A Family Created

Dear Friends and Family.

At this time, as many families gather together to celebrate the season, our thoughts turn to home, friends and family. The closest sense of home and family we have here is when we are with the girls at the Girl's home we started in 2007.

The first girls of Samnang House, 2007

We have known some of the girls since they were rescued off the street and lived at a street children's centre 14 years ago. When the street children's shelter was closed down, the Director, You Vath, generously opened up her small home to six girls and we decided we would raise funds to support them.

Since that time, some of those girls are still with us and others have come to join them. We expanded the house and continued to take in more girls who have faced tragic and difficult situations or who were orphaned. Now 18 girls live there, ranging from ages 3 to 22. These girls have come together from various locations and situations and have found a safe and loving place to form their own family.

Samnang House today

Recently we had friends from home visit and we took them to meet You Vath and the girls. This is Trudy and Ian's description of their experience, which we feel describes aptly the wonderful place that these children and young adults have created out of  very difficult life circumstances.

"Last night we went for dinner at the girls home that K.I.D.S. started and fully supports. We bounced along "a dancing road" (aka a dirt road full of potholes) along a dark alley. However, we came to a veritable oasis of hope for about 18 girls that live in the house. These children were either orphans or from the poorest of poo families. Some lived on the street and were surely doomed to prostitution or worse. 

Now they live in a bright house with a caring "mother", go to school and even university, take English and dancing lessons, and have bicycles for transport. One could not find a happier, more respectful group of children. After dinner the music was connected to a speaker and we all danced and laughed."




Thanks to your generosity throughout the years these girls have been given not only a safe haven and a place to live, they have been given the opportunity to create a loving family that most had been denied.

Relaxing on a Sunday afternoon

 

 

 

 

Wishing you and yours a happy and peaceful holiday season.

With much gratitude,

Adrianne, Rick

and the Girls at Samnang House

 

The Lake Clinic

Dear Friends,
We hope all is well with you and yours. This past week we spent a couple of days with The Lake Clinic team down on the Stung Sen River. K.I.D.S. is pleased to be able to support this life-changing program on an ongoing basis. This year, due to the additional fundraising efforts of Doctor Suzanne Montemuro and the Scotia McLeod team in Victoria, we are also able to support the salary for one of their incredible doctors for a year.

Visiting these more isolated areas always holds a mixture of sights and feelings. The beauty of the rice fields, lotus flowers and temples is juxtaposed with the undernourished children, lack of electricity, sanitation and poor living conditions.







The Lake Clinic team travel long distances every week to stay on the clinic that K.I.D.S. and the Compassionate Eye Foundation built, to provide healthcare, education and free medications.








Villagers travel to the floating clinic weekly with a variety of problems. It is remarkable to watch the team in action as they document each patient, provide examinations, dental care, pre and post-natal care and visit local schools to track the children's health. They also do home visits for the more critical cases.

Through the challenging conditions of heat, rain and dealing with hoards of insects, these dedicated people alleviate suffering and improve lives. Thanks for supporting us in supporting them.

So long for now, we will be in touch again soon.

The best,
Adrianne and Rick

A Legacy of Opportunity

Hi All,

We have now arrived in Siem Reap and have settled into our small apartment and life in Cambodia. We are getting used to the 34 degree weather and learning to stay out of the noon day sun. We have been connecting with our friends, contacts, kids and as always it is great to see everyone.

Yesterday, we went to meet Saopoan, she is the young woman that recently received a scholarship through K.I.D.S. to go to University to study accounting here in Siem Reap. A group of family and friends of the late Ian Seal in Nanaimo decided to raise funds to support a young person to study accounting in memory if Ian, who volunteered as K.I.D.S. accountant for many years.

Saopoan attended a high school in rural Cambodia, north of Siem Reap, where we have installed a clean drinking water system and a computer lab. The teachers picked a student who was from a poor family and has worked hard to pass grade twelve without any outside help. Saopoan is 21, she started school later due to poverty and she has two younger sisters. Her parents are both subsistence rice farmers.

Saopoan recipient of accounting scholarship - in Memory of Ian Seal

Through the funds donated, Saopoan is provided with tuition, books, a bicycle and room and board. We met Saopoan at her one room apartment that she shares with another girl from her village. It is very small, they have to cook outside and share a communal bathroom, however, for Saopoan and her family, this is a dream come true. We brought some second hand donated computers from home and were able to pass one of these computers on the her for her studies.

Saopoan in her shared one room apartment, receives second hand laptop for her accounting studies

Saopoan told us she loves accounting and will work very hard to take advantage of this chance for a better life. She wanted us to thank everyone involved wit helping her and her family.

It is heartwarming to see how through the generosity of others, opportunity can touch another's life and give hope for future generations.

We have other projects underway and will write more later.

All the best to you and yours,
Adrianne and Rick

We Are On Our Way

Hi All,

Well it is that time of year again! We are at the Vancouver Airport and will soon head out for our 16th trip to S.E. Asia. We are greatly looking forward to going and sharing all your good will with children and families in need in Cambodia.

This year we will be bringing more clean drinking water, education, bikes, solar lights, computer labs, classrooms, educational materials, safe housing, medicine, food programs and medical assistance to children, families and communities.

We see the difference these needed resources and programs make in children's lives. It is humbling to watch people work so hard to break the cycle of poverty and we feel privileged to assist them in that process, thanks to your support.

 We will keep you posted and look forward to keeping in touch.

All the best to you and yours,
Happy Trails,
Adrianne and Rick

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone,

As many of us come together to appreciate friends and family on this weekend, it is good to take time to appreciate what we have in our lives. Also, to notice how we care about others.

Recently K.I.D.S. was able to provide a high school graduate, in rural Cambodia, with funds to go to university through a Legacy Scholarship that was created by friends and family of the late Ian Seal. Ian volunteered his time and talents as a K.I.D.S. accountant and gave his time generously to many other organizations in our community as well.

A high school student recently was chosen to receive this scholarship. This young woman comes from a very poor family and has worked very hard to achieve good grades. She will now be able to realize her dream of becoming an Accountant; which would otherwise have been impossible. She, her mother and family are very grateful for this opportunity. We are also grateful to be able to help make this happen, thanks to the generosity of others.

Wishing you and yours all the best,

Adrianne and Rick

Bikes for Better Futures

Hi All,

Hope you had a great summer.

It is now time for kids to head back to school. In Cambodia the school year also kicks off soon. KIDS works with 5 rural elementary schools. In addition to installing clean drinking water systems, libraries and implementing food programs KIDS supplies children graduating from these schools with bicycles so they can continue their education and go on to high school. Cambodian kids have to travel long distances to go to school and for many, if they do not have a bike, it is the end of their education.

Thanks to donations we have been able to provide 50 students with bicycles and they were thrilled to get the bikes and continue on to high school. One of our dedicated Cambodian contacts, Kim Thol, purchased the bikes and recently delivered them to the kids. Here are some pictures of the children receiving their bikes. The bicycles are one speed, one size fits all work horses...but they do the trick. Throughout the year KIDS repairs and replaces many bicycles to support student's education. 

Thanks so much for assisting these students and for your continued support!

All the best to you and yours,
Adrianne & Rick

Cambodia Update

Hi Everyone,

We hope you and yours are having a great summer. Here is a bit of an update about how life continues in Cambodia.

Samnang:

Samnang - 9 years old

We first met Samnang when he was living at a Street Children's Shelter that we were assisting in Cambodia in 2002, he was 9 years old and had been orphaned at the age of 5. Samnang spent the next few years in different orphanages and sometimes fending for himself on the street. Several years ago he came to You Vath, the wonderful woman who runs KIDS Girl's Home and also runs a home for boys. Samnang asked to live in her caring and safe environment. Since that time K.I.D.S. has helped fund Samnang with his living expenses and his education at the Boys Centre.

Samnang - 21 years old

He is a thoughtful, hardworking and very kind young man and always helps the other children living at the Centre, he is now 21 years old. Last year after he finished high school he headed into a one year hospitality training program that KIDS funded. He just graduated from that program with excellent marks and has been given a chef's job at a very nice French restaurant in Siem Reap. He will make a decent living wage ....Samnang is now on his way! Education and your support has taken him from living a difficult life on the streets to living a successful life with a positive future! He asked us to extend his gratitude.

The Lake Clinic:
 

Getting to the lake boat launch

The Lake Clinic continues to serve isolated communities on the Tonle Sap Lake and the Stung Sen River all year round. Through the dry and rainy seasons the medical team travels long distances to bring healthcare to those that have little or no access to medical services or medicine. They are an amazing team of dedicated people who overcome their own discomforts to care for others. The first part of the trip is getting to the boat by van, once they get off the road they have to travel by boat to the villages. 

Big boat is high & dry - have to take small boat

Sometimes there is so much water that the van gets stuck in the mud and sometimes there is so little water that the big boat gets stuck and then they have to take a small boat, which takes twice as long. Having experienced a few of these challenging trips we have great admiration for the TLC team. K.I.D.S. continues to support this life saving and life changing program which endures through rain, heat, dust, mud and wind. 

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Mission Accomplished

Loading the river boat

The Lake Clinic's Doctor Sopeak

Thanks, as always for your support and assistance in improving the lives of so many children and families.

All the best,

Adrianne and Rick

K.I.D.S. Co-founders