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Fixing and supporting orphanages
With the help of local and foreign volunteers coming from various countries and walks of life, we upgrade the facilities of orphanages that we regularly provide with basic foodstuffs and educational materials. This often involves fixing and painting the inside and outside of the buildings, planting flowers or vegetable gardens, fixing toilets, building volleyball courts or playgrounds for children, leaving behind what then looks like a new residence instead of some old orphanage.
We have replaced sidewalks and built kitchens for orphanages.
We involve local businesses in the community, as well as the orphan children themselves, so everyone lends a hand contributing to fixing and repainting the quarters.
By providing the wood, roof tiles, paint, brushes and rollers, and necessary tools involved in the upkeep of their living quarters, the kids thus also earn a sense of pride by being a part of the process.
Through the help of many businesses and friends, we regularly deliver donations of bread, juice and other foodstuffs, and also host special meals for the orphans. Additionally we provide shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, etc. And instruct the children in the basics of cleanliness and personal care. What was once a straw and mud construction now has a cement floor, doors, windows and a fresh coat of paint. What a difference these changes have made!
IT and Culinary Arts programs for Orphans Our purpose this is to introduce Cambodian orphans to the world of Internet and email, allowing them an opportunity to acquire skills that would enable them to obtain better jobs through their advanced skills, ability to communicate in English and other languages and to develop professional confidence.
As part of these programs, we have also initiated a week-end secretarial training program where we teach the children of various orphanages, typing, secretarial skills, and computer literacy. We also offer English classes to help them not only understand the IT and secretarial training but to be able to converse in English with their future employer and clients. Regular Cambodian workers may earn around $ 20 - 30 a month. With English speaking skills, they can earn up to $100. And with IT training as well, they can soon earn $150 - 300.
We also teach the children culinary arts with the help of volunteers from various countries who have volunteered their cooking skills to teach the girls special dishes from different countries. Sponsor A Child Program We assist as many children as we can, but we could do a lot more with your help. While we may be small as compared to other Sponsor A Child agencies, no one else offers this: 100% of what you give through this program goes to help a child! -- That's right, no overhead whatsoever! Here are some beautiful, needy Cambodian orphans who need your help:
Above are just a few of the many needy children you can help us assist. (see more) -$10 will provide the child with a month of school supplies, transportation, snack and drink at break time. -$15 will provide the child with the above, plus basic necessities like soap, shampoo, deodorant etc. for a month. -$20 will provide a month of all the above plus new clothes, socks, underwear and cologne. -$240 will sponsor a child for a year. Besides all the above, the child will also be able to put some money aside to buy a bicycle to go to school, get a watch, and pay for extra courses allowing them to acquire new skills or improve their English. Cornerstone Project Managers insure that all financial donations go directly to each child at the beginning of each month and supervise the way it is spent. Nurturing Self Worth and Respect in Cambodian Orphans It all started at a French restaurant in Phnom Penh, where we met French Canadian artist, Richard Trembley, who offered to give free Creative Art classes to the orphans of the Kolap 4 orphanage at our Tuol Sleng center.
Each Saturday for a year, Richard taught art to these orphan children. Not only did it help the children learn to draw and paint but it also instilled in them that they have something unique and valuable that they can contribute to society.
Recently, a friend of Richard’s, who is the UNDP senior representative and advisor at the Cambodian House of Senate, organized an exposition of the orphans’ artwork, which was viewed by many VIPs including: Prince Sisowath, (who distributed gifts to the children for their participation), Her Excellency the Chairwoman of the Parliament, members of the National assembly, senators, and the media.
Among the ways the money raised from the sale of the children’s paintings was put to use was a cultural and educational event that we organized for them. A team of 85 orphans, who had rarely left their orphanage before this, participated in a 2-day excursion that included visits to some of the most beautiful temples of the Angkorian civilization, including the famous Angkor Wat temple.
Assistance to the Poor and needy
Partnering with Other Agencies Once upon a time in a rich and distant land called Singapore, it was holidays, and the people desired to do a good thing. Many wished to help the needy of surrounding countries during this time but did not know how to go about it as they were far away. So they contacted Family Care's Cornerstone Project in Cambodia, experts at this kind of venture.
First the SCS (Student Care Services) of Clementi
and Yishun asked us to help them organize a two week visit
during which they spent their time helping us in the various
poor institutions we assist. Then it snowballed. Word of mouth
spread around and some of the first volunteers organized new
teams and chose to come work with our project. We helped them
find inexpensive accommodations; we worked out their daily
transport to the institutions, we took care of their meals,
and we organized their activities according to their skills
and the needs of each institution they had chosen to help. The most recent St John Ambulance Brigade came and gave Hygiene and First Aid classes to 450 poor children. They also distributed first aid kits, stationeries, toys and clothes, food and drinks, and many other needs to the children. A TV station and two reporters from Singapore came to cover the event and a few local Chinese newspapers wrote articles. The closing ceremony was also covered by local TV and attended by many VIPs who presented Cornerstone and directors plaques expressing their gratitude.
This was followed by a team arriving from the Raffles Junior college who came to discuss their upcoming trip where they will bring students and teachers to assist us in our work with the orphans.
Arriving soon thereafter was the St Andrew's Junior College team of 15 teachers and students who came and helped us fix the roof and ceiling of the orphanage Kolap 4, and also provided each of the orphans with soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes. Additionally they provided new mattresses, did many activities with the children, and helped us do some repainting of dormitories at the Kien Kleang orphanage and paint murals at the Sisters of Charity village school. Now we are receiving and assisting in organizing volunteers from Hong Kong three times a year, from Singapore 4-5 times a year, from USA 2-3 times a year, and recently volunteers from France, England, Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Romania, etc. If you wish to spend some of your holidays in such a meaningful way contact us for more information at our FCCP email address: fccp@online.com.kh My First Shoes Recently a FCF project in Japan received a donation of 18,000 new pairs of shoes, earmarked to be sent as humanitarian aid to the Third World. Two companies packed these for shipping and a Singaporean company shipped them to Cambodia for free.
Here are some of their reactions and personal accounts of life in Cambodia, translated from Khmer: Today the barangs (foreigners) came. They
gave me two pairs of new shoes. They asked me to give them
my old pair so they could send it back to show to their donors,
but I had to tell them that even though I am nine, I never
had any shoes. My parents are too poor to afford shoes. Only
my dad has old plastic sandals because he needs them for his
job as a moto-taxi (motorbike with sidecar) driver. My mom
walks barefoot, and so do my six brothers and sisters. On
Sunday we all climb on the moto and go for a ride. It is lots
of fun. My youngest brother stands in front of my dad, and
I sit behind him and hold my younger sister, right in front
of my mom, who carries the baby in her arms. My two other
sisters sit behind on the rack with all the food and things.
We are one happy family. We don't have much, but we appreciate
what we have and have learned to make do with it.
Today the barangs came with some of our government
people, so I went with my mom and dad to see them. My brothers
and sisters stayed home with my aunt and my grandmother, who
also live with us. Our house is not fancy, but it is ok. The
good thing about living so many in one room is that you never
get cold even when the rainy season comes. Yes, our house
has only one small room, just big enough for us to sleep side-by-side
on the wooden floor. It is well situated by the edge of the
Mekong River, so we don't have to go too far to get water
to wash or drink. Our toilet is just next to the house. The
other advantage is that we don't have to move when it is flood
season. Every year it floods here, and all the farmers come
to our road--the only road in the province that doesn't flood--and
camp in tents for a couple of months with their families,
cows, and other animals. When the waters go down, they go
back to their rice fields. I am grateful for our little house
by the river.
I was a little scared because I hadn't seen
so many barangs at one time. There were six of them, but I
felt safe because we were 3,000. Each family had been asked
to send one representative to receive things, so many people
came from all around, mostly by boat, of course. A television
crew was also there, so I figured they must be somebody important.
The Cambodian people who were with them talked about the Red
Cross and Cornerstone helping us and caring about us, and
they gave us many things to bring back home: rice, shoes,
jerry cans, soap, sarongs, blankets, mosquito nets, water-purification
tablets, and other things. They told us not to use the mosquito
nets for catching fish because they were soaked with insecticide,
and that we could use the blankets to sit on and eat our meals. Today our moto was totally covered with gifts.
Things were stacked 2 meters above our heads, and lots stuck
out the sides. I had hardly room to sit on it. A barang woman
from Cornerstone came toward me, but I wasn't afraid because
she had love in her eyes. She spoke Khmer a little, and she
put nice shoes on my feet. My first pair of shoes! Wow!
To donate to this Family Care Foundation Project, please note Project NAME and then click here. |
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