Q1 2021 Newsletter
We entered the new year with a feeling of optimism and great enthusiasm considering how 2020 had turned out with schools being suspended for more than 6 months due to the COVID-19 epidemic. All school activities and our programs were progressing well for the first two months in 2021. However, things took a turn in March with deteriorating conditions brought about by the resurgence of COVID-19 which led to the re-suspension of school, affecting more than 3 million Cambodian children.
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If children do not return to school and have lessons, it threatens to roll back years of progress and leave the most vulnerable children deprived of education and essential services like our dental care.
The effects of the epidemic are far reaching, affecting the livelihood of the local community and in turn the well-being of the children.
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While our Dental Program is currently providing limited services, our WASH program is continuing with the construction of new toilet facilities with regular visits by the team to ensure that water collection remains efficient. Our Education Program sees continuing improvement for delivery including the use of internet-based video communication such as Zoom and Google Hangouts for the teachers to conduct their English classes in light of school suspensions.
In this newsletter, we will be highlighting the NGOs in Cambodia that have been receiving financial support from us and a donor group in Australia that we have facilitated the use of their donations. These parties are Kep Gardens, CCAF and Club 500. Our dedicated in-country local partner, BLCP, monitors the operations of Kep Gardens and CCAF through regular visits, documenting activities and the verification of expenditure items amongst other things.
Kep Gardens was established as an education and vocational school more than 10 years ago. The school is located less than half an hour from Kampot and not far from the renowned Kep Beach which is famous for its Kep Crab Market, a collection of seafood restaurants and a seafood market by the sea. If you visit, you will be amazed by the sight of vendors hauling crab cages on the beach.
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Kep Gardens is run by a capable Australian couple Janine and Andrew Judd. They are both doing amazing things teaching the children beyond what they would normally learn from attending formal classes in the public school system.
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Children are also taught by an elderly lady to make crafts from coconut leaves so that they become skilful and imaginative whilst not losing touch with their culture.
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The children do not learn about nature just from books but instead have the opportunity to experience first-hand by doing the planting themselves and recording the growth of plants. We all know that learning by doing creates lasting impressions.
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Kep Gardens also provides vocational training for youth with skills which can be used in the construction industry including carpentry, plumbing, metal works and other work ready skills to enable young people to quickly gain employment.
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BLCP has undertaken joint training programs with Kep Gardens to improve English teaching skills including improving students’ pronunciation and class management for teachers from both organisations.
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We find it immensely rewarding to know that the team at Kep Gardens led by Janine and Andrew are doing some wonderful work to make the world a better place. This is Janine and in the background on the wall are values which she is inculcating the children. Her passion and her work speak volumes of her wish to make the children become caring and responsible people.
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Club 500 comprises a group of individual donors led by Jasmine, a former Australian volunteer with BLCP who makes regular monthly contributions via YourAid to support poor students and elderly people in Cambodia. BLCP ensures that aid in the form of food parcels, monetary assistance, bicycles and school uniforms or bags are delivered to poor families and underprivileged primary students.
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CCAF or Cambodia Children’s Advocacy Foundation is an organisation established in 2006 which also receives support from YourAid. It focuses primarily on village-based preschool and informal support classes for students weak in their studies which aim to minimise school dropout rates. Village preschool is important, not only does it enable early learning for the very young, but it allows mothers to go to the fields or to do work to gain an income when their children are in school. In addition, the older children are able to attend school instead of being absent from class to help look after their younger siblings. YourAid’s monthly contribution to CCAF helps fund the salaries of teachers in order for this essential service and several other benefits to continue.
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Our support to these groups is only made possible by the contribution of our donors. As you can see, there is much good that can be done by angels like Janine and various organisations out there in Cambodia and the lack of funding should be the very least of their problems. So, please continue to support us so that we can help deliver the kindness in your hearts.
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