I remember watching Thida play jumprope with some other little girls more than five years ago. Two of the girls she was playing with that day were sold by their families that year.

Thida laughed when [...]]]>

Her first days at Riverkids, learning to be a kid again after working on the street with her homeless family

I remember watching Thida play jumprope with some other little girls more than five years ago. Two of the girls she was playing with that day were sold by their families that year.

Thida laughed when she stumbled, picked herself up and tried again. Her hair was a riot of curls then, and when she smiled, she was spectacularly pretty. I remember worrying about her, knowing how desperately poor her family was and that some of her older siblings had gone ’somewhere’ already.

But Thida stayed with us, and has flourished. Her three younger siblings – it’s a big family! – are also with us.

Some of Thida's little brothers and their friends hard at work colouring

Thida is one of our best students. She loves school, and studies hard, especially in extra English classes. When she’s not chasing one of her little brothers, she can be found curled up with a book.

Her dream, one that she’s determined to make come true: to become a teacher.

(Please click here to donate. Thida needs US$180 for Weekly Boarding and US$120 for high school.)

Thida’s family were homeless for a long time, and now live in the countryside, far away from a school. They are loving parents, just without an education or skills. We agreed to keep the four children in our Weekly Boarding program long-term, provided they had regular home visits and plenty of family contact.

School is Thida's dream

Last year, two of the missing big siblings showed up out of the blue, a huge relief to their family. They had been taken in by another NGO in Phnom Penh, it turned out. This NGO had told the parents they would only help the children if they gave up custody, and that there could be no contact, a stance we strongly disagree with.

Fortunately, the siblings managed to on their own to track down their family, and Thida manages to see them once in a while when they can after school.

Like most of our children, Thida expects to work to help her family. She might be safe and fed, but she worries a lot about her mom and dad. To make sure she has time to study, we have placed Thida as one of our part-time kindergarten assistants.

Thida washing the kindergarten students' hair, part of her training as a new assistant

Our second kindergarten is opening at Railway Two soon, so Thida is now training at our Alexandra kindergarten. She’ll be able to save the US$35 a month.

From the Cambodia office: “When we shared the good news to her parents who live and work at the countryside, they were extremely happy. So much so that their eyes filled with tears of joy as we told them how well she has been doing in school and has started training as a Kindergarten Assistant.”

This September, Thida will start high school. We would like very much to send her to a private school with a good academic program, but that will be US$500 a year.

Thida’s weekly boarding is US$180 and her school fees are US$120 each year for high school.

From that laughing little girl, Thida’s growing into a wonderful young woman with so much promise. Help her fulfill those hopes.

Please click here to donate.

Read Thida’s essay, written last month and translated from Khmer:

My family

I have eight siblings. My parents were previously unemployed because it had been so hard to find a job in Phnom Penh. We used to live dangerously on the streets, barely scraping by everyday with the little we had until one day, Riverkids and another NGO came to help us.

Now, four of my siblings are in Riverkids Weekly Boarding and my other four siblings are under the care of another NGO. Knowing that all of us are safe in shelters, my parents began looking for a job again. They found a job as farm guards for a wealthy man but it is very far from where we are now.

Nevertheless, my parents are able to visit us at Riverkids when they can. Besides the delicious meals prepared by the Housemother and the activities to keep us busy and happy, I am friends with the other 17 children who stay in Riverkids Weekly Boarding every week.

I love and miss my family so much but am glad that all my siblings are now safe and my parents are able to earn an income. I hope our family will be reunited one day.

Thank you very much to the donors of Riverkids. Without you, my family and I could still be living on the streets.

Please click here to donate. Thida needs US$180 for Weekly Boarding and US$120 for high school.

(Riverkids: As with all our client stories involving children, names have been changed to protect their identity and identifying photographs of Thida cropped)

“I think I’m really lucky,” Kosal told our social worker. “Although we are very poor, I know my mom loves me.”

Kosal’s [...]]]> Meet Kosal. He’s small for his age, but he’s got a big smile. He lives in Phnom Penh in a tiny shack with his mom and her boyfriend – and recently, a very little baby.

“I think I’m really lucky,” Kosal told our social worker. “Although we are very poor, I know my mom loves me.”

Kosal’s mom is a street sex worker. It’s a dangerous job, but most nights she can earn $2-$5, enough to keep them fed. They live with her boyfriend.

Kosal searches trash to make enough for his family's food

He doesn’t work and he drinks a lot, but Kosal thinks he’s alright because he doesn’t hit them, and he helps with the baby.

Kosal longed to go to school, and when Riverkids talked to his mom, he promised he would do well if he got the chance.

And Kosal did. He never missed a class, attended afterschool tuition and studied hard. “I was really happy because I love school,” he said.

Then a few months ago, one of their neighbours asked Kosal’s mom to help. She was a street sex worker too, but living by herself. She’d just had a tiny baby and needed someone to look after the baby while she worked.

But after a few days, the neighbour vanished, leaving the baby behind. His mother, soft-hearted despite how hard life has been, immediately took the little girl in.

Babies need milk though, and Kosal’s mom used the rent money, hoping the little baby’s mother would return soon. She didn’t, and Kosal was now her big bKosaler. He started skipping class to work for the baby’s milk. Sometimes he could still make the morning class, but mostly he was just too tired to think about learning.

He collects trash on the streets to sell for money. Cans are the best because the kids can carry a lot of them in a bag, and they sell for more. It takes hours to fill up one old ricebag with a dollar’s worth of trash.

His Riverkids teachers noticed he wasn’t at class, and when our social worker came to visit and found out about the baby, things got better. Riverkids helped with milk, baby things and lots of support.

Kosal returned with much relief to class. But it didn’t last.

My mom is getting older, Kosal explained when a social worker came to talk to his family again after he skipped class. She doesn’t make as much money now, and I have to help out.

In Cambodia, families believe deeply that parents must care for their children first, and then return that care later. Kosal’s mother had given as much as she could.

Now, Kosal works in the evenings collecting trash. It’s more dangerous because it’s dark, but it means he can usually go to school. He hasn’t been hit by a car like some of the other kids, or had some of the other bad things happen – he’s a boy, so it’s safer. But just last week, he got bitten by a dog. The dog’s owner was kind though, and he helped Kosal go to the clinic to get the bite treated and an injection.

For Kosal, the future is uncertain. He’ll have to say goodbye to his foster sister in a few months if her mom doesn’t return, and she gets placed with a permanent family. He can’t really count on his “uncle”, so it’s just him and his mom.

He loves his mom, and he wants to be a good son. But he wants so much to go to school and be an ordinary boy again.

Change Kosal’s life: We want to provide this family with a foodbox and help, so Kosal can go back to school full-time and have a real childhood.

Kosal’s dream

One month $32.00 Three months $96.00 A year $384.00

Notes:

• Names have been changed to protect identities.
• Kosal’s mother is a street sex worker, a job that brings in $2-$5 a month. It’s a dangerous and difficult job. We are trying to find another job for her, but she has almost no skills or training, and will need support during any training she takes.
• The baby will continue to be fostered with Kosal’s family who have shown exceptional affection and care for the child, for another 2-3 months. If the baby’s mother has not returned by then, we will be seeking a long-term fostering or adoption with a Cambodian family as the first choice.
  

She was far behind on rent and her baby was malnourished because she’d been stretching her son’s milk (sex workers here often [...]]]> A little over a year ago, we met a family near Blum. The father had abandoned them, leaving mum, a street sex worker, to try to keep herself and her 9-month old baby alive.

She was far behind on rent and her baby was malnourished because she’d been stretching her son’s milk (sex workers here often wean their babies very early, expensive and often unsafe in the slums) and was reduced to sugared water.

We got the baby into our Baby Bellies program with extra milk, and helped his mother find a safer stable job at a factory. With free childcare from our foster care program while she was working, she could manage.

She met someone and became pregnant again. Things were looking up.

However, her pregnancy became complicated and she started getting sicker and sicker. Our community nurse took her for frequent health checks at the nearby clinic, and last month as she neared her eighth month, she was admitted urgently into the hospital.

Surgery saved her life, but her unborn child died before being born.

Our nurse is still visiting with her as she recovers at the hospital, as much for emotional support as checking up on her. Her older boy is with us during this crisis, and we will give her the support she needs after this tragedy.

Please spare a thought for her, her little son and the daughter she lost.

On 21 May 2010, Riverkids had the privilege to put 20 of our choir children on the stage of Logos International School to perform. Thanks to Ms. Roberts who made this possible.

The children practiced very hard for that day and it was evident that stronger [...]]]>

20 Riverkids choir children standing proudly on stage to perform

On 21 May 2010, Riverkids had the privilege to put 20 of our choir children on the stage of Logos International School to perform. Thanks to Ms. Roberts who made this possible.

The children practiced very hard for that day and it was evident that stronger team-spirit was fostered during preparation. They all sang professionally and were very happy at the end of the performance.

Logos International School’s choir were performing that day, and had kindly invited Riverkid’s new choir to watch them and have a small part, sparking our children’s enthusiasm at what a choir can achieve.

One of Riverkids children said, “My team and I are so happy that the audience clapped so loudly and that made me cry!”

Another girl from Riverkids’ English Class exclaimed, “It was a wonderful experience for my team and I!”

The colourful Arts and Music T-shirts worn by the choir team were printed and funded by Art Action (now named Freedom To Create). They were designed by a volunteer graphic artist in Singapore and the children now wear them for competitions and performances!

“Lucky” is a baby girl in Riverkids’ Baby Bellies Programme. Her mother is a sex worker in Bung Kak community. When we saw her the first time, she was very thin, weak and sick because she took only what the mother could [...]]]>

8 months in Baby Bellies and Lucky is now healthy, active and chubby.

“Lucky” is a baby girl in Riverkids’ Baby Bellies Programme. Her mother is a sex worker in Bung Kak community. When we saw her the first time, she was very thin, weak and sick because she took only what the mother could afford – sugar water.

We decided to provide her with two cans of milk every month and brought her to the hospital for medical treatment. It’s been 8 months since our support and she has bounced right back to health. She is now a cute, chubby baby who is always full of energy, chuckling and playing with her mother and neighbours all the time. Due to this vast improvement, we are able to withdraw the nutrition support and leave her safely in her mother’s hands.

Thanks to all the donors who have supported Baby Bellies. Without the donation, she would have been malnourished and possibly sold in desperation, as other mothers have tried.

We received a wonderful surprise this month! The granny who pulled her grandson out of our Education Programme in 2008 and vanished with him, suddenly turned up at Blum in May to ask us to re-enroll him.

Two years ago, this granny’s then 10-year-old orphan, S. was studying in [...]]]>

S. showing quick progress in class

We received a wonderful surprise this month! The granny who pulled her grandson out of our Education Programme in 2008 and vanished with him, suddenly turned up at Blum in May to ask us to re-enroll him.

Two years ago, this granny’s then 10-year-old orphan, S. was studying in Blum. S. followed his granny to beg in the streets everyday. He joined our Education Programme for only 5 months and we never saw them again. The neighbourhood talk was that they were begging at the Pailin Province near the Cambodia-Thailand border, and possibly he had been sold over into Thailand. Our social workers were unable to find out where they had gone despite a desperate search.

Today, we are really happy to see them again. S. is now supported in school – he is given study materials, new stationery and bag, school uniform, daily snacks and lunch, and is working quietly and steadily in class.

It is not uncommon to see children disappearing with their parents when something bad happens. But it is always wonderful when they return to ask for help, and even more when they learn to ask for help during or before the crisis! We are glad S. and his grandmother remember and trust us.

In this case, his grandmother is nearly blind and they have no living relatives, so she depends on him to help her day to day, and she is his entire family. We’re looking into paying for food so she can stay at a nearby temple, or for foster care of a sort with a local family, as she currently stays on the street and S. wants to be with her naturally, and is reluctant to go into weekly boarding until his grandmother is safe. It’s not easy as she is a bit difficult due to her age and condition, but she has made it clear to S. that she wants him to have a better future.

S. appears healthy and full of hope. We are very pleased to hear that he wants to be a social worker when he grows up because he wishes to help other vulnerable children like him.

This is a rather belated post, but Mary and several creative volunteers and social enterprise people in Phnom Penh have made a big difference to our little microfinance program. Sinoy has raised the quality controls and improved training so we now have [...]]]>

This is a rather belated post, but Mary and several creative volunteers and social enterprise people in Phnom Penh have made a big difference to our little microfinance program. Sinoy has raised the quality controls and improved training so we now have mothers teaching other mothers, and a small but steady order stream from shops. We use our microfinance program for low-skilled but high-quality work like intricate paper earrings, work that our illiterate parents and teens can do at home for additional income. It’s not a permanent job, but it is the first step out of poverty – Dale Edmonds

Ms. Mary Read is a supporter of Riverkids from Australia visited Riverkids recently. She kindly provided the craft training to 10 mothers and 5 Get Ready Girls.

The training course was very important for them to upgrade the new technique and created new ideas on how to design and decorate the hand craft product to match the heard of the customers and consumers demand.

Moreover, Ms. Mary has brought her friend who working as product designer and market development at Artisans Association of Cambodia (AAC) to do the briefly presentation and provide the important lesson learn to the mothers and Get Ready Girls at Riverkids community to understand more about the customers target on hand craft product quality and quantity demand in both national and international market.

At that time Ms. Mary proposed ideas to introduce Riverkids to join as networking members with AAC in order to have a chance to integrate the hand craft product from Riverkids to international market in the future because AAC has lots members around the world.

Written by Sinoy, coordinator of micro-business

Another donor, Bernard saw our update in Riverkids Twitter and [...]]]> Stop Exploitation Now (SEN) just sent $173.70 to help the mom in need. This amount is part of the $200 donation made by a lovely lady named Ruth to buy food last week. SEN sees this allocation as a perfect fit. Thank you Molly and Ruth!

Another donor, Bernard saw our update in Riverkids Twitter and responded with a $50 donation. Thanks so much, Bernard!

Our colleagues in Cambodia are sharing this good news with the lady and we believe she will be in awe for the generosity shown by people who live hundreds of miles away.

Within hours of the post, we received contribution from our generous donors. We want to thank those who have given her a helping hand in this crucial time of need.

Thank you so much!

Three children and a baby on the way, and desperately afraid for the future

A heavily-pregnant mother came to the Riverkids office last week, and quietly asked for help.

Su* and her [...]]]> The family needs USD173.70 for the next three months to cover rice, food, toiletries, utilities and some new clothes. Please click here to donate.

Three children and a baby on the way, and desperately afraid for the future

A heavily-pregnant mother came to the Riverkids office last week, and quietly asked for help.

Su* and her husband have three children, with another about to arrive. Her two oldest go to school and kindergarten through us already, and are bright little things.

They live in a rented room in the middle of the slum. She does laundry and has also made necklaces for Riverkids’ microfinance program. Her husband used to collect ait-chai (trash) to sell for recycling, but they were struggling to feed their children despite working all hours.

Her husband decided to go to Thailand where a relative has promised work. He left a month ago, and has not sent money home to Su.

We are hopeful that he will return or remit money because he is a devoted dad, and his labor migration is not through a syndicate but family. Still, there’s a risk that like many Cambodians heading to Thailand, he may not come back.

Our social worker visiting with some food and supplies

Right now, things are desperate. This little family have no relatives nearby, like many of our families.

Alone and with three small children, plus another on the way, Su is very scared. The last month has taken up all of her family’s meagre savings.

From our staff: “Each time Riverkids staff visit this family, our hearts will be so moved and we would give her small changes to buy food for the next few days. However, we know that this will not meet her long term needs.”

The family needs USD173.70 for the next three months to cover rice, food, toiletries, utilities and some new clothes. Please click here to donate.

That’s less than US$2 a day to keep three children (plus one very small baby soon!) safe and sound during a crisis.

*Names have been changed to protect their identity.