hospital, after his heart was repaired recently at a hospital in Siem Reap. (Photo: by Say Mony, VOA Khmer)

Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Say Mony, VOA Khmer | Siem Reap, Cambodia

“If he is sick again, we will be in debt again.”

Eight-year-old Nan Kini remains in the hospital, after his heart was repaired recently at a hospital in Siem Reap. He is frail, but he is alive.

It has been a long journey for the family, one that often seemed hopeless. Nan Kini’s father, Huy Nan, says there were times he wanted to see his son die rather than suffer so much from heart disease.

The 42-year-old motor-taxi driver says he could not afford to have Nan Kini treated and often had to borrow money to send him to the hospital.

Huy Nan says he is glad to see his son safe for now, but he worries. “If he is sick again, we will be in debt again,” he says.

Organization in Cambodia gets kids off the streets and teaches them job skills for a better future

A student looks up from her work. At Romdeng students start by washing dishes then move up through the cold and hot sections of the kitchens as well as waiting tables and greeting guests in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Sarah Dallof, Deseret News)

Monday, April 2 2012
By Sarah Dallof
Deseret News (Utah, USA)

Four years ago Srey Nim was stuck in a life that few would envy and she herself did not want. She spent her days on the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, selling flowers and water to tourists. It was hard work, day after day in the heat making little to bring home to her widowed mother. To escape, she would leaf through magazines looking at the pictures but unable to read the words.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Four years ago Srey Nim was stuck in a life that few would envy and she herself did not want.

She spent her days on the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, selling flowers and water to tourists. It was hard work, day after day in the heat making little to bring home to her widowed mother. To escape, she would leaf through magazines looking at the pictures but unable to read the words.

Then came the turning point. An outreach group with Friends-International invited her to play sports with a group of kids. They made her an offer: If she wanted off the streets, they would give her an education and teach her a trade of her choice. She accepted.

Today, the shy and smiling 17-year-old is a student at Romdeng restaurant, which is owned by Friends-International. She works hard and one day hopes to open her own restaurant featuring both Khmer and international cuisine.

Part Three: Former RCMP investigator a beacon for change

Svay Pak, Cambodia: Former RCMP forensics expert and Ratanak International’s founder – Brian McConaghy – stands outside a former brothel. It was the first crime scene he went to in the village and it’s where he helped Vancouver police collect evidence needed to convict Canada’s first sex tourist, Donald Bakker. (Photograph by: Courtesy, Ratanak International)

Brian McConaghy founded Vancouver-based Ratanak International, which helps rescue and educate former sex slaves

March 23, 2012

By Daphne Bramham

Vancouver Sun

SVAY PAK, Cambodia

A few years ago, sex tourists trolled the brothels of this dusty village looking for sex with children and willing to pay a premium for virgins and children as young as three.

Little girls with lipstick no longer strike sexy poses along the main street. But pimps still come and collect their girls and boys from a kids’ club run by a non-profit group in a former brothel on that same street.

Agape International Mission runs that program. It also runs a school, retraining for girls rescued from the sex trade, a medical clinic, and a gym for boys and young men (some of whom are pimps and brothel owners).

Vancouver-based Ratanak International provided the seed money and continues to fund a third of all the programs.

In November, Ratanak’s founder, Brian McConaghy, came to take a look at the most recent rental, a former brothel that will be converted into a clothing factory.

NGO gives poor Cambodians hope

FRIENDS:The Formosa Budding Hope Association is helping poor Cambodians, many of whom have never seen a doctor, and raising Taiwan’s international profile

Mon, Mar 19, 2012

Staff Writer, with CNA

A Taiwanese humanitarian aid group said that while Taiwan may have few diplomatic allies, it is regarded by many Cambodian villagers as their best friend.

“Even if we’re suppressed in the international arena, it doesn’t mean we should not extend a friendly hand or share our expertise, especially in the field of medicine,” said Sally Yu (余慈薰), director of the Formosa Budding Hope Association’s Cambodian branch. “It’s what many people need and what Taiwan can provide.”

The non-governmental organization (NGO) she helped found offers medical and educational aid to thousands of people in Cambodia.

Women of Vision (Greenwich​, CT Chapter) at Youth Club in Kampong Speu that they sponsor, 25 Jan. 2012

Cambodian children teach US Women of Vision the Saravan dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYxaVHC1sZk

Roam Kbach performance by the Children at the Youth Club in Kampong Speu:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEEV99LQT8A

Lucky little bump

Pok, a 4-yr old boy from Cambodia, undergoes treatment for a cranial malformation Jan 20 2012 at KK Women's and Childrens Hospital.Pok has a catheter that drains excess fluid from his skull as his cranial bone graft heals.

A photograph taken of Pok, a 4-yr old boy from Cambodia, before his treatment for a cranial malformation at KK Women's and Childrens Hospital. Image Courtesy of Jane Marsden.

A photograph taken of Pok, a 4-yr old boy from Cambodia, before his treatment for a cranial malformation at KK Women's and Childrens Hospital. Image Courtesy of Jane Marsden.

Jan 22, 2012
By Paul Gilfeather principal correspondent
todayonsunday@mediacorp.com.sg (Singapore)

Pok's little hand is almost completely covered in bandages, but the mischievous little patient of Ward 55 is keen to play and slips it inside the bag of his Singapore carer.

He takes out a shiny silver necklace and, quick as flash, drops it over his tiny head. Local businesswoman and volunteer Jane Marsden simply laughs. "He loves the bling," she says.

It has only been a few days since the brave four-year-old underwent major brain surgery on Monday. But his spirit remains indomitable. The Cambodian orphan, also known as "Little Pickle", is a very lucky boy indeed.

Abandoned by his parents at six months old, Pok is now recovering from a life-changing operation at Singapore's KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH). He was born with a birth defect called Congenital Ethmoidal Encephalocele. It meant his skull had never closed properly and part of his brain protruded from his forehead in a sac covered by skin.

Korea Girls' generation's gift to Cambodian girl [Khmer sub]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVcan0gSdxs

Editorial: Mending hearts -- Caring people changed children's lives

11/30/2011
Daily News (Los Angeles, California, USA)

The first thing you notice about the photo of Davik Teng is the bright smile that belies the dark days nearly four years ago, when her energy was sapped and she had difficulty breathing.

Davik lives in a tiny village in Cambodia, where there is no electricity or running water. Surgery to repair a hole in her heart at Los Angeles Children's Hospital changed her life and provided hope that she will live past her 30th birthday. Most people who don't have the surgery usually die by that age.

That gift comes from the generosity of many people, and the work of Long Beach-based Hearts Without Boundaries. They deserve recognition for doing work that few people hear about.

The surgery improved Davik's life span, but also the quality of her life. Now, at age 12 she is tall and energetic. She is catching up with her education at a private school.

Feature: Freeing Cambodia's children from work

By Karen Emmons in Siem Reap/The Island | ANN

Siem Reap (The Island/ANN) - Nit's family lives in a shaky thatch hut a short walk from the magnificent Ta Prohm ruins in the Angkor World Heritage Site. Her grandfather abandoned his family 15 years ago, and with no farm land, everyone has done their bit to stay together. Like her mother, aunt and grandmother, Nit now sells bracelets, postcards and magnets to tourists.

The streetwise education of an impoverished 10-year-old means Nit has quickly grasped the imperative of survival maths and emotional marketing. Though not "forced" to work, she knows whatever she earns helps her family buy food. She knows her small size gives her a better chance to earn than her older relations.

The Cambodian government has viable plans to keep children in the formal school system and help make Cambodia free of the worst forms of child labour by 2016. The government has singled out 16 types of work (including selling souvenirs) that it considers hazardous to children younger than 18 and it intends to remove the some 313,000 children estimated to be in those jobs. It's a goal that labour experts believe is possible, although there is less consensus about the tactics required.

Sometimes the police chase Nit and her young friends to frighten them away. When caught by police, who sometimes destroy their merchandise, Nit says it's scary and she cries. Others in a huddle of nearly 30 children holding cheap souvenirs express similar thoughts. However, quietly, Nit also mutters her relief - "I'm happy when the police force us away". Working, she believes, is for adults.

Cambodian village gains hope from a child's healed heart

Davik Teng, 12, and her mother Sin Chhon, stand in the doorway of their new home, built with contributions by U.S. well-wishers. (Jeff Gritchen / Staff Photographer)

BATTAMBANG, CAMBODIA - Davik Teng does school work with her desk mate at Newton Thilay School on September 16, 2011. (Jeff Gritchen / Staff Photographer)

BATTAMBANG, CAMBODIA - Davik Teng, left, and her sister Davin Teng, make dinner in their new home on September 16, 2011. (Jeff Gritchen / Staff Photographer)

BATTAMBANG, CAMBODIA - Peter Chhun hugs Davik Teng before leaving her village on September 16, 2011. (Jeff Gritchen / Staff Photographer)

BATTAMBANG, CAMBODIA - Davik Teng plays a game of pick-up-sticks with friends during recess at Newton Thilay School on September 16, 2011. (Jeff Gritchen / Staff Photographer)

11/26/2011
By Greg Mellen Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram

In 2008, Press-Telegram reporter Greg Mellen and photographer Jeff Gritchen traveled to Cambodia with the Long Beach-based nonprofit Hearts Without Boundaries and chronicled in pictures, video and words the journey of Davik Teng, the nonprofit's first patient, from her rural home to the U.S. for life-extending open-heart surgery. Since then, several other children have also made similar journeys.

Earlier this year, Mellen and Gritchen returned to Cambodia to check on the children and their new lives. The first part of the series appears today, and the second part will appear Monday.

SVAY CHROM, Cambodia - Prosperity has come to this tiny hamlet nestled off a dirt road near Battambang, Cambodia.

Of course, in this poverty-stricken nation, prosperity can be relative and incremental.

While cash may be in short supply here, there are other currencies. They are memory and hope.

This is a village that remembers how a little girl was saved from a slow spiral toward death and now represents something else - that miracles are possible, even in a desolate little village like Svay Chrom.

Cambodia's 'Muhammad Ali' fights for street children

Sunday, Oct 23, 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH - It may look like an ordinary kickboxing class, but the students are among the Cambodian capital's poorest street children - and their instructor is a national superstar.

Laughter echoes through the small community centre on the outskirts of Phnom Penh as 20 children, aged three to 14, attempt to copy the powerful right kick that has helped legendary kickboxer Eh Phuthong rack up nearly 200 wins.

Now retired after almost two decades in the ring, Eh, himself no stranger to poverty, says he hopes passing on his fighting skills will give the youngsters in his down-trodden neighbourhood a better life.

250,000 children missing school due to floods in Cambodia

Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Press Release: Save The Children

250,000 children missing school due to floods in Cambodia

Close to a quarter of a million children are missing school because of the floods in Cambodia.

Heavy monsoonal rains have caused extensive flooding across 17 of the country’s provinces and forced the closure of over 1,000 schools – and many may not reopen until the end of the year. Nearly 250 people have died since the floods began in mid-September and many children and their families face food shortages due to the 390,000 hectares of rice paddies that have been affected.

Decades of experience have taught us how important it is for children to continue their education in an emergency so that they can learn new skills to help them keep safe. Save the Children is working closely with the Cambodian Ministry of Education to establish a network of Temporary Learning Centres in Kampong Cham and Prey Veng. Within the next five days, Save the Children will establish six Temporary Learning Centres in Kampong Cham for up to 300 children.

It is also important children spend time with other children of a similar age so they can support each other says Liz Gibbs CEO of Save the Children New Zealand.

Cambodian tot, heart repaired and in good shape, returning to Long Beach

10/17/2011
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)

LOS ANGELES — A Cambodian toddler brought to the United States for life-saving open heart surgery was discharged from a hospital Monday, 10 days after the successful operation.

As Bunlak Song, 3, was changing from his hospital gown into his street clothes, he was asked if he knew where he was going.

"I'm going to Kimie's house," he said in Khmer, referring to Kimberly Chhun, the toddler daughter of Peter Chhun, whose nonprofit sponsored the boy. "I want to play with Kimie."

"He was so happy when he got his real clothes on," Chhun said.