Raing Te Kindergarten

Raing Te village is a small farming community in a poor part of Kampong Speu Province. Most of the children in this village attend government school, but the Village Chief was very keen to open a kindergarten to give the younger children some education and a safe environment for activity and play, while their parents are working in the fields. 

Our school at Chbar Chros is quite close, but too far away for the smaller children to attend. When we were first asked to help this community, in 2010, there was an existing building on the site but it needed extensive work to make it usable, including raising the land level to stop it from flooding in the rainy season. It also needed repairs to the roof, walls and windows as well as repainting and other works. 

CamKids has been funding the wages for the kindergarten teacher since Jan 2011 and we have now repaired the building, with the assistance of the villagers, who gave their labour and time to help to reduce the cost to CamKids and our donors. We have also provided furniture and supplies to start the school, along with toys for the children to play with, some of which were donated by parents at the International Schools and other organisations in Phnom Penh. 

As well as providing a safe and stimulating environment for 24 children during the daytime, CamKids will begin teaching English to some 80 students, later this month. We will also be rolling out a number of our medical programmes, starting with our ‘Toothbrush Holder’ programme, to improve the dental health of the children.

Rural Nurse Programme

 

The CamKids / One-2-One’s Rural Nurses team is a female team of four, comprising two Dental Nurses, Sophorn and Vun and two Dental Assistants, Tharvy and Seng Hay. Their motto is, “No Children Cry” and they work hard to establish good rapport with the children.

The team work a two-week rotating cycle with two weeks in rural Cambodia and the other two weeks in and around Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city. This includes the SEAL project that is also funded by Camkids and which will make major impact on the oral health of Cambodia children. 

The team, funded by Camkids, travels with two dental chairs and the MOBILE dental equipment. They are working with Cambodia’s poorest and most vulnerable children and their communities. Providing emergency relief work and oral health education, the team is also equipped to treat simple health problems such as lice and scabies that have detrimental impact on the communities’ quality of life. At times this special team is joined by other One-2-One Dental Staff, depending on the size of the underserved population they are reaching out to. 

The photos shows the Camkids Rural team joined by the One-2-One Team working really well together. 

On a recent trip, the Rural Nurses team treated six-year-old Danet who is a grade two student from Rusey Keo Commune in Phnom Penh. Danet comes from a family of five, and her parents, like most Cambodians, are farmers and her family leads a subsistence life, which means there isn’t money available for dental or medical treatment. For Danet it was the first time she had been treated by a dental professional. 

After her treatment the Rural Nurse team taught her good oral hygiene practices to make sure she takes care of her teeth. Danet was thankful for her free treatment and she enjoyed practicing the new teeth brushing technique the Rural Nurses taught her. Although shy, Danat was happy to share a song, her favourite pastime! It is moments like this that motivates the team to work in such difficult conditions.

Who WIll Village School / Administration Building

We recently received the following report from one of the directors of Who Will Children's Village:

"Since the completion of this building that was majority financed through CamKids it has proved invaluable to the operation of the Who Will Village.

The building is divided into 3 rooms, 2 classrooms and an office / store. The use of the office speaks for itself although it does have an alternative use.  Part of the space can be curtained off to provide a small medical facility where the visiting Doctor can see and treat the children.

We have 2 Cambodian full time teachers and they work with our steady stream of volunteers that is coordinated by Benita Sharpe, a CamKids Trustee.

The classrooms are mainly used for teaching English but Khmer, Math’s and Arts and Crafts are also included in our education programme. 

In addition to our 40 resident children, we also provide free English language classes to around 35 children from the surrounding villages as a part of our policy to integrate with the local population. With the number of different grades being taught we could use an extra schoolroom and this will be a project for next year."

2012 Report & Accounts

The Trustees of CamKids - The Cambodian Children's Charity, are pleased to report that the Charity's Annual Report and Accounts for 2012 have been filed with the Charity Commission well ahead of schedule.

A copy of the report and accounts can be downloaded from HERE.

Please direct any questions about these accounts to CamKids Finance

NFO Rural Schools in Takeo Province

Empowering rural Cambodian children through education and a positive learning environment is the objective for a project that CamKids is helping to fund. Working closely with New Futures Organisation (NFO), a local charity helping to construct and manage schools in the rural villages surrounding Takeo Province, CamKids is helping to provide education where access is limited by paying the salaries of 12 teachers and supplies for the 6 rural schools currently in the programme. It is hoped NFO will build three more schools in 2013, taking the number of children in education from 1100 up to 1500.

An overwhelmingly poor agricultural region, villages in Takeo are often scattered among rice fields and down difficult to access dirt tracks, especially during the rainy season. While education is free in Cambodia, the costs associated with sending a child to regular school is often out of reach for these families. Distance can pose a problem and it is also not uncommon for parents to need their childrens help in the fields which prevents attendance. With no close education facilities available at all, Ben Maur was identified on a 'needs basis' profile conducted by Cambodian Social Services as a location in desperate need of a rural school. 

Constructed in August 2011, the school has quickly grown to accommodate around 80-90 children aged between 4 and 12. The afternoon English classes are run at split times and are taught by two dedicated local Khymer teachers who are funded by CamKids. Lead by the senior teacher 'Son Yang' who has been at Ben Maur since its inception, the students vocabulary and pronunciation skills are increasing rapidly and are testament to the teachers motivation and passion to see them succeed. In addition to learning English, the students are also taught how to behave in a schooling environment, paving the way for them to attend state-run high schools once they come of age.

The teachers also provide a safe environment for students to learn manners, social skills and how to follow rules. All of which are necessary attributes for those who may want a future that extends outside of working in the fields. The success of Ben Maur can also be contributed to the international volunteer programme run by NFO which is designed to provide assistance to the teachers. The children benefit hugely from interaction with friendly and engaging fluent English speakers. In addition to being generous with their time, volunteers also regularly donate much needed teaching supplies to supplement funding from NFO and CamKids. 

Volunteer, Rebecca Kelly (24) from Ireland, spent three weeks at Ben Maur in February 2013 and was pleased to see the positive environment that has been created for the students:

"Helping out at Ben Maur in both a teaching and support capacity has given me a unique insight into real Cambodia," she says. "It's really great to see teachers being given the tools they need to educate the younger generation who are so eager to learn. Having volunteers present in the classroom also helps to open up the eyes of the students to a world outside their village. Teaching at Ben Maur has been a real privilege and it is easy to see the impact the school and its teachers are having in helping to shape their futures."

Sok Kakada's Story

With his routine already planned, sixteen year old Kakada blows his whistle loudly and announces the start of class. He is an older orphan instructor at Happyland orphanage, located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.  Kakada, with the help of his fellow older orphan instructors, lead the stretching routine for the twenty-five participating children.  Stretching is quickly followed by aerobic exercise, games, and then cool-down stretches.  The hour long session leaves the orphans exhausted but full of smiles and cheer. 

Kakada and Happyland orphanage are participants of CamKids and One-2-One’s Happy Program.  Members of the program are teenage orphans who are taught how to instruct younger orphans in their orphanage in aerobic exercise. Benefits include an instruction of aerobic and leadership skills. 

Kakada enjoys working with the younger orphans, “I like to train everyone; I also enjoy the health benefits.” He acknowledges some of the difficulties of being a leader and was at first afraid of teaching such a big class. “But because I practice every week I do not worry so much.  Sometimes the children don’t listen, but my assistants help keep control of the children.” He has also noticed a big change in the orphans over the months, “Before the children could do only a little exercise; now they are full of energy and do exercises by themselves!” 

The aerobic gym session that Kakada teaches is weekly at Happyland, with CamKids funded One-2-One instructors coming by monthly to critique, evaluate, and offer advice. Kakada has been involved with aerobics since 2010 and was thrilled at originally participating in the Happy Program at Olympic Stadium.  He is very grateful, saying “Thanks to Camkids for letting me know about aerobics and to know about the competition in the sport.” 

The Happy Program also provides a monthly instructor training program; helping instructors build up their routines, practice teaching in front of groups, and exchanging advice with other orphans from Phnom Penh. Kakada’s success in the program serves as a model for younger orphans, who love participating in his aerobic exercise sessions.