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.
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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.
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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