The Day I Went To Prison In Cambodia
Imagine this. Imagine small children in prison. Really. That’s what I saw when I visited the Siem Reap provincial prison along with Se Chhin the Deputy Director of my NGO Partner This Life Cambodia. How could this possibly happen? That’s exactly what I asked Se. Here’s what he had to say: Here in Cambodia, if women […]
Avoiding the Risks of Early Marriage
Early marriage … sometimes for girls as young as 15 or 16 (or even younger) is a clear-cut pathway into continuing poverty. The pressures of tradition and the need to help support the family can be HUGE. All too often girls in Cambodian villages end up in early marriage long before they have the ability […]
Shelter Can Be Life Changing
It gets incredibly hot in Cambodia. And when the rainy season arrives, the rainfall is intense. For kids who play outside, these weather extremes can cause problems throughout the year. That was the challenge facing our NGO Partner, the Grace House Organization. They had a good place for their 200 kids to play outside, but the […]
The Importance of Soap
Hygiene is a crucial issue Today I want to talk about soap . . . yes, soap . . . something we all take for granted. But what would life be like if we didn’t have any soap? Let me tell you what I saw while visiting some Cambodian villages. To put it bluntly I saw lots […]
Listening to the Kids
One of my favorite NGO Partners in Cambodia is Anjali House. The leader there is Nadi. Nadi has a challenging job for sure. Just imagine caring for and educating more than 200 local village kids every day. Recently, Nadi did a survey of those kids. Today’s report is about what those kids had to say about their experience […]
The Power of Partnership
Many of you know that “partnership” is an essential element of the work we do. In this spirit of partnership, we work with carefully vetted, local, grass-roots NGOs (non-government organizations) to help them become stronger and more sustainable. Sometimes that partnership means funding. Sometimes it means training, consulting, or coaching. Sometimes both. Our goal is clear. […]
The Awesome Power of Scholarships
University scholarships are a clear pathway out of poverty. So, you won’t be surprised to know that we fund a lot of scholarships. Sometimes more than 20 in one year. Many are for promising young people – mostly girls. Others are for staff capacity building for our NGO Partners. Always, without fail, these scholarships carry […]
Helping Abandoned Children
Here in Cambodia, “orphanages” are often viewed in a well-deserved, unfavorable manner. In way too many cases, so-called “orphanages” are simply scams run for the benefit of the sponsor, not the kids. Here’s a video that makes that point vividly clear. Don’t Create More Orphans Fortunately, in contrast, there is our NGO partner in Siem […]
Special Care for Special Kids with Special Needs
Today I want to talk about about kids with developmental issues … kids with learning disabilities … kids with special needs. They show up in all cultures and all countries. If you’re one of those kids in Cambodia your chances for skilled, professional care are somewhere between slim and none. That is, unlessyou happen to […]
These Kids Crave Education
All too often when I was growing up school seemed like such a drudge. With most of my friends feeling the same way, that only reinforced my attitude. Why did I view education that way? I’m really not sure. Perhaps a partial explanation is that when I grew up education was a “given.” Always there. […]
A Safe Haven for Marginalized Women
In Cambodia it’s not unusual for impoverished women to find themselves in difficult situations. Often, it’s financial. Sometimes it’s a bad marriage. Sometimes it’s domestic violence. Often it is a combination. Worse yet, where do they go for help? The government offers nothing. Their small village has no resources for them. They are stuck. Fortunately, […]
Only 23 More to Go!
A few days ago, I wrote about the new toilet block we provided for a village school in Cambodia. That was certainly good news for the kids and teachers there. It would be an understatement to say they were excited. Without a doubt, we’re proud of what we accomplished. Now, I want to get even […]
