Seeing hope for a better future despite many challenges

When an opportunity arose to travel to Phnom Penh for a week and document Riverkids various projects through photographs, I jumped at the chance.

I first heard about Riverkids through a newspaper article, and when I looked further into the organisation I was impressed with how much it seemed to be achieving on a tight budget.

But to see first-hand the huge smiles on these children’s faces, as well as the clear appreciation of Riverkids’ work in the surrounding community, was inspiring.

So many little things showed me how important Riverkids has become to this area of Phnom Penh - like the pride with which the weekly boarders wear their state school uniforms; the joy on the face of an 11 year-old as he executes a flip in gymnastics class and receives a high-five from the volunteer instructor – and his determination to flip higher next time; the concentration on the faces of a group of young women as they listen to the community nurse’s sex education talk; the waves of greeting to Riverkids staff as they pass through the community on their way to visit a mother with a malnourished baby or a family which is struggling to keep a child at school because they need the money he would otherwise earn scavenging tin cans; the giggles as a group of young girls struggle to balance during a breakdancing class; the urgency in the voice of the HIV-positive and cash-strapped mother, as she explains that the huge hole in her roof means the family cannot sleep when it rains….she was all I could think of that night when a thunderstorm suddenly hit Phnom Penh.

I expected my trip to be confronting and depressing and although in some measure it was both of these, the overwhelming emotion I felt was hope – hope that the children whose families are involved in Riverkids programs may, through access to education, financial, medical and social support, escape the poverty trap and map out a safer future.

I felt privileged to be welcomed into the homes of families with so much less then me, yet who were still ready with a smile and gesture of greeting to a strange Australian wielding a camera.

I felt fortunate to be able to see, in such a short time, so much of what Riverkids staff do – and they certainly do a lot!

And I felt honoured to be alongside a team of staff who are so dedicated to their work and who are making such a difference to so many lives.

Thanks to all the Riverkids staff for their warm welcome, and particularly to Sophea, who made sure my camera captured so many of the different projects undertaken by Riverkids, and to Sopheak and Mel Sakorna who made sure I always crossed the road safely, translated constantly so I understood what was going on, and introduced me to Cambodian iced coffee.

Contributed by: Caroline