Hello Everyone,
We hope all is well with you and yours. We are now back in Cambodia. We took a
few days to catch up on some rest and have been connecting with our contacts
here in Siem Reap and have the ball rolling for most of the projects that we
will be working on this year.
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| Dance performance "Wishing Dance" for good luck |
Our first connection was with Samnang House, home for girls. Before we arrived
we received an email from the director, You Vath, saying that the number of
girls had increased from 14 to 22. We were a little concerned how this would
work with space and costs. When we pulled up to the gates all the girls came
pouring out to meet and hug us. Of all the places that we work this is the one
that really has our hearts engaged the most. We have been involved with many of
these girls from before we opened the girl's home eight years ago as we worked
with them at the street children's shelter where they lived. We sat and caught
up with everyone about how they were doing at school and at home. More and more
every year their english skills improve as they move on through their different
levels of education. Their commitment to improving their lives is inspiring and
they work very hard. From two years to twenty years old these kids have formed a
caring and tight knit family and are very inclusive of one another, even the new
children. Later in the day the older girls put on a dance performance for us
with a "wishing dance" for good luck. Part of the program at Samnang house is to
keep the children engaged in their cultural hertage.
The next day we returned to meet with You Vath to
discuss the business end of running Samnang House. As always there are bikes to
repair or replace as they are driven rain or shine, seven days a week and time
takes it toll on them; so we will repair some and condemn others. There are
issues with water at the house that will be looked at but in general all is
going smoothly.
Then we discussed the eight new girls that had
recently arrived. We asked with trepidation how they came to be here, as we know
from past experience that their stories are the furthest thing from fairytale
lives one could imagine. They had come from a variety of very extreme
situations, facing poverty, abandonment, abuse from family members, or no access
to education in rural areas.
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| Beautiful faces of some of the girls |
Two of the children had been sold and were
destined to be trafficked over the border to Thailand, to face a hellish life
that one can only imagine. As luck was on their side word reached You Vath and
the wheels were put in motion. The police intervened with the transaction in
another province and the children were rescued and brought to Samnang House. The
two have now settled in and you would never know from their smiles and demeanor
the difficult road they have travelled to be here. They are still quiet and a
bit underweight however You Vath and the others are helping heal their emotional
wounds and they are coming out of their shells.
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| A new life at Samnang House |
So the safety net that K.I.D.S provides, thanks to
your support, is bulging a little bit at Samnang House however as the kids
compassionately make concessions in their living space to support the new
children we will make adjustments in budgets and allocations to support them and
keep them safe.
All the Best
Til Next Time
Adrianne and Rick
