A New Year and New Hope

 Dear Friends,

We see that the New Year is upon us! A time we often reflect on what has been and what will come. Also, a time to be grateful for all our friends and family and all we have been through together. We are very grateful to have you all in our lives and we wish you and yours a HAPPY NEW YEAR that brings good health, happiness, new adventures, and love.

K.I.D.S. funded another medical mission with the children's hospital to another refugee camp sheltering a 1,000 families escaping the war with Thailand on the border. We once again joined the team of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and support staff.The good news is that Thailand and Cambodia have signed a peace agreement which seems to be holding. However, there are still thousands of people who still need help to get home and rebuild.

When we arrived, it was difficult to see how thousands of people were living under tarps at the pagoda and trying their best to get by. Everyone was very happy to see the medical team and we immediately began setting up the tables for the clinic and the doctors and nurses began seeing patients.

While we began to organize people to receive blankets, mosquito nets, toys and snacks for the children. Everyone was very happy, especially the kids who were soon blowing bubbles and playing badminton and eating goodies. We also set up a station where families could receive blankets and mosquito nets which they were very grateful for. Thank goodness for the medical team from Angkor Hospital for Children...they were able to give out medication and help to those that were struggling with medical issues.

Even though there is a peace treaty right now, many of these people have lost their homes because of the bombing and some land will not be habitable due to unexploded bombs. So, it will be difficult for some of them to return but hopefully there will be some help there. We said goodbye to everyone and wished them all the best. They were all very grateful!!!

We packed up the vehicles and headed back to Siem Reap. On the way we saw two families living on the side of the road in a field...they were also displaced from the border so we stopped and gave them materials that would help them....very sad...the kids were so excited to have some treats and toys.

Thank you for supporting K.I.D.S during this very tragic time. Your kindness and generosity has helped so many to survive a very difficult period in their lives. Let's hope the New Year will permanently end this terrible situation and help these people reclaim their lives. If the peace treaty holds, we will use our contacts at the children's hospital to try to help some families rebuild their homes and lives.

If you would like to see a short video and more pictures of the day, please click this link:

 https://youtu.be/b0T-WfgHJN8?si=4NdlZ7lxSIOa26nW

"The flowers that bloom tomorrow
are the seeds
you planted today" 

Indian Proverb 

Sending Love and Gratitude to you all for your support.
Here's to a Happier, Healthier, Hopeful New Year.
Love
Adrianne and Rick

To Unsubscribe, Please Email: rlad.kids@gmail.com 

The Conflict in Cambodia

 Dear Friends,

We hope all is well with you and yours. As some of you may know, Cambodia is facing a very difficult time. The current invasion of Thailand into Cambodia has been devastating in Cambodia/Thailand border areas. Thousands and thousands of people are fleeing their homes and finding shelter in other parts of the country; more than 400,000 people have been displaced. Thailand has begun to use airstrikes and are attacking cultural and historic sites as well as military targets. We are safe in the area we are in so far.

When we heard of how many people were struggling, we got together with a school and a friend we work with here. We bought needed items and we filled some trucks and went to the countryside where refugees have gathered at pagodas. We delivered items such as, two tons of rice, food, cooking oil, mosquito nets, blankets, tents, milk and formula for babies.

Many people are staying at pagodas and the monks are helping them as well. The families were so grateful and who knows when this invasion will stop. There is also a countrywide effort from locals, school children, and businesses to support the flood of refugees fleeing the conflict.

We will continue to assist the refugees as much as we can. It was very hard to see how the people are surviving, sleeping on wooden or cement floors or worse yet on the dirt. Some were sleeping on open trailers they use for hauling rice from the field.

Thanks to your kindness we are able to help and will continue to assist these refugees as well as our other projects. We will keep you posted. Thank you all for your support!!! and lets hope this conflict will end soon. 

If anyone would like to contribute toe the projects, please click the link below.
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/8908 

All the best to you and yours,
Adrianne and Rick

To Unsubscribe, Please email.
rlad.kids@gmail.com 

Bikes and Books

Hello Everyone,

We hope all is well with you and yours. As many of you know, one of K.I.D.S main focuses is education and helping students get to school. Recently we went out to a rural school and delivered 87 bicycles to children living in the countryside.

 

For most of the kids in this area, bikes are needed so they can continue to go to school. As they often live long distances away from school and their families do not have the means of transportation. The delivery of these bikes is life changing, not only for the students but also for their families as they can use them to go to the market etc. when the kids are home from school.

When we arrived, all the students, teachers and many parents and grandparents were there to meet us. They were all smiling and so happy to receive the bikes. We have also helped this rural school build a library, which they are all so grateful for. This trip we also bought lots of school materials; such as books, pencils and reading materials for the students, as well as first aid kits. With these schools being remote the teachers take care of any cuts and scrapes the children may get in the playground.

 

The principal thanked K.I.D.S for helping their school, the students and the families were all very grateful. We explained that the funding is a team effort and many people contribute to make this possible. Before giving out the bikes, some of the students did their traditional dance for us, as always it was very beautiful and then we got to watch as all the kids received their bikes and rode off to their homes. (see the link to the video attached below)

One girl was standing there and holding a rag against her eye. When we asked what happened her parents did not know but they could not afford to take her to the village doctor. Many villagers only make $300.00 to $500.00 a year through odd jobs. They try to grow their own food, as well as forage for fish, frogs and snakes, and if they can raise chickens to help them eat. We made arrangements with her principal for her to go to the doctor and KIDS supported them to get some care for their child...their daughter is much better; needless to say they were all very grateful.

If anyone would like to contribute to the projects, please click the link -->  https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/8908 

Click the link below to see a short video of the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63IoEdOKx7Y 

Another heartwarming and life changing day.

A Big Thanks to You too,
Our Kind and Generous Donors.

We will be in touch down the road...

Until Next Time,
Adrianne and Rick

A Very Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Friends,

Today is Thanksgiving Day here in Canada, a day when we think about and acknowledge what we have and what we have done to be grateful for. Rick and I would like to express our sincere gratitude to all our family, friends and donors who have so kindly helped so many children and families to live better lives. Over the years together we have collectively been able to bring clean drinking water, education, housing, sanitation, healthcare and medical support to those in need in Cambodia. Today we lit a candle for all those we have loved and lost and for all those that together K.I.D.S. has been able to save and help.

We are leaving for Cambodia soon and will stay in touch and update you on our collective work while we are in Cambodia.

These are some recent pictures of a few of the hundreds of children we all help to eat a daily meal at one of K.I.D.S. education and meal programs. These particular kids attend The Farm School, a countryside school that K.I.D.S. runs to educate poor children, they come every day to study and learn English. The students are fed a good daily meal by the wonderful teacher and her family.

 

 

A Very Happy Thanksgiving to you all, as you gather together to enjoy your Thanksgiving dinners, family, friends and holiday.

All the very best to you and yours,
Until Next Time,

Adrianne and Rick

Some Good News

Hello Everyone,

We were sent this article from Fix The News on a report from WHO/UNICEF report on water, sanitation and hygiene. 

Before you read it we would like to thank everyone who has ever been a part of KIDS as a donor, volunteer or in any way at all. You have been part of a change for the good in KIDS quest to bring water, sanitation and hygiene to as many as we can.

Phew, some good news for a change.

The article reads,

The change since 2000 is staggering. Back then, only two-thirds of humanity could drink safe water; today it’s three-quarters, despite the world’s population growing by two billion. During the same time, sanitation has gone from being accessible to less than half of the world to nearly 60%, and basic handwashing has gone from 59% to 80% of the global population

The scale of this is almost impossible to get your head around. We are talking about billions of lives altered in the most tangible of ways: homes with taps, schools with toilets, clinics where soap and water are always available. Progress like this slips past unnoticed, hidden by the news cycle, but in the grand sweep of history it’s as big as anything gets. Those numbers represent real children playing in the streets instead of dying from some terrible disease, hundreds of millions of mothers spared the daily burden of carrying water, and countless communities freed to focus on more than just survival.

Our species has done something genuinely remarkable here, and it’s worth stopping for a moment to appreciate it.

Thank You Suzanne for making our day.

 

 

Thank you again for your support and helping so many.
All the best to you and yours,
Until Next Time,
Adrianne and Rick

The Lake Clinic (TLC)

Dear Friends,

We hope all is well with you and yours and that you are enjoying the summertime. We have recently been in touch with Jon Morgan the director of the Lake Clinic. As many of you may remember the Lake Clinic serves those that are living on the Tonle Sap Lake, many miles from any towns and clinics.

Years ago, we met Jon, when he was the director of the children's hospital in Siem Reap, we ended up volunteering there by building some drying sheds for hospital laundry. Jon told us about the people who lived in fishing communities out on the Tonle Sap Lake and had little to no access to medical treatments or help. Jon took us to the lake on a small boat to see the villages and we were in shock at how people managed to live on floating shacks, mostly the families fished for a living.

When visiting the chief of the village he asked Jon about getting healthcare out there as they did not have any so if someone was sick, they would have to travel long distances to land and then try to find a clinic, which many of them could not afford. On our way back to town Jon and we decided that he would find a way to bring healthcare to the village. We decided that we would build a local village clinic where the doctors and nurses could help the communities in this isolated area. So we when went back to Canada and we fund-raised for building a floating clinic and thanks to K.I.D.S. wonderful donors we built.

Jon put together a team of doctors, nurses and midwives and now the clinic serves hundreds of people each week both at the floating clinic and also doing home visits. The teams travel there on small boats and stay on the clinic every week, it was like a miracle come true to the very poor villagers. We have been out there many times and so admire the work that is being done, literally saving lives, and how strong the staff are. The Lake Clinic also educates the villagers on preventive health, nutrition and clean drinking water. The first K.I.D.S. clinic inspired other international donors who teamed up with the Lake Clinic and 4 more were built.

 

We can’t thank everyone enough for helping this life saving medical centre. K.I.D.S. continues our support for TLC by providing the salaries for three midwives who rotate through the 5 clinics and who assist many women and families there. 

 

 

 

Thank you for your support and helping so many.
All the best to you and yours,

Until Next Time,
Adrianne and Rick