Admiralty's Funfair at Riverkids

It was a bright morning on Sunday, the 23rd of November, when 35 students and 4 teachers from Admiralty Secondary School from Singapore set foot on our Family House.
They had arrived the night before, and with smiling faces they were ready for the commencement of their funfair organised for Riverkids.

This tie-up between Admiralty and Riverkids had been fostered in Singapore, and the many boxes filled with toys and gifts had been collected by the numerous 14 year-old Singaporean students who participated in this event.

The aim of the event was to encourage and emphasize the importance of close family relationships, as well as to remind the community of the dangers of child trafficking. The students from Admiralty had kindly donated their collected toys and gifts to Riverkids, and these were distributed to the children as prizes during the various games held throughout the funfair.

The event began with a skit performed by the Get-Ready Girls. It described how young children can fall prey to child traffickers, and how it is important to have good parental support and guidance in order to prevent children from being trafficked. The girls ended their skit to a warm round of applause, and their act was followed by a performance by some of the younger girls at Riverkids.

Vice-Head of the Toul Sangke Commune Mr. Uk Kema was the guest of honour for the funfair, and he had given a rousing speech which encouraged and reminded the community of each member’s role in society, and how education should play a pivotal role in shaping a child’s life as opposed to child labour. He had accompanied Riverkids Director Phy Sophon to view the various sections of the funfair.

The first booth contained information about the current situation in Cambodia with regards to child trafficking. The visual posters and handbooks described how such trafficking occurs, and provided insights onto how one can spot such suspect behaviour and halt the progress of such acts.

The importance of a healthy familial environment was the focus of the second booth. The vividly-designed pictures and flowcharts conveyed the message that good parenting and childcare starts from the very beginning and can never once be neglected, for doing so could easily result in the livelihood of the child being affected.

The third booth focused on sanitation, with the Admiralty students using talcum powder and liquid hand-sanitizers to demonstrate the proper washing and cleaning techniques to the children.

Education was balanced with fun and games, with the next few booths providing various ball games, origami and the ever-popular fishing game.

Children were able to win prizes by collecting tokens from each game which they won, and collected these prizes from the Admiralty volunteers.

On the whole it was a fun day for the children, and a new learning experience for the Admiralty volunteers who had visited Riverkids for the first time. This partnership further increases the global support for Riverkids’ cause, and goes to show how much the world cares for the safety and livelihood of our children.

Written by Ashvin Raju

Riverkids Volunteer