February, 2011
For full details on our most recent visit to Cambodia, follow the link below to our March, newsletter.
Feb_2011_trip
Past Trips
June 2010
I write this from Kampong Cham, this our 9th trip to Cambodia. By the time you read this, however, I will be back in Australia myself, probably driving you all insane asking you for money to meet the everlasting demands for basic resources.
Firstly, I’ll start with the farm. Apart from a few problems with the fishpond, which appears to be leaking, the farm is going fantastically well. Vegetables from the farm are donated on a regular basis (see attached photo) both to the slum dwellers (more about them later) and to the Aids ward. You may recall that before leaving Australia I told you that it was no longer possible for Heartland to lease the land at the Windy Village and as such the feeding program was no longer operational. I cannot possible convey to you with words the enormous sadness that it is to be here and not to be able to go to the Windy Village and to be with the children whose faces are by now all so familiar to us.
Also before leaving, however, I told you that we did have good news. The good news was that the slum dwellers were finally given some land of their own close to the Windy Village. This means that they now have a block of land that they can call their own. Unfortunately, the government has not given them houses and what Doreen and I witnessed on attending this new settlement can only be described as inhumane. Most houses have no roofs, no floors, no walls (see attached photo) and it appears as if families of ten essentially live on top of each other. The children continue to be filthy because there are no cleaning facilities, although luckily the government appears to have built some form of sanitation in the form of holes in the ground although with no privacy whatsoever. There is a well but only murky water appears to emanate from it. So this is still an issue to be resolved.
Simmie from Heartland took us around the settlement and we were able to identify areas which need IMMEDIATE attention. Luckily, once again, because of your ENORMOUS GENEROSITY we were in a position where we could contemplate the many demands for emergency housing. At this stage, it looks as if we can build one basic hut for approximately $100 (see attached photo) or make emergency repairs in the form of walls, roofing or flooring to the dwellings in desperate need for $30 to $50. At this stage, it looks as if the total bill for us to provide housing will be approximately US$7000. We think that this is a minimal price to pay to ensure that hundreds of children can sleep at night without getting wet. We also told Simmie to buy mosquito nets ($5 at the markets) for every single household. We will be launching a “Freedom Village” Shelter Appeal in the next few days!!!
Back to the farmlet… So no children’s feeding program at the Windy Village, but lots of new ideas by the agricultural students and Channa for the farmlet. The new plan now is to do what they call “share farming”, which essentially involves providing poor families with two pigs (a boar and a sow) or chickens so they can breed their own. Obviously, this is designed to break the cycle of poverty and to allow these poor families some hope at self-sufficiency. As it turns out, the pigs have proven to be the most profitable animal in the farm and some of the land which was initially used for the goats is now going to be used for further pig breeding.
On Wednesday, 23rd June 2010, we travelled to the Kendal province to check the many wells that we have built in that area (see attached photos). The story was very much the same in every place that we visited. Schools for 400 children would only have one operating toilet, toilets lacking doors, no water other than that provided by the well, classrooms had few chairs, books on the floor because of lack of shelving, no electricity or running water anywhere, etc… We were taken to what was called a “training centre”, a centre designed to educate 48 youth to become employable. It consisted of 37 extremely ancient Singer sewing machines. The state of affairs in relation to their training was nothing but pitiful. There was not a single computer in the entire centre and it appears that only one person in the entire town has access to the internet. These youth have no chance of being competitive in the 21st Century under these conditions and this is where F4E really needs to collaborate with organizations that can meet these needs, if not we will need to do something ourselves! Whilst we were in Cambodia, Rinna contacted Sam Prince, from the E-magine Foundation and he is looking into the resourcing of computers in Cambodia. Hopefully he may also be able to do something about internet connections in some of these remote areas (Thanks Sam!).
On Friday, 25th June, we attended the launch of our new feeding program in Prey Veng (a tiny commune called Srah which means “Pond Village”). I cannot possibly explain how I feel about our new program. To think that a group of friends such as ours has the ability to change the lives of hundreds of people is just amazing. I have not written about this before, but a group of F4E friends raised funds in memory of George Totidis, who died two years ago. With these funds, we were able to build a “Cottage of Hope” for the “Pond Village” in Pomsra (see attached photo). The “Cottage of Hope”, in George’s loving memory, replaces what was the school. To call it a school is an abomination really, it is no more than a few twigs held together that offer no shelter to anyone (see attached photo). The “Cottage of Hope”, however, provides a place for the children to learn and now to be fed. At this stage, given that the “Windy Village” feeding program is no longer operational, we have enough funds to feed these children two days per week. It looks as if we are feeding 100 children and the budget for this appears to be $30 per day with the parents in the community helping out. The little “Cottage of Hope” at Srah has no toilet or any form of sanitation nor a well. We have already given approval for all of this to be built (and chairs, tables and swings!).
At this stage we are also in the process of investigating the possibility of establishing another feeding program in an extremely poor area in Siem Riep. We will tell you about this the moment we know more.
The idea of “Cottages of Hope” is one that we hope will catch on amongst the supporters and friends of F4E. Essentially what happens is that at someone’s memorial, wedding or special celebration, instead of giving flowers, the guests give a donation and for as little as $500, we can open a “Cottage of Hope” in Cambodia to provide either feeding or basic emergency necessities to children. All “Cottages of Hope” will carry plaques stating of who the cottage is in memory.
Very finally, we finished our trip receiving great news from two of our students stating that they have now finished all their course requirements and only have to do a project in order to graduate next year. These students are extremely grateful to F4E and will continue to share their learned knowledge and skills and to work in the farm. Just yesterday I received a phone call from Outdom, who told me that he had just given one of the families in the slums some chickens to breed.
During this trip, of course, we returned to the Aids and children’s wards of Kampong Cham Hospital where we distributed dozens and dozens of lovingly knitted blankets by you BEAUTIFUL people (see attached photo). Again, no words can describe the experience!!! Other than to once again say THANK YOU!!!
Margarita Parrish
P.S. How about our new fuchsia tees, eh?
P.S.2. Reminder to all our beggars, next begging date is Saturday, 17th July.
October 2009
I am writing this from Kampong Cham and this trip has been full of sadness and pitfalls really. As you know, the farm was flooded and most of the surrounding area has been flooded although, being here now, most of the water has dried up and things really don’t look that horrible except that it’s muddy everywhere and just walking or driving from one place to another is a major chore. Unfortunately, one of the by-products of the flood was that one of the pigs who was expecting a litter (we were hoping for ten piglets which could have been grown then sold or consumed by the children at the Windy Village) may lose her litter. The vet who came to see her said that because of the flood the pigs had to move houses a number of times and he thought that it was because of this that the piglets may not survive. This was another blow to everyone at the Food4Everyone farmlet as the pigs really represent self-sufficiency because they are the major providers of food and income to buy other much needed supplies. The pigs, as I said, had to be rehoused because their pig pen was flooded. The only place where they could be put was in the mushroom house which meant that at this stage we have lost the mushroom house too which, as you know, was another very important source of nutrition for the children. It was a massive amount of work to set up the mushroom house and at this stage all our energies are needed to build the farm back up again so the mushroom house will have to take a back step at this stage. So much work is needed, it looks as if we are going to have to employ a farming hand on a full-time basis to get everything going again as we have lost all the vegetables and some trees.
As you know, all the mission has is one tuk-tuk, one very old tuk-tuk. At this point in time you could just say that it is absolutely dilapidated! A ride in the tuk-tuk means getting bumped and getting thrown and getting tossed and I think that at this stage driving in the tuk-tuk is a major safety issue. It is so bad that it does not even have working lights and at night time someone has to hold a torch. Normally the tuk-tuk driver, whoever that may be, it’s usually one of the many volunteers. The tuk-tuk is the only means of transportation for all our programs. The tuk-tuk takes all of the food to the Aids ward, to the Windy Village and so on. It also transports all of the children from the slums into the mission everyday so that they can be taught and so that they can be fed. The long and the short of the story is that it is deplorable and we need to do something about it so here we are…
For Christmas we need a TUK-TUK-ATHON! (Any ideas for all those school kids out there???) And we need you guys to dig deep into your pockets so that we can buy one and so that the children who are already malnourished and already mistreated at least can be transported with some degree of safety and so that we can avoid an inevitable accident. So there you are... Tuk-Tuk Appeal November 2009: The solution to this problem is YOU! You help us a little bit and Food4Everyone has a new desperately needed tuk-tuk.
The Slums! Because of the flood, all of the slum dwellers have had to be moved to the top of the embankment as their huts have been destroyed. We have plenty of pictures to depict the horrors that go on there and that will inevitably always go on. The very small part that we can play there, we are playing. But, we are not kidding ourselves, we cannot change that situation. We can make sure that those kids are fed, that they have clothes sometimes and that they are given the opportunity for education which they have. As I said before, they get picked up by the tuk-tuk everyday at 7.00 in the morning and get brought to the mission. They get taught, they get fed and they get taken back. Unfortunately, as I have said before, their parents do have gambling and substance abuse problems and that is just how it is so we can only do what we can do. Going there now, for my eighth time, continues to be heart-wrenching and I have been told that it is heart-wrenching because I am not “hardened”. Well you know what, I will never get hardened! As I get older I am more “softened”! And you know what, so should I! And so should you! No one, as I have said before, should ever get used to those conditions and to that squalor and to seeing children and babies no older than ten months old being run over by tuk-tuks and motorbikes because there is nowhere for them to be but a road… There is not much more that I can say about this other than things for them would be much, much, much worse if it was not for you. That is the reality, because of you their miserable lives at times are made less miserable because at least the misery happens with a full tummy and they are taught with a full tummy.
The feeding program in the Windy Village continues as is and there once again we are doing what we can but what can I say? It’s very hard, new babies are born everyday and new toddlers are crawling around filthy but again, because of you out there, they do have access to food and to education and the guys at the mission are absolutely fantastic and they are on the lookout for kids who have sores and cuts and bruises and do something about that as well. So again, a little corner of the world is a better place because of you, but there is just sooooo much to do! And every time we are here it just seems like a drop in the sea but as I say all the time a drop in the sea is much better than no drop in the sea and although to us, with our western values, a drop in the sea is worth very little, things are so different there, as you know. A drop to a child there is a tsunami!!!
As usual, we went to the Aids ward. This time we were armed with a handful of Christmas toiletry bags (THANK YOU SO MUCH SALT AND PEPPER GROUP!!!) as well as handfuls of lovingly knitted blankets and beanies both for the Aids ward (death blankets) and to the children’s ward. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH TO OUR LOVELY KNITTERS!!! TO RHONDA, TO CATH, TO IRENE, TO PAT, TO NETTIE AND MEL, TO LOUISE AND OF COURSE TO OUR LOVELY SPANISH LADIES!
Once again, words do not exist that can possible explain or convey the feelings we have when we distribute your gifts to the people dying in the Aids ward. This year we really did feel like Santa carrying a multitude of colourful blankets, a food pack and a Christmas pack full of toiletry goodies. We have taken so many pictures and we have footage. Obviously, once again, please feel free to contact us if you want a copy of the latest DVD (thank you, Andrew, in advance for creating our latest DVD of this trip). As you can see, there is an attachment of some pictures but we do know that it can be a hassle to be sent too many pictures and therefore we will send them bit by bit. If you would like a full CD of all of our pictures all you have to do is contact us. Of course you will not be charged for either the DVD or the CD and neither does the money come from Food4Everyone money. The clinic will cover the cost of this.
As for the postnatal ward, once again, it was amazing. We had enough blankets due to your generosity to distribute to every single newborn baby and to many little toddlers and young children who were just following us around. Again, words do fail me. We made sure that our friends at the mission explained to the people at the hospital that the beanies and blankets had been knitted by you because, although so far away, you do care for them! It was with great sadness though that we did note that approximately a third of the women in the postnatal ward did not have a baby by their side. We were told that they had lost their baby. Unfortunately, this appears to be another reality in this part of the world.
As for the Centre4Hope (C4H) in Phnom Penh which we visited on our last two days in Cambodia, what can I say? So very much to say! Firstly, the staff of volunteers which have just started to operate the C4H told us that they were finding teaching and managing the “Garbage Children” too difficult. Apparently absenteeism is a problem as these children have to work in the rubbish dump and clearly they have very special needs. The long and the short of this story is that it became very clear to us after talking to them that the only possible strategy is an attempt at collaborating with other organisations which are already there. With this in mind, we visited a number of organisations and found a “school” / “training centre” by the old dumpsite. To call these buildings “schools” or “training centres” really is a bastardisation of these words. We have never seen such atrocious conditions. One of the “classrooms” did not even have a floor. By this I mean that the children walk on stones and gravel. Just remember that none of these children have shoes. Despite the deplorable physical condition of this centre, at least it provides a facility where children can go and be provided with some form of education. Of course no food is given to them, no safety packages have been heard of and as I said, the physical conditions are deplorable. There is not a computer to be seen in the entire centre. This centre sits by the old garbage dump and as such the smell is horrendous. Nevertheless, clearly everyone there is used to that and they just carry on as of this was normal (maybe it is what we have which is abnormal???). The important issue here is that amidst all of this horror and poverty there is a place where these children can go and receive some attention. We proposed to Borith (co-ordinator of the C4H) the following: that he attends this centre to discuss some collaborative strategies with their director. You may recall that together with “Poverty Aid 4 Cambodia” we had invested in five computers for the use of the “Garbage Children” and five computers for the use of the disabled youth. Collaborative strategies could include placing five computers in the centre by the dumpsite, making available some food packs as well as safety packs and attend to basic essential needs such as providing a safe floor on which the children can walk. I really found it a shame that such conditions can prevail when so many NGOs and other humanitarian organisations in Phnom Penh would have attended this centre because it is the only one that does exist for children in the dumpsite area. Once again, words fail me. I mean these children were walking on sharp stones in their own “classroom”. And when I say “classroom” I really mean a tiny, overcrowded, filthy, unventilated, bailing space with desks jammed one on top of the other and completely devoid of colour or any positive stimuli.
As for the disabled youth, the issue you may recall is that they found it difficult to access the C4H. As I said to Borith, “if the mountain does not go to Mohammad, maybe Mohammad could go to the mountain.” Therefore, the proposal at this stage here again is to do some collaborative work with them. That is, that we use some of the volunteers from KYSD (the Khmer Youth Social Development Group, which was managing the C4H) and send them to the centre of the disabled to do some teaching there. And of course, the five computers that had been allocated for the disabled youth to be given to this centre. Clearly, this project is going to need to be co-ordinated. We met the volunteer staff of KYSD and in particular a young woman who appeared to have a great affinity with the children. We proposed to Borith that we employ her on a part-time basis 25 hours per week at a cost of $200USD per month. This appears to be a fair and equitable wage in Phnom Penh for this type of position (I know, I know!!!).
By the time we left, Borith had a lot of thinking to do and clearly wanted to discuss these new strategies with his staff and to give it some thought. The moment that I know any more about how much of this can be done I will certainly let you know.
You may also recall that I told you that we were organising the distribution of safety packs. Again, (I know I say this all the time) words cannot describe the conditions, the horror, the smell, the sheer squalor that the dumps are and what the site of queues of filthy human beings in rags, carrying huge loads of rubbish can be like! (Imagine it flooded on top of that!). In any case, there we went and distributed safety packs and once again, it is impossible to describe the look of gratitude on these people’s faces for the packs which they received (see the huge smiles on the group picture!). Remember we told you that we included tongs to pick up the rubbish, masks, gloves and gumboots.
To finish, I do not want to make this a long saga (although I know it is) so I will finish on a positive note. From the moment that our office sent you the message about the flooding of the farm, we have received a number of very encouraging messages and practical help including money. Again, this kind of attitude on your part is invaluable and is what keeps us going. As I said early, the farm is now much drier than in the last pictures that you saw and work will begin again the moment that it is feasible to do so.
Once again, I will never be able to thank you all enough. We now have all the pictures of the trip available on CD. Please give us a call if you want a copy. Wonderful Andrew (yes, you are wonderful Andrew) will be creating the DVD of this 8th trip to Cambodia. Again, the moment the latter becomes available you will be the first to know. If you want a copy please call the office.
Warmly,
Margarita Parrish
15th May 2009
It’s the 29th April and here we are in Kampong Cham for the 6th time with Food4Everyone (F4E). This coincides with F4E’s 3rd anniversary so it’s an incredible time to be here, as always. As usual, our trips are filled with a myriad of mixed experiences and emotions which happen the moment we land in this country.
Of course, we attended the feeding program at the “Windy Village”. So many mixed emotions! On the one hand, so happy that we are able to continue the program but on the other hand such feelings of desperation and despair at seeing the face of poverty right in front of us one more time.
We also had a meeting with our three sponsored agricultural students who tell us they are doing well at “Ag” school. The farm is looking fantastic, with the mushroom house providing “vegetarian steaks” on a daily basis. It is early days yet, but it does look as if both the breeding of pigs and that of chickens may generate a very useful income as well as provide the meat needed for the windy village children’s feeding project. This means that once we have more vegies, the only produce that will need to be purchased by F4E will be rice. This will be a marked improvement from three years ago when every single item which was consumed in all of our feeding projects had to be bought. The boys at the farm tell us that they also give vegetables to the slums so all that we are buying for them now is rice. Oh, I almost forgot, we are planting lots more fruit trees at the farm including coconut, mango, pineapple banana and avocado trees (it’s all the excitement that makes me forget!).
We also went to the Kampong Cham Prison to see how the prison farmlet is going. It was AMAZING!!! It really has become a thriving place with a number of gardens producing all sorts of vegetables. Not only do they have chickens and ducks, they now even have pigs! We spoke to the prison manager who said that the prison is a much better place now and that finally prisoners are eating decently. He said that they have a surplus of food which they sell in order to then buy more meat for the inmates. We noticed that they could do with more fruit trees so we proposed to them that we plant a range of fruit trees in the perimeters of the jail in exchange for fruit and vegetables for the kids at the Windy Village and the patients at the Aids ward. Slowly but surely, our goals are being met thanks to you! F4E is creating sustainable systems which not only provide basic food to those who cannot help themselves (such as young children, the very elderly and AIDS victims) but also provide training and rehabilitation which will lead to food production and hopefully also to employment to those who can work.
We also went to the Kampong Cham Hospital where we visited the children’s and maternity wards and gave away all those lovely beanies and baby blankets which have been so lovingly knitted by many of our supporters and friends in Penrith. No words will ever be able to explain adequately how we all feel seeing the look on those children’s faces and those of their parents just knowing that someone out there cares! The beanies and blankets are absolutely beautiful and fantastic and represent everything that is good in this world! Bits of compassion, bits of hope, bits of love, bits of care… all knitted together…
And of course we went to the Aids ward where our food distribution program continues in earnest. Again, words fail me and I just do not know what else to say that I haven’t said before, except that your help, your care, your regular contributions, allow these people to die with some dignity and with the knowledge that YES, SOMEONE IN THIS WORLD DOES CARE! The conditions in the Aids ward continue to be dismal and I continue to go into a state of shock every time that I am there and every time that I look into their faces but this time, just as I think that I cannot bear it any longer, I see two little kids eating boiled eggs that have just been given to them by the F4E team, wearing beanies which have been knitted by one of you gorgeous people out there and I melt… and once again I have hope for humanity and for all that is good. And the badness just goes and evaporates because it has to. Because it is the goodness that has to win and those rugs we have just distributed are oozing with goodness!!!
After the feeding project we were introduced to Mr Uk Thaun of the Maharishi Vedic University. As I write this, I am still jumping up and down with joy at having made this connection and so is the rest of the F4E team. It turns out that Rector Thaun is in desperate need of assistance for his university. The Maharishi Vedic University provides agricultural training to 1500 students. To give you an idea of how needy they are, they have a handful of old computers and no internet access! How can this be possible??? The long and the short of this story… they need our help and we need theirs!
You may all recall that six months ago the F4E farmlet became operational. Clearly, the people who help us are not experts in the field and we could all do with some professional expertise in order to improve the farmlet so, this is what we agreed on! We provide Maharishi Vedic University with internet access (which by the way costs as little as $1000US), to cater for the whole university and this includes installation and repair services of $200US and also with two very much needed pump wells ($400US) and in return, they begin to liaise on a regular basis with our agricultural students and with Channa at the farmlet. Our first project is for the creation of a fishpond which will provide yet another source of nutrition and another feeding source for the kids at the farm and for the hospital and for the slums and who knows where else… the university will also provide us with advice and practical help in improving our vegetable garden. They are sending six students over their summer holiday break (2 months). If it all works out, we will continue this association with this university and pay them for their expertise at the farmlet and with the fishpond maintenance, with computers which they desperately need.
When we visited Maharishi Vedic University it became clear that another great problem facing them is skills shortages. The rector of the university, Mr Uk Thaun, told us that until 2008, the university had been sponsored by a major NGO, the Australian Aid for Cambodia Fund (AICF), who had provided volunteers from Australia to teach. This funding has since been cut and the university is now in dire need of teaching staff. We were told that major areas of need where training is needed are in the areas of business management, accounting, marketing, human resources, agriculture, agronomy, rural development and natural recourses. English is also very important
So if you are a graduate in any of the above disciplines or if you know someone who is, this is a fabulous opportunity! To teach English in Cambodia you do not need to have a university degree. The university provides accommodation and meals to volunteer tutors.
Whilst being shown around the university we became extremely excited (I know, I know, we are always excited!) at seeing the different examples of fishponds that can be made to feed a maximum number of people. Of course, the F4E farmlet is only small so the first suggestion was for a 30 x 10 meters aboveground pond which could produce up to 600 catfish to be constructed. As I said earlier, the university students will do a full assessment of the F4E farmlet and create what suits best. And of course you will be the first to know!
During this trip, within hours of arriving in Cambodia, we also met with Borith from KYSD, a youth training centre in Phnom Penh. The major aim of KYSD is to provide training programs for youth. We have heard the figures before, 60% of the Cambodian population is under the age of 30. Borith tells us that only 10% of youth actually obtain employment. Skills shortage is one of the major reasons given for unemployment in Cambodia. We were all shocked to hear when Borith said that no program exists in Cambodia to provide basic skills training (IT, English, etc) to disabled youth (most disabled people appear to have become so as a result of landmine accidents). Can you imagine, not a single training program in the country for disabled people???
The more we spoke to Borith about this project the more excited (and angry) we became. Later, he would tell us about the “garbage children” facing a similar fate to that of the disabled. Not basic training for them either! I fully realise how absolutely deplorable it is for me to use these words but unfortunately this is how these children are identified as this is what they are forced to do. They live in rubbish dumps where they spend their days rummaging amongst the waste and survive by selling whatever “useful” garbage they can get. THIS SITUATION IS DEPLORABLE AND IT SIMPLY CANNOT GO ON. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!! NO CHILDREN SHOULD LIVE THIS WAY, NOT WHEN WE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!!
At the end of the day, Borith’s basic proposal to F4E and Poverty Aid 4 Cambodia (PA4C) was as follows: $250 a month to pay for rental and utilities in a house to be used to provide basic training to both the “garbage children” and the disabled. Obviously they will need computers, costing between $400 and $500. Ten computers would mean that they could have ten youth at a time learning independently. At this stage the teaching would be provided by volunteers from universities in Cambodia (any Aussies wanting to volunteer their skills???).
THE F4E TEAM HAS A DREAM… we can see a drop-in centre… in Phnom Penh… Where safety packs containing food, tweezers (to pick up the rubbish), gloves, masks and basic items such as water, are readily available for the children…Where basic training takes place… Where there is first aid… Where someone cares... We have much to think about… and… and… As I said, this situation cannot go on and it needs to be kept on the agenda until something is done. You will be the first to know.
As we planned, following our departure from Cambodia, we made our way to the newly established Heartland mission in Chang Rai (Thailand). As I told you before, our objective was to go to the Thai / Burmese border where we had been told about a group of Burmese children who had to cross the border everyday in order to attend school in Thailand. Apparently these children often lack food and a place to sleep. We had been asked to assess the situation there with a view to perhaps providing food packs and maybe help fund a dormitory for them. When we travelled there (to Phiayapai), however, it became evident that the journey from Chang Rai to this border village is extremely arduous and lengthy. In practical terms, it would not be possible for Eliah from Heartland to monitor this project and at this point in time we do not know anyone else there. So at this stage, it is clear that we cannot proceed with this project. We do not have enough information or contacts. We made it within a ten minute walk of the Burmese border and could see the perilous walk the children have to do but we were told that it would be far too dangerous for us to even go any further. We were also told that it would be unsafe for us to visit the local refugee camp which apparently houses thousands of Burmese people. Having been told that, it was with much regret that we had to return without having been able to offer any help. The actual journey, however, was absolutely fantastic and words cannot describe the beauty of the scenery from Chang Rai to the border.
Whilst in North Thailand we were also able to make it to Phamoop, a hill tribe village approximately one and a half hours west from Chang Rai. We had planned to go further west to a much poorer area, however, the conditions of the road made it impossible for us to get there even though we did have a four-wheel-drive. Nevertheless, we were really happy to be able to visit Phamoop because Eliah from Heartland had distributed blankets to half of the families there (with money raised by Rinna Ly and his team) and we were anxious to meet them and to get footage so that all of you good people can see where your money ends up.
As usual, such huge and competing needs mean that it is very difficult to make decisions as to where we spend money. It was clear however that compared to the poverty that exists in Cambodia it was hard to justify an ongoing project in Thailand. We did however ask Eliah to go back to the village and to donate seeds and trees to the 15 families living there so that they can begin to grow their own vegetables and eventually have their own fruit.
Once again, we cannot thank you enough for all of your help. Now that we are back we will have a really long think and a good talk about where F4E is going. We welcome any ideas and urge you to continue to think of innovative ways to raise funds. Feel free to ring me, come to our planning dinners or contribute in any way you think. F4E NEEDS YOUR HELP or that of anyone who CARES and wants to make a difference. Please pass this on to a friend in order to increase our number of supporters
In the meanwhile, thanks to your generosity, all of our existing projects can be maintained and we can begin to do something in other areas of need. Because of you we can continue to improve another little corner of our world!
Once again, thank you so very much!!!
Regards,
Margarita Parrish
June 2008
This was our fifth trip back to Kampong Cham. It does not matter how many times I come to this place, I just cannot get used to the fact that human beings have to live this way. I do not think that I will ever be able to accept the kind of poverty that goes on here, the filth, the dirt and the hunger. Sometimes it seems that it doesn’t matter how much work we do, nothing really changes. Obviously, I am upset and that is why I am saying this. But I should be upset, I should be screaming, I should be raving mad! There is no reason as to why this should go on. This is not right. For the price of a lolly in Australia we can feed dozens of children here and there is hunger everywhere!
As I have said before though, I will never allow my anger in relation to this situation and the sights we have to witness every time we come here paralyse me. It will give me and all those who come with me, more strength, more determination, more motivation to do the humane thing and that is to help out our fellow human beings.
I do realise that I am preaching to the converted and I will never, ever be able to thank Food4Everyone supporters in the way in which you deserve. If it was not for you, the positive events that go on here would not happen and the positive aspect of what we saw today, and that is hundreds of kids being fed, would not happen either. Sometimes though, I just seem to get engulfed by a sense of desperation and helplessness about what actually goes on here!
On a much more positive note, we toured the villages where “Poverty Aid 4 Cambodia” has started to build wells, plant trees and distribute seeds, clothes and mosquito nets. The difference that this will make is impossible to describe in words. In some of these villages people have to walk for ten kilometres just to get water before they can start the day or before they can eat. Poverty Aid has already built wells in three different provinces where it has also distributed hundreds of kilograms of seeds which now will be able to be planted. We went to a local school where they are building a well for public use (by the way, all the wells are for public use). We also asked them to spend money planting fruit trees, banana, mango and paw paw trees. We have asked “Poverty Aid 4 Cambodia” to do this in every school where wells are built.
We visited the Aids Ward where the food distribution continues to operate twice per week and also the River Aid Project where the program continues and where because of Food4Everyone (that is because of your generosity) many who would go hungry no longer do so and where hopefully the initial signs of malnutrition are now disappearing.
At the farmlet, the cottage is almost finished. On the 13th June 2008, we had a meeting with Eliah and the students. We brainstormed a number of options in terms of the vegetables that could be grown and the animals that could be raised and it looks as if we may in the longer term produce enough food for the Windy Village, the river slums and the Aids ward (How fantastic could this be?). This means that the money that we are presently using for the Windy Village could be freed up for other projects.
We all went to the markets to get all the necessary ingredients for the Aids ward which was amazing. As you all probably know, Tracey Frawley was on this trip with us and she was amazed at what can actually be purchased for such little money (for $100 a week we can buy essential food stuff which will keep patients from literally starving to death as we have spoken about in the past). These patients not only do not have access to food but they also do not have access to soap, shampoo and other basic essentials for personal hygiene so we made an executive decision and purchased a kit for each patient. We do need volunteers however to make up toiletry bags so that we can use them to fill up with goodies every time we go. The sad reality is that we need to get more toiletry bags every time we go because the patients that were there the last time we went have inevitably died. Unfortunately, we had lots of kits left over because we were told that in the previous week approximately ten patients had died. As usual we gave the leftover kits to the “Emergency/Intensive Care” section of the hospital where poor villagers who have no access to other medical help go to. We gave the beanies which had been so kindly knitted for us by the ladies from Penrith and as usual they were a great success. Sometimes we think that the Aids patients are happier to receive the beanies than what they are to receive the actual food (not really!!!).
It was also amazing to see the organisation that goes on in packing the food parcels for the River Aid Project at the slums. This happens once a week and the packages contain all the basic ingredients to arrest malnutrition. At this stage slum dwellers continue to get dried fish, dried sausages, soya sauce, sugar, oil as well as supplies of rice. It was great to see that the dwellers themselves had started to grow their own vegetable patch so they were able to supplement the food which we provide them. Unfortunately, it is the wet season which means that the river has risen and it had flooded most of the slum including their vegetable garden. They have had to move their houses up the hill and now are literally on top of each other in inhumane conditions (pictures are enclosed). If the slum looked deplorable before, it now looks hellish. Never in my life have I ever seen that much dirt, that much misery, that much rubbish! The kids are running around absolutely filthy. There is dirt, mangy dogs and flies everywhere. There are piles and piles of rubbish everywhere! What used to be the garden has also been flooded so there is nothing left there and part of their land has been taken up because some big mansion is being built there. I guess the only consolation that we have and the only relief to this kind of misery is knowing that at least they are now getting regular food packages. The one positive aspect is that because of your generosity, these people receive their food pack once per week with such hope, such expectation and such gratitude that it is just priceless to watch!!! And although what we give to them would mean less than nothing to most of us here, it means the difference between a life of misery and life where at least once a week something happens and that something is good and means that someone cares. Doreen Bond who was there with me reminded me of how special we make people feel by giving them a simple item of old clothing. She tells me that as she was walking around the slums people were proudly displaying their new clothes and did so with so much pride in their eyes. So if my update was sounding doomy and gloomy, I apologise for that! It is not all doom and gloom and YOU do make a huge difference and I only wish that you were to here to see EVERYTHING!
On our last day in Kampong Cham we went to the prison and that was just absolutely amazing to see. By now you have all seen the pictures of the little amount of land that they have and it is now growing wild with all sorts of vegetables and herbs. They have now added a duck pen where the plan is to raise 200 ducks which obviously will go a huge way towards feeding all of the prisoners as well as hopefully our children in the Windy Village should they choose to share some in the future (we hope they do).
The most exciting thing about seeing the prison farm isn’t just about the evidence of human beings’ potential once you give them a small chance but it is also about the example it provides about what we could do in our small farm once we get going.
At this stage I have very little else to add other than THANK YOU once again so very much for all of your help because as I have said countless times in the past, none of what is happening in this little corner of the world would be happening without your help. Finally my special gratitude to our three new Corporate Sponsors and a strong urging to all of you out there who are in corporate positions or in private business to join our “We Care” network.
Margarita Parrish
November 2007
We will never get used to this poverty!!!
We will never accept that we can not do anything against such need!!!
We may not be able to “save the world” but surely we can do something about a little corner of it!!!
Not only do we have to do something, we must do something and we will do something!!!
We have just arrived to Kampong Cham for the 4th time since April last year. Channa and the Heartland team have just told us about the river slums, home to a group of displaced Vietnamese refugees. 28 houses full of people living in abject poverty. Houses? I don’t know why they call them houses… bits of wood and materials that hardly bind anything together, no furnishings of any category, no bedding, kids naked, dirt, rubbish and mangy dogs everywhere, floods that do not go away, dirt, dirt, dirt, rubbish, rubbish, rubbish everywhere.
We are told that this is good! In July when it floods all these people lose their “houses” and have to move up from the river bank to the bit of land bordering the main road which maintains a flow of regular traffic.
They have nothing and we mean nothing!!! You can palpate their hunger, you can palpate the poverty!!! The smell is the smell of nightmares!!! If you ever wondered whether hell existed on earth believe you us it does.
We asked one of the women what they need. Maybe we can help out, maybe we can make some difference!!!
Channa has already spoken about giving out bags of rice from money left over from the Windy Village project but they need more. They need so, so, so much more!!! They need some kind of protein if their bones are to grow, something like dried sausages or dried fish from the markets which can be bought for as little as a $1.40 a kilogram (little for us but they only earn $1 per day). They need basic staple foods. They need sugar, they need salt, they need Soya sauce and very importantly they need vegetables. These kids can not possibly grow.
A woman asks for mosquito nets. The mosquitoes are eating their children alive. Malaria is abundant. The children are getting sick. They have no nappies, no clothes, as I said they have NOTHING!!! She tells us that they cannot grow anything because essentially they are living on a sandy river bank which gets flooded.
For greens we could help by providing them with huge pots where greens could be grown. She tells us that if we were to provide seeds for vegetables they could also grow them in vines (so what if they lose the vines when it floods?). This could provide yet another source of nutrition.
We came to Kampong Cham to monitor our existing programs. We were taken to the river banks of the Kampong Cham River. Seeing what we saw, we had NO CHOICE but to launch the River Food and Aid Relief Project.
THE LAUNCH OF THE RIVER FOOD AND AID RELIEF PROJECT
This new project was launched on Monday, 26th November 2007. So once again, full of hope and determination, we marched to the Kampong Cham markets where we proceeded to buy basic staple foods for the people of the river bank. Firstly, we purchased dried sausages and dried fish and were pleasantly surprised to find out that we could buy approximately one kilogram per family for $38USD. We then decided to buy staples such as Soya sauce, oil, sugar and salt. We did not buy any rice bags at that stage because we had been told by Heartland that they had done so just the previous week as they had been horrified by the level of poverty amongst the children and had used some of the funds from the Windy Village project to do that given the level of desperation. We did however buy one mosquito net for each family (one large enough to cover a multitude of children) as well as nappies. We also attended the launch armed with precious gifts of clothes and other items that had been given to us by Food4Everyone supporters.
The truth is that the launch was mayhem. During some stages it felt more like a mob than a food distribution program but as I said before, the level of desperation and need is just so, so great that to expect people to act in an orderly manner when they are driven by hunger and need is just obviously impossible. Similarly, the nappies and other clothing items were just snatched out of our hands. We have some great pictures of this event to send you. The important issue of course is that we were able to provide enough food for these families to have basic meals for the next three to four days and plan to do this on a regular basis from now on (yes, we know more begging needed!).
Given the low price of the protein based food (dried fish and dried sausages) we think that we have enough money to provide each of the 28 households with one kilogram each per week (remember this only costs us $38USD). This sausage and fish could then be supplemented by rice and other staples on a monthly basis. And, as I noted previously, the next step will be to plant leafy greens and vine vegetables for every single household to contribute some vegetables to their meal. We will ask our sponsored agricultural students to provide assistance and training for this.
Of course, we went back to visit the AIDS ward and were extremely pleased to see the swings (see picture) adding some colour to the drabness and horror of the place. The day that we went was actually a public holiday so there were not many sick people around. Apparently during this day (the Water Festival) they are taken home. Nevertheless, we did our usual food distribution program and were delighted to see the pleasure of which this gift of food is received by these desperate people who as noted previously are finding it very hard to die with any sense of dignity because of hunger pangs.
Having had discussions with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, we visited the maternity and the children’s wards. You may recall that our original plan was to introduce a fruit day to the women in the maternity ward or to the children in the children’s ward. On arriving there, however, we noted that there were children everywhere, people everywhere and we were warned by the hospital CEO that because not all families were poor and some were in fact well fed, the best thing would be not to do the distribution ourselves but rather to give it to the staff who would then distribute the goods at their own discretion. We were also warned that the hospital staff themselves are paid very, very low salaries and are in need of nutrition themselves. Having been to these wards twice, we decided to re-assess this situation as we feared that the fruit may not end up in the tummies of those for whom it was intended but rather with the staff. Obviously, this was a sad decision to make and we wished that we had been able to also feed the staff but having seen the predicament of the children in the slums, we believe that at this stage this project in the maternity and children’s wards needs to be rethought.
As I said above, we met with the CEO of the hospital with whom we discussed the extension of the bathroom and toilet in the AIDS ward. (We have included pictures which leave no doubt as to the horror and squalor of the place. One filthy toilet and no shower for 40 dying patients!!!) He let us know in no uncertain terms that what was really needed was a new AIDS ward. The ward they have at the moment is over 70 years old, intended for 20 people with a population of up to 40 most of the time which means that half of the patients are sleeping on floors. Once again, whilst it would have been fantastic to be able to tell him that yes we would build a new AIDS ward, our reality is that we will be very lucky if we achieve our objective of simply extending the bathroom. He agreed to get some quotes and to let us know.
We have all had our hearts broken every time that we come to Cambodia and I have written on this at length. No words, however, can explain how we felt on seeing the plight of the newborn babies at the maternity ward. There is no equipment whatsoever, there are no incubators, there are no oxygen tanks and newborn babies lie essentially on planks of wood with drips attached to their tiny little arms in the filthiest of conditions (again pictures are included). No words can ever depict the unspeakable horror of this situation which is compounded by the fear in the eyes of parents who sit watching their babies suffer. I have said before that nothing will ever paralyse me!!! This comes very close… I have however taken several deep breaths. We spent hours discussing this situation and we return to Australia knowing that we will be helped and that together once again somehow we will make a difference!!!
One of the ideas that we have had is that of forming a fundraising committee. Clearly, the amount of money now dedicated to projects is exceeding our resources and more is needed. Jan Cunningham who came on this trip happily offered to take responsibility for this committee. Again, we came up with a number of ideas such as approaching medical supply companies, pharmaceutical companies and essentially any organisation which can either donate goods directly to the project or to the trivia night where they can be auctioned or sold on eBay. So, HELP! HELP! HELP! is needed for our newly formed Food4Everyone subcommittee. If you are interested please give us a call at the clinic.
Finally, we visited the Kampong Cham Medium Security Gaol where, as you all know, we have built a well and provided seeds and supplies for a vegetable garden. We were just AMAZED by the difference that five months have made. The prisoners have toiled the soil everywhere on the prison grounds and there are now a multitude of vegetable and herb beds all around the place. We were just so proud to have our picture taken next to the newly built well with water sprouting everywhere (these pictures are yet to be emailed to us). We just cannot wait until we return by which time all of the vacant land will have been cultivated. We were also delighted to see that the first crop of vegetables has already been utilised and hopefully has contributed to making yummy meals for many prisoners and their children. You may recall that the initial agreement in providing all the materials and supplies for the prison garden was that in return the prisoners would give back 10% of their produce. Given that we have now taken on the River Food and Aid Relief Project it is just fantastic to be able to have one more source of food to help out.
Talking of contribution, Jan Cunningham not only contributed all the seeds which will go towards planting the vegetables and the vines in the slums of the river but she also bought four mango trees which will be proudly planted in the F4E farmlet next to the farm house. Once again, we just cannot wait to return and see the mango trees fully grown. These trees are fully grown and Doreen tells us that perhaps they should be fruit baring within 12 months. This is amazing considering that they only cost $12 each. Again, a great source of fruit and vitamins not only for the children of the slums but for the patients of the AIDS ward and of course for the children of the Windy Village, where obviously we continue with the feeding program which grows more successful by the day.
Once again, we leave Kampong Cham with a huge sense of satisfaction. We knew that with your help we could make a difference and now we are absolutely certain that this difference is HUGE!!!
From the bottom of our hearts we thank you so, very, very much!!!
May 2007
Words cannot possibly describe our most recent adventures in Cambodia.
As you all know we left on the 21st May to launch our hospital feeding project (we haven’t had great feedback about calling the latter “Sick Mission”, so we are rethinking this name!). We left full of hope and excitement because of the success of the Trivia Night.
Andrew from Heartland, as usual, was wonderful and before we even arrived he had organised a number of platforms from which F4E projects could be launched. In short, we needed to make sure that the food distribution project continued to thrive (It does!). We also wanted to finalise the purchase of the F4E farmlet (We have!). You should have seen these negotiations with chickens, dogs and children running around our feet while Chenna from Heartland did the talking. Clearly, the reality of doing business in a very poor village in Cambodia is very different (wait until you see the pictures!) and this all added to the experience.
Andrew also organised for us to go to the local prison, where very much like in the hospitals, the resources do not stretch far enough to feed the prisoners reasonably and once again they are desperate for supplements (kid you not, these guys are expected to do heavy manual work and they are emaciated!). The prison however has a great size piece of land which at the moment is not much more than a rubbish dump. With access to tools, water, etc this land could be turned into a thriving garden where the prisoners could grow nutritious vegies and fruit, raise chickens, etc to supplement their diet. The jail also has women and their children (and children who have committed crimes… one who is only 15 years old has already pent 5 years there for stealing).
So F4E has launched “Freedom Food”, a program by which we provide agricultural training to prisoners (remember we sponsor 3 students at the local Agricultural University), tools and a well, all to be provided in instalments and completely dependent on the progress of their work (first stage is clearing of the land, once this is achieved tools will be bought). The well will not be constructed until such time as the soil is ready for planting. This strategy will give the prisoners a sense of control and motivation. It is up to them, the more they work, the greater the rewards they reap.
In exchange for our help, the prison executive has agreed to share part of the crops with us to be utilised in the Windy Village and at the hospital feeding program. So we are really ecstatic!!! If this program is successful we will have achieved 3 huge objectives. 1) Providing young prisoners very much needed training which hopefully may lead to future employment/self-sufficiency, 2) very much needed nutritious, fresh food for them and their children to remain as healthy as possible and 3) extremely importantly, a chance for them to “give back” and contribute to others by helping our kids out with food. (Remember we are “food for everyone” after all!)
Finally, we launched “Dignity Food”, a feeding program for the patients of the AIDS ward of the Kampong Cham Hospital. Although we initially planned to launch our program at the maternity ward, once we were told and saw the plight of the sick in the AIDS ward we decided to start there. When we are established of course we will keep on moving.
Eating with dignity is dying with dignity in this case. More often than not victims of AIDS in Cambodia are innocent women and their children who have contracted their condition through their husband. These people are ostracised by society and their families because of the ongoing myths and misconceptions that surround HIV/AIDS. This means that they are left to die in terrible conditions in hospitals in Cambodia and their lives are bereft of everything that the poorest child in Australia would take for granted. Their wards are dirty, the walls unpainted and they lack the most basic essentials including beds to lie on. We were shocked to hear that although there were 33 patients on the ward, they only had 21 beds and by the look of it no space to accommodate anything else. And yes, they even lack food! I know this is impossible to comprehend, that you would be dying of AIDS with all the complicated horrors of hunger and denial of basic needs on top of it.
I am too upset by this experience to share some of what we saw and I believe that if I were to dwell on this I would be paralysed by sadness, shock and horror because what some of these people have to go through transcends the most crucial parameters of humanity.
So I won’t be paralysed and instead of focusing on these aspects I will focus on how we can change it because we can make a HUGE difference very simply and with very little effort. Amazing isn’t it that with only a tiny bit of effort we have the control to allow people to die with dignity. In fact we have already begun to add colour and fun to the drabness that is the world of “AIDS death” in Cambodia.
When we were staying at the mission there was a group of Australian pastors visiting and following our request, they generously donated colourful, outdoor play equipment for the children and parents to sit on, folding beds (so hopefully they don’t die on the floor) and a lovely lady who runs a women’s group in Rockhampton will sew 33 colourful hand made bed spreads. She has already donated beautiful toiletries bags for all the patients (filled with goodies from the Equatorial Hotel in Saigon… Thank you Equatorial Hotel!)
As I said, we won’t be paralysed, in fact we are so NOT paralysed that we have already planned and launched our first food distribution program in the AIDS ward. This commenced on Friday, 25th May 2007 and for a total of $50US we bought lots of fruit (including bananas and mandarins), poppers of milk, packets of raisins, packets of dried noodles, toothpaste, soap, a toothbrush and a comb for each patient.
The budget so far is $100US per week which hopefully will allow us to buy sufficient fruit, milk and noodles for two distributions per week. The truth, of course, is that so very much more is needed. But this means that at least twice per week they can look forward to some treats of fruit and milk (since when was food ever meant to be a treat???)
So, F4E to the rescue and this is where you come in to it. We desperately need your help! This CANNOT, WILL NOT go on. We cannot let these people die like this.
For us to get $100US per week all we need is for 30 of you to drink one less cappuccino per week!!! This is insane stuff surely!
Of course, you can do much more than give up one cup of coffee per week, you can convince your partner to do the same, tell your child to buy one less ice cream and tell this story to anyone who will listen!
We are back to where we started. We need to consolidate and we need all of you out there to give a “little” bit so we can make a “HUGE” difference. I think you will all agree that we all have the basic right to live and die without hunger. We are just very privileged that we have never had to face these horrendous issues.
WE BEG YOUR HELP!!!
April 2006 and October 2006
"Food4Everyone" operates in a small village near Kampong Cham which is a large rural town approximately two and a half hours drive North of Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. This project is operated by Heartland International which run a variety of projects to assist the community. Andrew Cook and his crew run meetings three times a week in the “Windy Village” where up to 200 children and a large group of adults and elderly people attend. These meetings offer a haven to people who are in desperate need of assistance for any number of reasons.
The project also runs a number of projects which lead to self-sufficiency in the long-term such as education, health information sessions and agricultural training. Andrew and his crew are presently planning vocational training packages as shortage of trade skills is a significant problem in Cambodia for young people. Unfortunately, Heartland does not have enough funds to feed the children who attend the centre three times a week. This is very distressing for everyone involved as the children and elderly people who attend are often hungry. Clearly, we needed to do something about this!!!
By the time of our visit in April 2006, we had been able to raise enough money to set up the “kitchen” for the food distribution program. By our last visit in October 2006, we had enough money to sponsor two young Cambodians to Agricultural College, buy basic farming equipment, set up the children’s garden designed to teach them the first steps of self-sufficiency and had almost enough money for the land. Hopefully our land will produce enough food not just for the children and the elderly of the village but also for the local hospital and for the street children. We are also planning to take humanitarian tours to Cambodia as an awareness and fundraising strategy. As you can read, since coming back from our second visit we have much bigger goals. We believe that with YOUR HELP we can achieve our many dreams.
We would be grateful for ANY contribution. As stated above, 50 cents will feed one child, which basically means that every time you give $10 we will be able to feed 20 children. We believe that the best way to raise enough money to feed all the children on an ongoing basis would be for everyone who gets this letter to talk about this deplorable situation to somebody else, or to collect from family, friends and colleagues every month or two. Imagine this, a workplace with ten staff donating $5 each on a monthly basis could feed 100 people!!!!! You could be the person to make that possible. Taking a few minutes of your time every month or so could improve the lives of so many in such a meaningful way. Ever thought you wanted to contribute to the world??? This is your chance!!! When you really think about it there is no excuse for those children not eating. It really is that easy, we go there, set up, pay a couple of people to cook (for $2.50 per day!!!) and get loads and loads of food. The whole operation is overseen by Heartland staff who already have the entire infrastructure in place. This projects fits in extremely nicely, all they need is money for food. Heartland guarantees that 95 per cent of donations go towards the project (5 percent is charged for administrative costs only for donations which are tax deductible and therefore require a receipt). All other funds raised do not incur any administrative costs. We all fund our own trips and pay the entire costs of running “Food 4 Everyone” out of our pockets and the funds of the clinic at the Specialist Centre.
We continue to be amazed by the number of donations and the generosity of people. It has been so heartwarming to see families pitch together and bring $20 at the end of the month. We even have a pensioner come in every single pension pay day to give us $2. One day he came in with a bag full of five cent coins. He told us that he had spent the last three months combing the streets of Penrith for unwanted five cent coins which often people don’t bother to pick up. Another day someone came in and donated a Harley Davidson painstakingly made by hand out of timber. We were told to do with it whatever was necessary to raise funds to help the children.
This time we want to encourage groups of friends or work colleagues to come together and make a group donation at the end of each month. If a number of groups do this, it will ensure the long term success of this project. We are also thinking of approaching businesses and have started making plans to do this. And finally, word of mouth often works best. If you read this info sheet and can pass it on to somebody else we multiply our chances of assistance. This is not hard to do. Just tell someone our story. We have amazing video footage, slides and pictures which you are more than welcome to request or view by contacting our centre.
We are also very distressed at the plight of most elderly Cambodian women (mostly widowed) who attend Andrew’s groups at the “Windy Village”. Andrew explained that firstly, there are very few elderly people still living in Cambodia because of the horrific impact of the Khmer Rouge and those women who are still alive and whose husbands have died have no money to feed themselves. He has asked that we also help in relation to this issue. So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, again for as little as 50 cents each we would be able to at least provide one nutritional meal to all of these women once per week.
Finally, I also need to mention the fact that in Cambodia, hospital patients are not fed and rely on their families to bring food to them. As you already know, Cambodia is an extremely poor country and families have very little food to feed themselves let alone relatives in hospital. This is another area in which we believe our food distribution program in Kampong Cham could help in some way once we are fully established and have regular donations. As noted before, we also plan to help the street children of Kampong Cham. In order to do this, plans are underway to set up an outreach program which will go out at night-time and feed the homeless kids of the town.
We thank you with all our hearts for your generosity. Every amount, big or small, will make a huge difference to anyone who has not eaten in days.
Thank you also for helping us break the cycle of poverty in the “Windy Village” as well as being part of the first steps being taken towards economic recovery. We are very aware that the families of the “Windy Village” need much more than handouts. We understand that this is just an interim measure until they have achieved self-sufficiency. For this to occur, families need the gifts of seeds, tools and training. They need to be taught the skills for how to start their own vegetable gardens and grow the nutritious, life-saving food they need now and in the future.
Margarita Parrish
(On behalf of “Food 4 Everyone”)
PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN
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