Women's Day

Dear Friends,

Today is International Women's Day. This day is a reminder of how far women's rights have come and how, in many countries, much work is yet to be done. K.I.D.S. supports women's human rights in many ways: by educating girls, providing literacy and training programs for women, supporting daycare, protecting girls from dangerous and abusive situations as well as providing simple bathrooms so girls and women do not have to walk far distances from school and their homes to seek privacy.

We would like to highlight a couple of programs K.I.D.S. supports. As many of you know we help fund The Lake Clinic (TLC), Cambodia, which serves communities living in very isolated areas on the Tonle Sap Lake and along the Stung Sen River. These areas have little or no access to health care. Teams of health care professionals travel long distances, by van then boat, to spend days out on floating clinics so they can serve the underserved.

In the past K.I.D.S. built the first of five floating clinics and has provided support in various ways to assist this incredible program. One of the very important areas that TLC works in is pre and post-natal care; as well as focusing on women's nutrition and healthcare. This year we are pleased to be able to support three midwives/nurses to continue to do their great work. We have witnessed their supportive, knowledgeable and skillful work and are in awe of their dedication... and believe us just traveling to these places takes a lot of stamina. A special thanks go to Healthy Role Models, Canada and CWAsia Fund, Canada and all K.I.D.S. donors for your generosity in helping K.I.D.S. support this life-saving and life-changing program.

In southern Nepal, many women do not have a chance to be educated and are illiterate. WELNepal is changing these women's lives one by one and group by group. Meeting these women and seeing how learning to read has changed their lives inspired us to raise funds so more women could become literate and give them libraries that they can access. K.I.D.S. also continues to support sewing programs for women so they can learn needed skills as well as work together to start small businesses to make school uniforms and traditional clothing worn by women. At the end of the sewing program pairs of women are given the sewing machines so they can collaborate in making clothes for their families and earn an income. We admire the good work of WELNepal and are pleased to partner with them.

Last year in Nepal we met a young woman who had faced some very traumatic experiences; she was desperate and struggling to find a way for a new life. After spending time with her and a relative, who was also trying to help her, we decided to assist her with university and a living stipend. We are pleased to say that this young woman is now in second-year university, she continues to heal and is living her life with dignity, strength and purpose. One woman's story of resilience!

On this day we celebrate all these women, those that overcame their own challenges and now share their skills to help improve the lives of other women and those that find the strength to improve their own lives, the lives of their children and their communities. We see the difference that we are all making in each woman who strives to pull herself out of poverty and difficult situations and we thank you all for your support and generosity.

The Lake Clinic Midwives/Nurses

Till Next Time,
Adrianne and Rick

Feeding Dreams

Hello Everyone,

Hope all is well? We have been involved with a great organization here in Siem Reap called Feeding Dreams Cambodia, (FDC) since they first opened their doors several years ago. FDC does incredible work in an area of Siem Reap that is home to children and families who face incredible challenges and hardship due to poverty and horrendous housing.

FDC combats the struggles that these families face by providing free education, lunch programs, computer classes, vocational training in tourism and family support services such as social worker and counseling. Since the beginning, we were always inspired and touched by the incredible difference FDC is making. K.I.D.S. has supported FDC by building a classroom, a clean drinking water system, bathrooms, providing computers and printers. We have also funded the computer teacher and social worker salaries at times over the years.
Years ago when we were working on the border in refugee camps in Myanmar we asked the camp chief what was the most pressing issue we could help with. His reply was food..." we cannot teach hungry children".

Two years ago K.I.D.S. built a new kitchen at FDC and since then fhave funded the salary of Srey Mao, the cook and kitchen supervisor, who takes on the daunting task of putting out 700 meals a day. Many kids come to school hungry as their families live so marginally they cannot afford proper nourishment for their children.

While on the topic of nutrition we met a couple of amazing little fellows at FDC a few weeks ago. Along with all the above-mentioned services FDC has developed an amazing soccer program which has taken kids to the top levels of regional and national competitions. The kids love it and play after school everyday.

Sokvan and Messi are two of their brightest young athletes. Unfortunately, due to their many years of malnourishment, they are under height and underweight yet their soccer skills are brilliant. K.I.D.S. will be providing them with daily protein supplements and hopefully, they can bulk up and grow a bit to add some weight and muscle to their arsenal of soccer skills.

 

Thank you to all K.I.D.S. supporters and donors, your assistance makes a difference beyond measure.

Until next Time

Rick and Adrianne

Sohing's Farm School

Hello Everyone,

In a rural area here in Cambodia there is a woman that we met a few years ago when she was working at a restaurant in the city. We found out that Sohing took part of her very limited salary each month to help educate children in her village by paying for school supplies and teaching them English. As well Sohing provided a healthy meal once a week to the kids, as many are undernourished. We went out to the school, which she ran under her families house and were very moved by her compassion and commitment to helping others.

Fast forward three years. K.I.D.S. continues to support this program by providing funds for: teachers, school supplies, uniforms, a hot meal program and other needs. Sohing has returned to her familly home to help with the school and care for her aging father, grandparents and help run their subsitence farm.

Visiting the school we are always so impressed with the kids and how happy and committed they are to learn. One boy Nara, who was orphaned and living on his own since he was twelve years old, has now succeeded in reaching grade twelve thanks to Sohing and K.I.D.S. Thanks to K.I.D.S. donors he will be able to move to the city next year to further his education. His dream is to teach English. This is just one story of how your support can change lives and futures.


Each year we take all the kids on an outing as they are unable to afford to see even a small part of their own country. This year we took them to a mountain area where we swam under a waterfall and visited a beautiful temple. I wish we could pass on the joy that these kids experienced.


As you know K.I.D.S. has large projects that supports thousands of kids and families such as clean water, as well we find incredible people who are changing children's lives selflessly and together we support them with their good work.
Thank you for supporting us to support them!

All the best to you and yours,
Until next time,
Adrianne and Rick

From ECE to IT

Hello Everyone,

We hope all is well with you and yours. We recently got back from the N.E of Cambodia where we visited programs that K.I.D.S. funds. K.I.D.S. has been supporting the Stung Treng Women's Development Centre for over 10 years. This outstanding program supports women, families, children and youth in a variety of ways; by teaching women weaving and selling beautiful silk scarves, providing a free health clinic, providing free early childhood education/kindergarten for 50 children as well as providing free English and computer classes. Stung Treng is one of the poorest and most isolated areas in the country and many people live in poverty. Thanks to K.I.D.S. donors we are able to offer a very progressive Early Childhood Education program (ECE). The ECE program offers kids a healthy, safe and happy place to learn and also provides children with a nutritious food program, access to hygiene as well as supporting women so they can work and have their children well cared for. It is a terrific environment, with excellent teachers to help children to learn and grow. Thanks to Kim Dara Chan, the director, for his vision and never-ending commitment to improving the lives of women, children and families in this area.


K.I.D.S. also supports a free computer program at SWDC, where children, youth and adults can come to learn computer skills. Even in the poorest areas computer skills are needed to asisit in getting jobs, furthering education and be connected to opportunities and learning online. The teachers are eager share their I.T. skills and the students are incredibly motivated to learn.

K.I.D.S. supports both rural and isolated areas as well as urban areas. In Siem Reap January 10th High School has 5400 students. A few years ago, thanks to our contact Kim Thol, we heard that the school did not have one computer, even for the teachers! We could not quite believe that this major high school was not able to provide computer skills, especially in a tourist city such as Siem Reap. We are pleased to say that over the past three years we have been able to install and provide 102 computers and there are now a thousand students a week being taught computer skills. This year thanks to a generous donation we were able to add another 25 computers and open another class, needless to say, the students and teachers are appreciative and wanted us to thank everyone for their support...it is most students favourite subject!

On behalf of K.I.D.S. thanks for bringing education, support, opportunity and healthy beginnings to these young people, families and communities. 

 Until next time,

Adrianne and Rick

School Update

Hello Everyone,

Hope all is well? Here in Cambodia, we spend a lot of time supporting children with their education by helping to shelter them, keep them healthy, supply them with school materials etc. and buy bikes so they can get to school. Unfortunately, some times, even if they are able to get to school, there is simply no school to go to.

This year we have pooled donations from K.I.D.S. donors, Healthy Role Models Nanaimo, Compassionate Eye Foundation Vancouver, Lush, The Ames family Foundation Vancouver and the Asker Norway Lions Club to build not one but two schools, with a solar-powered drinking water system on the floating school.

One school is in the brick factory area where K.I.D.S. sponsors many students. Wat Sela Primary School has 550 plus children attending daily and sadly there are hundreds more that cannot come because of a lack of classrooms to accommodate them. We started building Wat Sela in early December. The main structure of the school is built and the roof framing and roofing will soon be completed as well. Then it will be plastered, painted and finished around the end of February and be ready for students soon after.

The second is a floating middle school for the fishing village of Moat Klar on the Tonle Sap Lake. Due to the isolation and remoteness on the lake, there is simply no access to education for children once they finish grade 6. If their families have the resources to send their children away to study, which most families simply can't afford, their choices are few, go to work on the fishing grounds and or get married way too young.

There are thousands upon thousands of children on and around the lake in remote areas. The new floating middle school, grade 7 to 10, will be the first one on the lake and will allow the children from Moat Klar and nearby villages to have access to further education. We are also installing a clean drinking water project, on the school, to provide water to the students at the new school as well as the elementary school that K.I.D.S. built a few years ago.

Logistically both projects are challenging and thankfully we have the right contacts to make is all happen and skilled workers on both projects to complete them.

Building and launching the two steel scows for the floating school was one of the more challenging parts of both projects. They were welded and made entirely by hand with virtually no cranes or heavy equipment to help build or launch them. Have a look at the launch of one of the hulls at this link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqYIRjT4jJc&feature=em-share_video_user

Thank you to the many K.I.D.S. donors and foundations for providing the funding to build the space to allow a few hundred more children to attend school and improve health through access to clean drinking water.

Will keep you posted,
Until next time,
Rick and Adrianne

Bikes, Books and Bunches of Fun

Dear Friends,

We hope all is well with you and yours. As you know KIDS focuses on education, clean drinking water, healthcare and generally improving the lives of children who face difficult situations. One simple and fairly cheap way of improving a child and a families life is by providing them with a basic bicycle. Throughout the year we give out hundreds of bicycles to those who need one.


Many of the parents come to the school for the bike distribution. It is a happy event. A bike does not only allow children to continue their education, as most rural schools are often such long distances from students homes, it is also used for transportation for the family to go to market etc.


KIDS also assists schools and students by providing, books/school supplies, backpacks, whiteboards and uniforms.


Teachers and families appreciate this support as it improves the level of education these children receive.


Although education is incredibly important KIDS also believes that giving children and youth the opportunity to let go, have fun and broaden their borders is also important. Each year we take kids from our sponsorship programs for outings. It is wonderful to see these young people, laugh, play and see new sights. Many have never been on a bus, seen a movie, swam in a lake, been in a city or rode an escalator. We think the photos say it all!!


Thanks as always for your support,
Until next time,
Adrianne and Rick

Floating Middle School

Dear Friends,
We hope all is well with you and yours. K.I.D.S. has quite a few projects on the go this year. One of these projects, that we are pleased to tell you about, is a floating middle school. Last year Lion's Club Norway contacted us and asked us to partner with them to build one of the few if any floating middle schools out on the Tonle Sap Lake.

As some of you may remember K.I.D.S. built a floating primary school on the lake 8 years ago, thanks to a very generous donation. Life on the lake is extremely difficult and it is hard for children to get an education.

When we visited a primary school on the lake many years ago we could not believe how the little, overcrowded school was literally sinking under our feet.


The villagers were happy to have a well built and safe primary school for their community. Since building the school more and more children have been able to get an education, however, after grade six, there is nowhere else that they can go to further their learning.

Lion's Club Norway generously offered to donate through K.I.D.S. to build a middle school and we are pleased to be able to manage the construction of the school. Thanks to our partner Compassionate Eye Foundation we will also be installing one of the lakes first clean drinking water systems at the school. Children and families on the lake have little to no access to clean drinking water and suffer from illnesses due to drinking polluted lake water.

We have started the project, the builders are now building the steel barges that will support the school, at the port near Siem Reap (where we live) and once the school is built we will have it towed to the village. Needless to say, the students, families and teachers are excited to have a higher level of education in their community.


The five teachers, who live in one room on the elementary school year-round, work very hard to educate the students.

They too live difficult lives and sacrifice comfort and privacy to better the future of the children in these villages. K.I.D.S. plans to improve their living conditions at the elementary school. We will keep you posted.

With gratitude and best wishes,
Adrianne and Rick