Water, Classroom and Shoes

Dear Friends,

On the water

We wish you all much happiness and good health for the New Year. Our new year began on the Tonle Sap Lake, where we spent four days assisting The Lake Clinic with another new floating clinic; as well as meeting with the school staff to discuss the solar system we will be providing for the school. The solar system will enable the children to study at night. We are also going to build wider overhangs for the roof of the school so that during the rainy season the children will have a place to stand outside without getting wet and the water will not run into the classrooms and hulls. Spending a few days on the lake is both interesting as well as somewhat devastating. To be poor on land is one thing, but to be poor on the water brings many more challenges. There is not electricity, lots of bugs, no land to grow vegetables and gasoline is more expensive than at home. Most people fish and sell fish, their day begins at 3:30 am and the average wage is about 75 cents a day. Every one moves around from floating platform to floating platform and children can paddle a boat by the age of 5. School is the highlight of the children's life. The school is a place where they meet, learn, play and keep their minds active. The K.I.D.S. school is doing well and a very positive place. We returned to Siem Reap with a list of what we will need to complete the work on the school, another logistical challenge will be how to get it out there.

New Classroom

We also visited our friend Kerry, who has moved on from New Hope and started another school in a very poor area of the city. Kerry, who is Australian and her partner Kenneth, from Nigeria, have dedicated many years to improveing the lives of children here. They opened the free english and computer training school in November for 250 children and now have over 500... build it and they will come (in droves). As Siem Reap is based on tourism, english is very much needed to get work here and so the earlier children learn english the better hope they have in the future, however, most english classes are too costly for poor families to afford. The school offers a chance for the children here in the city. Kerry did not have enough classrooms so K.I.D.S. was able to build an outdoor classroom on the property; both students and teachers welcomed the airy space.

New Shoes

In the coutryside, work has begun on the water towers. Thanks to donations, we are now able to provide water towers at two village schools and everyone is very excited. The children in this area walk and ride bikes many kilometers on dusty red roads; having water available to clean themselves and to drink will make a world of difference. K.I.D.S. also contributed to a rice bank for one school, which is now almost completed. The community of rice farmers will contribute to the rice bank and very poor families will be able to borrow from the bank when times are too tough to feed their families. The rice bank will also contribute to the lunch program, which K.I.D.S. provides for the school. When we vistied some of the men from the community were volunteering to build the structure; wonderful to see. Last year one of the schools from our community raised money for the schools we are working with here. It just so happens that the principal and her husband were here visiting with two other friends/donors of ours. We were all able to go out and deliver some shoes and other school supplies for two of the schools. Most of the children did not have shoes and were very excited to get a brand new pair of flip-flops, it was both sad and heartwarming to see them as they crowded around to get their new shoes, some wearing them right away and some holding them dearly to their chests as they walked home.

In closing we would like to thank you for your warm new years wishes and for your generosity.

All the best,

Adrianne and Rick