Off To An Early Start

Dear Friends,

We hope all is well with you and yours. As you know K.I.D.S. supports education for children, youth and young adults. As we think of children and education we often forget about early childhood education (unless you have little ones). In our world, we are very lucky to have daycares and kindergartens where children can come together and play and learn and parents can do their work.

In rural Cambodia, there are very few, if any, daycares and early childhood education programs. Many years ago we got involved with a women’s silk weaving centre in northern Cambodia and we soon realized that the women had a very difficult time working due to a lack of daycare. So we decided to raise funds and start a centre for young children, where they could learn, have a good nutritious meal, shower, play and have fun. The women were very grateful. The centre started with a few kids and now we have 60 young ones that come daily.…even though, sadly, the weaving centre closed. The other onsite programs continue to support women, which KIDS also helps with, by providing a computer training program and English classes. The centre also provides a free health clinic and counseling for women who are struggling which is funded by Kindred Hearts, another Canadian NGO.

Thanks to our donors the daycare/kindergarten continues. The teachers and staff are passionate about their work and they can bring their young children there as well. We also built a small playground, which is loved by the kids. Visiting the school is heart-filling. When we would walk through the village we would see young children barefoot playing on the dirty, dusty roads, with no toys or games, no clean areas to play, now the kids sit in clean classrooms and learn to read and write, they play outside in the playground, they sing songs, have toys, books and receive healthy snacks and lunch daily. As well we have showers for their hygiene…it is truly a joy-filled place.

Thank you for giving these children a good start and bringing knowledge, good health, and happiness to their lives.

Until next time,
Adrianne and Rick

Housing and Hope

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, K.I.D.S. is committed to helping impoverished families have a safe and secure place to live. The living conditions in the remote villages of Cambodia can be very difficult. Each year, thanks to our great donors, K.I.D.S builds houses for the poorest families of children in our Smart Kids education program. Seeing how people must live can be heartbreaking and it is hard to imagine how they survive in the heat and the rainy season.

Some of the families live in terrible row housing in the brick factories where they work for slave labour wages. K.I.D.S also helps some of these families purchase a small piece of land which we can build a house on so they can live on their own.

These past few months, thanks to our great group of builders, We have been able to build four new houses for families. Even though these houses look small and simple compared to our standards, they are a dream come true to the families and make a huge difference to their health, comfort, security and their day to day living.

We would like to Thank You All Very Much for your support with improving so many lives.
We wish you and yours all the very best.
Until Next Time.
Adrianne and Rick

Reaksmey's Dream Fulfilled

Dear Friends,

We hope all is well with you and yours. We wanted to send along a quick update on Reaksmey's Dream the post we sent along on International Women's Day in March.

On March 29th, Reaksmey boarded her first ever flight and made her way to Paris. After some sightseeing in Paris she went on to her internship at La Chartreuse Du Bignac south west of Paris.

Here are a few photos she forwarded to us.

Thank you everyone, for helping and supporting Reaksmey through K.I.D.S. all these years to help fulfill her dream of education and studying and working abroad.

Till Next Time,
Rick and Adrianne