Great Contribution From Riverkids

Riverkids was originally set up to prevent child trafficking through providing education the vulnerable children and young teenagers at the community level. This is the mission statement of the Foundation.

However during the organizations work it regularly comes across other issues that need our attention. While preventing trafficking continues to be our fundamental purpose we also now deal with other problems that the community faces.
The following Social Issues crop up time and time again:
Seriously ill members of the Riverkids Community who have no money for treatment
Births of babies to poor members of the district
The passing away of individuals

Riverkids has dealt with a few such cases in the recent past.
The following is one such case:
A 92 year old lady Mut Rum passed away 2 weeks ago in a rented room in the Community. She had been living there with her daughter Nup May (50) and Nup’s husband Norng Buna (61). Nup is the main earner of the house. She washes clothes for a living but the money is small. Nup’s main customers are her neighbors. Norng her husband is disabled and because of this he can not work .This puts a huge strain on Nup to provide for her family. When her mother died Nup did not have the money to pay for the funeral and came to Riverkids seeking assistance. The family also faced other problems. The Landlord of the room initially refused to allow the funeral ceremony to be held at the woman’s’ room. With much talk from Riverkids staff and from the Local Authority the Landlord was persuaded to let the funeral go ahead at the room as the woman wished.

Riverkids does not have the budget to pay for funerals but we could not stand back and do nothing. This woman was a human being and like all human beings she deserved to be buried with dignity and respect. This is not always the case in Cambodia with poor people not being treated properly when they die. The Riverkids Foundation is very sad at this. For this reason in this case we contributed $100 to the dead woman’s family to pay for the hearse, the cremation fee and other funeral expenses.

Riverkids would like to thank all our generous donors who have given to these worthy causes. We very much appreciate your donations and hope that you continue to give generously because cases like these will continue to happen and your support is vital to us.

Football training starts again

Football training commenced again for the Riverkids children at beginning of February after a 2 month break. This program has been running for the last year and is sponsored by Happy Football Cambodia Australia (HFCA). The program is attended by over 35 children from Riverkids. In total over 50 children train every Saturday at a football field in Phnom Penh with the balance made up from 2 other NGO’S Happy School and The Centre for Happiness Children. HFCA pays for the transport and the equipment for the kids.

Already in the short time that it has been in existence significant improvements can be seen in the children. Each has a new sense of purpose and exudes self confidence. It gives them something extra to do outside of their studies. The children really enjoy learning new skills and making new friends. The players because of the training are far healthier and fitter than they were before. The impact for the children as well as being seen physically can also be seen in their attitudes .All now seen to be genuinely happy and each looks forward to training every week. Football gives the children somewhere to “let off steam”. For these boys it is important to have something to focus on outside of school. Without this some of the kids would be tempted to sniff glue or gamble like some of their friends do.

Some of the children have become so good that they were selected to represent Cambodia at the Homeless World Cup that was held in Australia in December 2008. 2 children from Riverkids and 3 from the Centre for Happiness Children traveled with the team and participated in the month long competition. The media took great interest in this story with articles published in both English and Khmer in the national newspapers before and after the tournament. Unfortunately the team did not get out of their group but the children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and brought back some fond memories.
Since the World Cup 3 players have been invited by the Cambodian National team to train with them. It is a huge honor for anyone to represent their country and Riverkids is very proud of these individuals. All 3 players are 17 years of age and attend training at the National Stadium every week. Riverkids allowed the boys to borrow bicycles for traveling to attend training at the National Stadium. The Foundation is extremely happy with the success of the program to date and hopes it will continue for years to come.

SIA Cabin Crew Donates to Riverkids

The members of the Riverkids staff are constantly out and about meeting with the Community. For this reason footwear is very important to the staff. The roads and laneways of the community are covered with glass, nails and water which provide problems for the staff. Because of this fact flip-flops are not suitable. Similarly because of the hot temperatures shoes are also ineffective and uncomfortable. The best type of footwear seems to be a sandal.

Recently Mr. William from the Singapore International Airline Cabin Crew donated 7 pairs of sandals to the male members of the Riverkids staff. These sandals have proved hugely popular with one staff member commenting that they were “very comfortable”. Another said that “Before this a few of the staff who wore flip-flops had cut their feet on glass” Riverkids very much appreciates this kind gift from Mr. William and would like to take the time to thank him.
Mr. William was the first member of SIA Cabin Crew to get in touch with Mr. Jimmy and Dale Edmond, the Founders of Riverkids. The first event that SIA Cabin Crew organized was a funfair for the children at the Riverkids Centre. This took place on the 11th of July 2007. For this Mr. William was able to get other members of the SIA Cabin Crew to help out for the day. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and one that will not be forgotten by the children for a longtime. Since then many other SIA Cabin Crew employees have visited the Centre. They are always welcome because they are so generous with both their time and money. Donations have included clothes, school supplies, food and indeed the children’s personal favorite, candy.

One such regular SIA regular visitor is Evon. Evon is an extremely happy and fun person. She always gives plenty of her time to play and participate with the children. Most of these kids are very vulnerable and have had hard lives even at their tender age. Evon makes each of them feel so special that the children have even taken to calling her Sister Evon. Whenever the children see her it brings a warm smile to their faces. However the opposite is true whenever she leaves but they are already anticipating what treats she will bring them the next time she visits. Riverkids staff really looks forward to each of her trips and indeed all of the SIA Cabin Crew who have given so kindly to the Foundation. We would again like to offer our sincere thanks to you one of our regular donators.

Midwife Spport

About a week ago a delegation from the Norwegian Association for Private Initiative in Cambodia (NAPINI) visited the Riverkids Centre. The group very kindly donated $100, shoes, toys and some clothes. The Foundation would like to thank them for this very generous donation. A member of staff also gave them a tour of the Riverkids Community. Here they meet a mother who recently gave birth to a baby girl.

NAPINI was looking for ideas for ways to help Riverkids. Sophon suggested to them that maybe they could donate the money to supply a trained midwife.
The midwife would work on health related matters in the Community.
This is very important for the following reasons:
Little or no knowledge and information on Birth planning
Hygiene for children is a big problem
Poor and dirty environment in which the people live
Lack of a supply of Clean Water

The duties of the new Midwife would include the following:
Organize small group workshops catering towards healthcare
Assist pregnant women in the community
Provide Multivitamins to the children.
Teach the community how to improve their environment and reduce the spread of diseases.

The impact of such schemes would have huge beneficial effects.
They would reduce illnesses in the children and the Community as a whole.
The healthcare of mothers and new babies would dramatically improve.
Also with a better environment would become a better quality of life which can only be good for the Community?
Mrs. Irene, the general Manager of NAPINI replied to Sophon‘s request,

It was nice to see you last week. Thank you for taking the time to show us around and to inform about your good work. One of my friends that came with me, Mrs. Hege Valen, and her family would like to sponsor a full time nurse (USD 200 per month). The nurse will need to do training (two weeks?) at our maternity clinic in Takhmau and also out in the villages where we examine the pregnant women and teach them about pregnancy, general healthcare and hygiene, nutrition, childcare etc. Your nurse can get copies of the teaching material we are using.

American Dentists at Riverkids

On Friday the 6th of March the Children of the Riverkids Community has their 6 monthly dental check-up. There were over 150 kids assessed from The Alexandra, Blum, Churten House and Family House. This event was coordinated by Kim Lay of the Cambodia Volunteer Services. In total 9 persons, 5 dentists and 4 volunteers were involved. All of these participants are part of the Kids International Dental Service USA and are giving their time free of charge. The team leader is Mr. Robert P Renner .During his time in Cambodia Mr Renner will look at over 2000 children in the Kompongcham and Phnom Penh areas. Asked why he did what he does he commented that “It’s better to give up some of your free time that just to give money and let someone else deal with the problem”
This initiative is very important for these children. The kids who receive the treatment are from very vulnerable families. A child’s teeth are not very high on the list of priorities for their families. Most families struggle to even have enough food to eat so dental treatment is out of the question. Nearly all of the children before they registered with Riverkids had never been to a dentist.

The process for this treatment is as followed:
A Social Worker issues each child from the 4 different projects with a consent form. The children take this home to their parents. This has to be signed by the parents of the child and returned to the Riverkids Foundation. Without this form no dental work would be carried out on the kid.
On the day of treatment all children in alphabetical order are seated in-front of the kindergarten at the Riverkids Centre. The kindergarten area is where the check-ups take place. Firstly the child is seen by the head dentist Mr. Renner. He assesses them and has the final decision on what dental work is to be carried out if any. He marks the work on the consent form. After this the child moves to the next table where fluoride is applied to their teeth. For the lucky ones (the children with good teeth) this is the end of the process. For the others they move to a seated area where they await treatment. Finally each child that needs an extraction or work completed is seen by one of 4 different dentists.

Kids International Dental Services USA has brought a lot of equipment with them to the foundation. Much of this has to do with the sterilization process. The treatment area is kept extremely clean and is regularly swept clean. Used equipment is carefully put into basins of hot water to prevent spread of infection. A new toothbrush is used for each child to apply the fluoride to decrease the risk of the spread of infection from one child to another. Before any work is carried out the child has an injection to numb the area to be worked on. This is administered by one of the dentists. Once the mouth is fully numbed the child is seen. Afterwards the child sits down for 15 to 20 minutes to allow them to recover from the procedure. Here again they are looked after by a volunteer to make sure everything is okay.

Riverkids would like to thank Kids International Dental Services USA and Cambodia Volunteer Services from the bottom of our hearts. Before this if one of the children had a problem with their teeth they were sent to an NGO clinic. Each time a child visited the clinic The Riverkids Foundation had to pay $10. This saved money now however can be put to another use to help in providing the children with a better future. The children can only benefit from this in the long-term.

Mother Gives Birth

On Friday night of the 27th of February one of the mothers from the Riverkids Community gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Only one day before giving birth to a baby, the mother went to Riverkids Office to get the food box and met with Sophon, the Program director of the organization and he told her “to inform me or Soklee when you are going to give birth to the baby”. He also gave his phone number to the mother. The foundation also booked and paid for the hospital where the baby was to be born. The woman attended a clinic for checkups before the birth which in addition was paid for by Riverkids. The baby came so quick that the woman did not have time to get to the hospital and the baby was born at home instead. The mother and the baby were both fine after the birth with no complications. The lady commented after that it was the easiest of all her births and that she “hardly felt a thing”.

The woman already has 4 children ranging in age from 1 to 14 years old. The 3 youngest children are supported by Riverkids. The older 2 of these children study English and other subjects at the Riverkids. The baby is cared for by a minder at the centre. The lady’s husband is not working at the moment. It is unlikely he will get work in the foreseeable future as he has a drug problem. The woman earns money to support her family through collecting and selling cans and rubbish. She was however unable to do this in the last few months of her pregnancy and came to Riverkids seeking help.

There is however a challenging period ahead for both mother and baby. The mother still has no income as she is not yet well enough to work and has to take care of the baby. The husband is still addicted to drugs and will not consider seeking treatment for his problems. Furthermore the woman’s eldest son who is only 14 has started abusing solvents. He has become very troublesome at home. Sophon met with the boy and convinced him to attend a centre run by the Friends-NGO to try to get some help with his addiction. The boy however only stayed at the centre for a few days and then ran away. He is still using solvents and his mother is very worried about him. Riverkids is looking for a generous donor to sponsor this family.
The following is a breakdown of the weekly donation needed:
$
Electricity 02.5.00
Water Supply 02.5.00
Food 08.00
Rice 05.00
Soap & other toiletries 02.00
Total 20.00

The condition for the family receiving this donation would be that the 3 children remain studying at the Riverkids Foundation. In the past the children have been allowed by their mother to beg foreigners for money outside the Riverside restaurants instead of going to school. This will not be tolerated. If it does the aid will be stopped to the family immediately.

Riverkids has set up the project to fill the void left by the community and the Government. A lot of the families do not receive financial support from either. The Foundation is committed to providing a better future for the children of the community. This can only be achieved through the continued support of both existing and also hopefully some new donors.

Volunteers With Riverkids

We would like to express our gratefulness to all the volunteers overseas that take their time out to come to Riverkids whether it might be for a week or a month. Their willingness to sacrifice their time to work with us, using their own money and support to be here with us goes a long way.

Each volunteer contributes in many different ways; they bring and introduce different activities and games that the kids have not known of before. The volunteers teach and contribute in English class, computer class and art class. Through these classes, the kids are able to gain a lot of knowledge, physically as well as mentally. Not only do they learn new skills, they are also exposed to a different culture and are able to learn about a different type of interaction.

Though the kids are benefited through the classes, the staffs at Riverkids gain just as much new knowledge as the kids do. They are also able to learn about another culture, each volunteer is a new experience for them. The Staffs are Riverkids faces a different kind of issue and stress every day, and just like any other job, they get worn out. Volunteers who come to Riverkids help take some of their load off for a short while, as well as motivate their staff to continue with their work. For our staff to be able to meet these generous volunteers who are willing to come half way around the world to contribute to the mission of Riverkids is a huge encouragement to all of us.

I remember walking into Riverkids the first time, I saw all of their facial expressions questioning and wondering whom this random little girl is but yet greeted me with a smile filled with excitement. Each volunteer is like a new adventure for each of the kids, their eyes looking at you waiting for the new games you will teach, or simply awaiting for a hand to hold on to.
Once again, both the staffs and the kids at Riverkids are delighted and grateful to have volunteers come and reach into our lives time and time again. Nothing we do or say can repay all the ways you have affected and left a legacy with us.