August 27, 2007

Cambodian Light Children's Association

With much research and attempts to contact various different organizations in Cambodia, we received very little response from most. Some of the contact information we found were outdated. Being on a different side of the hemisphere, it was difficult to get in contact with everyone we wished to. Nevertheless, this first task was accomplished.

Thank you to everyone who contributed their efforts and generous donations to this project despite the doubts and the ridicules. I knew that if we pull together, we can do it... and we will! Also, thank you very much to those who suggested potential organizations that you felt would be appropriate. I'll keep all of them in mind for further projects that come to mind. Thank you!

With the help of my good friend, now colleague, Sreynieng, we were able to narrow it down to one. Though we would love to, it is nearly impossible to make donations to all of the organizations we wished to at one time. Therefore, we have decided that after this project, we'll try to come up with more ways to raise money for the other organizations that we are neglecting for this project.

It was a hard selection process, but this organization seemed to be exactly what we were looking for. We tried to stay away from mainstream organizations that might have already received help from many others, yet, we needed a legitimate organization where it is assured that our money is going to the right places rather than someone's pocket or a big bank account where our money looked like chump change.

This organization is made up of all volunteers and always welcome more volunteers and visitors. There are about 140 orphans/students who reside there... they eat, sleep, AND school at the facilities. The kids are anywhere from 8 months to 20 years of age. Not all of the children are orphans, some are children that come from very poor households where they need the assistance from the schools to support them. The schools focus on Khmer traditional arts (ie. ballet, painting, music, sculptures, etc.), which is very important nowadays in hopes of preserving our arts and culture.

They have also agreed... actually... would love to give us a tour of the facilities. Kadin is the designated KC member who will be doing the honors of visiting the facilities and documenting her experience to share back with the rest of us here. She will be our respresentative and will be the person who makes the donation, hand to hand. Thank you Kadin for taking the time out of your vacation to fulfill this task for all of us!

Also, thank you Sreynieng for being our contact representative who contacted and spoke to the organization herself over the phone to retreive much information AND alert them of this project and our plans to visit their facilities. In her words, "this orphanage not only cares for the kids, but passes on sacred traditions. they've got my vote". I couldn't agree more... thank you!

Enough with my gibberish... here's the website where you can find even more information about the organization: http://cambokids.org

Also, if you are in the area and interested in visiting and volunteering yourself, I encourage you to do so! I'm sure they'd love to have you there!

Cambodian Light Children's Association
#127, V/L 15, Street Sothearos,
Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamcarmom,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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