Home for the Holidays

 Hello Everyone,

We hope all is well with you and yours. At this time of year many of us value our homes, we decorate them for the holiday season, we have family over to share love, laughter, meals and gifts and many people come home for the holidays. We thought we would share some good news home stories at this time of year. 

 

 

We have been tracking a couple of students' families in our Smart Kids Education Program. They have been living in very challenging situations. Leng’s family, pictured above, was not allowed to live in their shack on brick factory land after the family broke up, so the mother and four children became homeless. They are now living with another student and her family in our program. The village chief and council recently granted their family a small plot of land and gave the single mother legal title to it. We never build houses for families until they have legal ownership of the land, so unscrupulous landlords cannot evict them once their homes have been built. Since she has the land we are able to start construction of their new house and toilet.

 

 

Reaksa and his brother, grandmother and single mother (absent from photo) also live in challenging conditions. Last year K.I.D.S. built them a toilet and we are happy to say this year we will be able to build them a new house. The work has already begun.

We at KIDS are very grateful for your support to help provide a place of home for these families. Your generosity will forever change their lives. 

At this time of year, even though we cannot all be together as much as we would like, we know that we carry our loved ones in our hearts and work together to create a safer and better world for everyone in different ways. 

We recently had our annual fundraiser online again. Thank you to everyone who contributed and supported KIDS to bring positive change to so many children and families. Some of you have mentioned that you did not get the link; if you have not and would like to watch our update/presentation, here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXP81Hsfy3M

 

 

 

We widh you and yours happiness, good health, peace and joy.

Rick and Adrianne

Giving Thanks at Thanksgiving

 Dear Friends,

Thanksgiving is a time to think about all that we are grateful for and appreciate. Even during these difficult times, there is much to appreciate...Our friendships, family, community and how we reach out to others in need and how others reach out to us in our need.

Over this past year, we have been incredibly moved by the support that KIDS has received and in turn, we have been overwhelmed by the gratitude of those that collectively we have been able to help.

Each year we watch a beautiful short film called "Gratitude" by Louie Schwartzberg.

 https://vimeo.com/44131171

If you have not seen the film before, it is definitely worth watching. On behalf of all of us at K.I.D.S., we wish you and yours all the very best and a Happy Thanksgiving 

With Gratitude
Adrianne and Rick

 

August Update

 Dear Friends,

We hope all is well with you and yours. As summer comes to a close, the world continues to wrestle with COVID and all its complications. We are pleased to say that Cambodia is now getting vaccines and the Government is working to get everyone vaccinated.

 

Things there continue to stay shut down and communities, villages, neighbourhoods are closed while unemployment, food security and poverty are worsening every day. Thanks to K.I.D.S. supporters, we continue to help children and families with necessary supports for survival, especially food, medicalcare and medicine, which the families are so grateful to receive.

Many people who have tested positive must go to stay at high schools, which are being used as isolation centres. There are 10 people in a classroom and only a mat on the floor to sleep on. The families must drop off food for them daily.Many people who have tested positive must go to stay at high schools, which are being used as isolation centres. There are 10 people in a classroom and only a mat on the floor to sleep on. The families must drop off food for them daily.

Some families live in very difficult situations. Each year we try to build decent houses for the poorest families. We recently had our building team build a house for a mother of four. The woman's husband left her when her fourth child was born and, since then, she has worked labouring at the brick factory while her eldest girl is in our Smart Kids program

 

 

They were living in a sub-standard shelter and we are pleased to be able to ease her life by providing them with a new house. Now the mother works part-time at the brick factory and, since school is closed, the eldest daughter picks mushrooms most days to help with the family income. Through such building projects, we continue to be able to provide work for the village team of builders.

 

 

We are always moved by the resilience of the people we work with and meet. We are also incredibly grateful for the support K.I.D.S. received from donors. Together we are bringing the basics to those in need as well as continuing to support education for young people.

 

All the very best,

Until Next Time,

Adrianne and Rick

 

YES WE CAN

 Hello Everyone,

We hope your summer is going well. It is great, that for many of us, the COVID restrictions are gradually falling away. For the children and families that K.I.D.S. works with and supports in Cambodia things continue to be difficult with case numbers rising exponentially just as vaccinations are starting up.

Since March 2020, thanks to K.I.D.S. donors, we have been able to support 92 students and their families. Our efforts have kept over 500 people going for the last 16 months. We hope that as the vaccines take effect, economic activity will start to resume, so people can get back to supporting themselves and their families. The 45 children who would normally attend K.I.D.S. kindergarten cannot, as it has been closed due to covid restrictions. The children and families are now under increasing threat of hunger and food security.

Soooo if you and your family want to join KIDS FIRST INTERNATIONAL BOTTLE DRIVE please read the details in the poster below and donate the money on the link provided and if you are living in Canada you will receive a tax receipt.

Please feel free to pass this along. Thank You!

 Till next time,

Adrianne and Rick 

To Donate: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/m/62879/donation

K.I.D.S. Projects and Covid Update

 Dear Friends,

We hope all is well with you and yours. Summer is here in Canada and restrictions are lifting and vaccines are available, so this is all good news. Unfortunately in Cambodia most of the families and communities we work with are living in fear, still have very little if any work and COVID numbers are going up and most do not have access to vaccines. However thanks to K.I.D.S. and your support we can continue our family support and education programs.

We are doing everything from bringing solar power to families so they have a fan and children can study and read at night, to providing medical assistance to those who cannot afford medicine or medical treatment.

K.I.D.S. continues to provide monthly support to over 500 people. A 50kg. bag of rice, food and hygiene supplies, and a cash stipend is helping these families just get by. Each month our great team of people buy, package and deliver these much-needed supplies to families living in the villages we work in. Even though this is just the basics it is getting them through this pandemic, thanks to everyone's support.

Many student's K.I.D.S. supports continue to study at post-secondary programs online. We do not want them to lose all their hard work, so we continue to provide living expenses, books and tuition. Some of them live together with one of K.I.D.S. managers and his family, others are sharing accommodation or living at home.

 

We have also started another clean drinking water system, however, we had to temporarily shut down the construction of the project as the school is now being used to quarantine those who have tested positive for Covid. We will resume the project when we can

 

 

 

 

We would also like to extend our appreciation to Sumalee Martinflatt (K.I.D.S. youngest ambassador) and the Ecole Quarterway Elementary School students for doing a school fundraiser "Readathon". The students raised funds by getting pledges for reading in french for 17 minutes each day for a month. We were overwhelmed by the amount they raised. Thank You Kids from K.I.D.S.!!! We will use the funds for a clean drinking water system for a Cambodian school.

 

In closing, we want to thank you for your continued support, generosity and caring. We wish we could pass on all the messages we get from students, families and community members. You are assisting them to get through yet another incredibly trying time in their lives. Your kindness will never be forgotten.
Until next time,
Adrianne and Rick

Support and Sewing

 Dear Friends,

We hope this finds you all well. It has been a year now that everyone has been dealing with Covid but it appears there is good news on the horizon. Although for many, this has been a very difficult time, in Cambodia and other developing countries, this pandemic has brought much loss, including a loss of livelihood for a large part of the population. Thanks to K.I.D.S. donors like you, we have been able to continue to help the children and families that are in our education sponsorship programs. Once again we were recently able to bring needed supplies and some funds for families living in rural villages. Mostly everything is again shut down in Cambodia, so this is a huge help to these families. 

The children and families are extremely grateful for the support and we pass on their heartfelt gratitude for your kindness and generosity.

We are happy that once again K.I.D.S. is able to support WELNepal by funding another sewing program for women in southern Nepal. This great program, founded by David Walton from Toronto, Canada, supports women's literacy and education. After visiting the program sites, KIDS jumped on board to support literacy initiatives and training programs where women learn a trade to generate income and reduce poverty.

On behalf of all of us at K.I.D.S., we wish to thank you for improving and changing the lives and futures of so many people. We wish you and yours all the very best.

Until next time,
Adrianne and Rick

Today is World Water Day

Hello Everyone,

 

The goal of the annual World Water Day, celebrated today, is to acknowledge the benefits of clean water and to raise awareness of the 2.2 billion people without access to safe water. The theme for this year is “Valuing Water”.

 For those of us who have clean drinking water, it is easy to take this amazing gift for granted. Not only can we drink safe water directly from our taps, but we can also bathe, flush toilets and water gardens with drinking water. Sadly, some communities in our own country of Canada lack safe water, an abysmal situation requiring immediate rectification. 

Our work in Cambodia has put us in touch with thousands of children and families who lack the basic human right to access clean water. Together with all of you KIDS supporters, we have just completed our Twentieth Water Project at a primary school in a rural Cambodian village.

The water we test is often very high in arsenic, coliform and iron, as many people get their water from ponds that are contaminated by animals, mosquitoes and chemicals used in farming. These bacteria and chemicals cause illness, absence from school and sometimes death. Over 3.4 million people do not have access to clean water in Cambodia.

K.I.D.S. water projects provide close to 16,000 children and teachers with clean safe water daily while attending school. The children and community also have access to the water systems and can take water home for their families. With a national average of close to five people per family, we are now providing over 60,000 people per day with safe water.

We also continue to monitor and test the water at all K.I.D.S. water projects to make sure all systems are working. Recently we completed upgrades on three of our older systems and we are hoping to launch at least two more projects this coming year.

It is uplifting to see the difference it makes once the water projects are up and running at these village schools. Water is truly life-changing and improves health, education and economies.

So next time, 

before you drink, 

think!!! of the value, 

you hold in your glass.

Cheers!!!

Until Next time,

Rick and Adrianne

 

International Women's Day

 Dear Friends,

Today is International Women's Day, a day to celebrate how far women have advanced and to acknowledge the social, economic, political achievements of women globally. K.I.D.S. works to improve the lives of girls and women, through education, training and support.

An example of this is the Story of Sen.

Sen was born in 1984, just after the Pol Pot regime, which launched one of the world's worst genocides. The country was engaged in the civil war when Sen was sent to a refugee camp, Site 2, on the Thailand border, her parents had abandoned her before she can remember exactly how old she was.

She lived in a bamboo shack with an old woman, going to be hungry, tired and scared, and trying to sleep while listening to bombs landing around the camp. As she grew older, she would escape to the forest to hunt for mushrooms and plants to trade for rice.

In 1990, a Cambodian Social Worker named Sinat helped her and other children by bringing them food. In 1991 Sinat offered her the chance to live in an orphanage they started in the camp.

In 1993, Sinat and the UN organized the first group of children to be repatriated back to Cambodia by train so they could live in Krousar Thmey, one of the first orphanages set up inside Cambodia. Sen's life improved: she had a bed, food, education and the opportunity to learn traditional Apsara Dancing.

 

 

When we met Sen in 2005, we encountered a lovely, smart, kind girl. We learned of her dream to attend University. After she finished grade 12 K.I.D.S supported her to fulfil her dream. Sen studied to get her Bachelor degree in English literature, doing extremely well in her studies. Upon graduation, she got a job teaching English at a private school, and also became a dental assistant for an NGO, in addition to teaching Apsara dancing. With these three jobs she worked very hard.

In 2012, she wanted to keep her culture alive and open her own Apsara Dance School, teaching dance to Cambodians and Foreigners working in Phnom Penh. For five years, her students put on traditional performances hired staff and paid everyone a fair salary, all the while providing good working conditions. It was through this work she met her husband Benoit, who worked for an NGO that provided emergency service for foreigners working with the UN and other NGOs.

 

 

 

 

 

Today Sen and Benoit now have two beautiful children. Benoit was transferred back to France by his company, where they all live happily together. As Sen says, "she has a good life while she never forgets her past". She is very grateful to K.I.D.S. donors for making her dreams come true and helping her to turn her tragedy into triumph, as have many of the women and girls with whom we work. 

K.I.D.S. is committed to supporting girls and women by providing education and vocational training. Many of the young women we have all supported have changed their futures, are healthier, happier, and so successful they will also most certainly change the futures of their children

So here's to Women around the world!!!
Happy International Women's Day.
Thank you all for your life-changing support.

 

Until Next Time,

Adrianne and Rick