Support and Strength

Dear Friends,

This past weekend K.I.D.S. continued our emergency support for another 30 families that are connected to our Farm School English program. Sohing the terrific manager and teacher, runs the program. Every evening the kids gather at her family's simple wooden home to learn and to play. K.I.D.S. also provides school supplies and a nutritious dinner twice a week for all the students. These families live on very little and now, due to the Coronavirus, they are facing incredibly difficult situations. Thanks to your support, we were able to provide these families with food, formula for babies, and enough funds to get them through the next month. Each family is very grateful.

We also heard from another family we have known for many years. Vanna was a soldier during the war and lost both his hands when a landmine blew up while he was searching for food. Vanna sells books about Cambodia to tourists from his small bookstand in Siem Reap, and his wife washes other people's laundry by hand, while their two daughters help with laundry when they are not at school. K.I.D.S. assists with both their daughters' education.


Since there are now no tourists, Vanna and his family have had to move to another province where Vanna's sister lives so that their daughters can pick cashew nuts for a few dollars a day; however that is now over, and they have little to live on. K.I.D.S. is providing them with funds to buy ducks and chickens which they can raise and sell. They are also planting vegetables, some to feed their family and some to sell.

All these people work extremely hard to get by and have been through so much in their lives; however, they never give up. We are glad that together we can assist them and we admire their strength and courage to carry on.

We know these are challenging times for everyone and we greatly appreciate your support and caring about others both here and there.

"It is in the shelter of each other that people live."

Irish Proverb

Wishing you and yours all the best.

Until next time,

Adrianne and Rick

K.I.D.S. Cambodian Coronoa Virus Support

Dear Friends,


We hope you are staying safe and well and we are thinking of you at this difficult time. We wanted to update you on the situation in Cambodia and what K.I.D.S. is doing to alleviate suffering there. Cambodia has been locked down since the end of March, schools are closed and cross-province travel is not permitted. Although there are not many confirmed cases, it is hard to tell how many people are positive for Covid 19.

The majority of Cambodians survive on daily wages, working in tourism, or in garment and brick factories. What they make during the day they spend mostly on food for their family. With the closure of businesses across the country, people's livelihoods are now in peril. Many families are facing a lack of food. Cambodia does not have social safety nets such as employment assistance/insurance, social assistance, food banks or access to free medicine or healthcare. You can imagine how difficult it is when many families of 6 to 8 people are living in their one-room houses in 37-degree weather with no running water, trying to practice social distancing when the next family lives just steps away.


We continue to support all our ongoing programs. We are also providing emergency funding for families for food and medicine. In this area an average monthly wage is $25.00 to $50.00. Now most families have lost their jobs and income and they are facing dire situations. We will be supplying the families in all our education sponsorship programs with basics such as rice, soy sauce, fish sauce, soap and hygiene products. We are also providing income relief for other needs such as medicine and food.

This weekend we had representatives from 45 families (approximately 250 peoplele) come to the school we work with and collect their staples and stipends. Our terrific manager Hak and the excellent school principal Mr. Sokha organized a safe gathering, including a hand washing station.


The children, families and community expressed their sincere gratitude to K.I.D.S. We will continue to support these families and many others who are in our other programs as best we can. At this time, in addition to our ongoing development work, we are turning our attention to emergency aid and we thank you for being a part of K.I.D.S. and assisting those facing incredibly difficult situations. We will end with pictures of some of the families sending Thank You!!



Wishing you and yours all the best.
Until next time,
Adrianne and Rick

Health and Hygiene

Dear Friends,

We hope this finds you and yours well. We are back in Canada, and our thoughts are going out to everyone as the world faces these difficult times. The health crisis makes us acutely aware of the importance of hygiene. In countries like Cambodia, hygiene is more complicated because of the lack of running water and bathrooms. Each year K.I.D.S. builds bathrooms for families. We recently finished building several toilets for families living in and around the brick factories, where many have to work to eke out a subsistence living making bricks, or by fishing and rice farming.

We cannot tell you how much these families appreciate having a bathroom so they can have a place to wash and have privacy; now more than ever. The families we build bathrooms for are a part of our Smart Kids sponsorship program, through which K.I.D.S. educates one young person from each family so they can break the cycle of poverty.
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The bathrooms are very simple with a toilet and cistern where families can bathe with a bucket. They can also wash their clothes in the facility, which is easier than outside. Many families share the bathroom with relatives as well as neighbours, increasing the sanitation for many more people in their community.

K.I.D.S. continues to assist those that face huge challenges in their day-to-day lives. A simple bathroom, clean drinking water and washing your hands makes a world of difference in these unprecedented times, no matter what part of the world you live in. We have stepped up our efforts to provide the families with hand soap and support to stay as safe as they can.

When we were bringing supplies to this family, the grandmother wanted to pass on her gratitude for helping her family. Thank you for your support.

Until Next Time,
Stay Safe,
Adrianne and Rick