Cambodia's children

As you might remember from our earlier posts when we first met Toria and Adam they told us about the Angkor Help the Children Organization (AHCO formerly AOEO) in Siem Reap they were going to volunteer at. Kindly inviting us to join them we organised to visit the centre together after our tour of the temples at Angkor.

Firstly to put things into context it is worth noting that Cambodia is currently the poorest country in South East Asia. Little do people realise that the country has suffered extensively over the last 50 years: being drawn into Vietnam's war with America (where the US extensively bombed and mined rural sites believed to be Vietnamese training camps); the tragic genocide and rule of the Khmer Rouge which saw a quarter of the population (approx. two million people) slaughtered; followed by the Vietnamese occupation of the country. Today the average wage is less that $1 per day with 50% of the population under the age of 50.


With little education and no contraception the number of children being born continues to grow at a rate that doesn't compare with their parents ability to feed and educate them. As a result many children are abandoned, or their parents, simply to poor to care for them leave them in the care of orphanages.

We didn't know what to expect when we arrived for our first day at AHCO. We had planned to spend our few days there getting to know the kids, maybe teaching English and helping with any building that might be needed.

We immediately realised that a few days visit wasn't going to be enough to really help the orphanage. While we knew things would be tough we hadn't realised the extent of need at the AHCO. Relying purely on donations, the orphanage has to find the money on a daily basis for rent ($350 per month - a huge amount), food and clothing for the 18 children it houses, medical care as and when required and school supplies. Mattresses, toothbrushes and mosquito nets (given that the whole country is a malaria zone) are luxuries they simply cannot provide. It is an enormous task that falls on the shoulders of Ly, the director in charge and his two co-directors.

The focus of the AHCO is education and Ly's aim is to educate the children in his care so they are able to get employment as they get older. All the kids are sent to the local government school and in the afternoons they receive English, French and Chinese lessons at the orphanage. Not content to just support those in his direct care, Ly has even opened these language sessions up to the children in the surrounding neighbourhood for free and as a result can see up to 300 children receiving tuition.

The importance of this education is not lost on the children all of whom want to go to school and learn English. Rather than dwell on their past they focus on their future with each having a clear vision of what they want to be 'when they grow up.'

We decided very early during our visit that we wanted to contribute on a long-term basis. We knew we would only be there physically for a few days and couldn't affect much change other than helping out around the place and buying food from the local market so we asked Ly about the future.

Given the cost of the rental, Ly told us his wish was to buy land out of the city where they could build their own orphanage and school with room for the children to play (they currently don't get out much at all), a swimming pool for exercise and bathing and a visitor centre to encourage volunteers. This was something we could help with we thought.

Immediately we got to work on a plan to help the orphanage with fundraising. With the long-term goal in mind we spent the next few days getting to know the kids and gathering as much footage of them and the orphanage as a whole to help us promote and fundraise back in the UK.

During this time we really got to interact with the kids. They had a lot of other international visitors during our stay with them who spent time teaching or buying them presents so instead of duplicating efforts we decided to get 'down and dirty' and do the jobs that simply get neglected.

Day one was cleaning. Toria and I set about cleaning and tidying the bedroom whereas the boys, Mike and Adam bravely took on toilet duty and spent the first two hours dutifully cleaning the three bathrooms at the orphanage and fixing the shower that was broken.

Respect has to go to Mike & Adam for pulling the clothes out of the toilet which the kids were using as a method to wash their clothes. Cue next task...

Day two was therefore washing and sewing. Stopping off at the market on the way to buy some washing powder we arrived at the orphanage and collected all the children's washing (four bucket fulls). The next three hours were spent scrubbing, soaking, scrubbing and soaking some more and then sewing as we hand-washed a wardrobe of children's clothes. The kids themselves were intrigued and got involved helping us with the washing which was really sweet. They told us they had to wash their own clothes which explains the state of many of them. Exhausted (you don't realise how good we have it with a washing machine) after three hours we felt like the task was well accomplished as we hung the clothes on the washing line and while some of the items not have looked that clean they, at the very least, certainly smelt it.

Meanwhile the boys took on helping prepare lunch as well as starting to get some more videos and photos of all the kids for use when we get home.

Day three we had decided to spend time with the children and arranged to take them out of the orphanage for the day to a local mountain for some fun and games followed by dinner at Street 60, a local marketplace. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by excited kids, dressed in their Sunday best (most of which we had washed the day before and smelt great!). We got on the bus (well trailer come pick up truck) and a couple of the boys who had helped us out over the last few days took a shine to us and we spent the best part of the day getting to know Sinh, Siluy, Veasna and Bun as well as everyone else better.

As we arrived at the mountain we realised that we were all going to have to hike up in intense heat. Putting us adults to shame the kids ran to the top and still had enough energy for a game of tag. By then all of them had got wind of our video project and all were keen to be involved so all them, from the age of 6 - 27 lined up for 'their close up.'

After a few hours of running around we headed out for dinner. We were looking forward to seeing a local hot spot and the kids were excited as they had promises of chicken at dinner, something they didn't usually get to eat (its crazy that only $20 buys rice, chicken and drinks for about 23 people). Anyway we arrived at our spot and met Ly who had done a fab job of getting everything ready. It was lovely to enjoy a meal together celebrating with those that we had spent the last three days with. Saying goodbye was heartbreaking and its safe to say a tear or two was shed.

It is important to remember that AHCO is just one of many orphanages in Cambodia and there are hundreds of children in the same plight. We can't recommend Ly and his staff more who are doing everything they can to help and give a chance to the children of their country. If you are interested in finding out more about AHCO or sponsoring one of their orphans check out www.angkorahco.webs.com

It is really hard to convey our experience by simply writing it down but it truly was wonderful and equally humbling. Please check out their website www.angkorahco.webs.com (still under construction) or facebook page and help us help them in anyway we can over the next few years.