Here's how your donations have helped

Riverkids children enjoy school because of you!

We transport 25 kids from the Railway II Site to Kolap Primary School by tuk-tuk everyday. Our Housemother prepares breakfast for them, brings them to school and hands the snacks she prepares and the bottled water to the children during their break.

Gradeschool cost for a child which includes school supplies, healthcare provision and relevant staff support is about USD19.29 per month. We are grateful that with the support of our generous donors, these children have been able to continue receiving education in school and are kept safe from trafficking.

Contributed by: Pheakdey

A mother and her baby urgently need help

Nuch* is a female baby in our Baby Bellies Program. This month, she stayed in Kunthabopha Hospital for 5 days due to malnutrition.

She was diagnosed with Malnutrition Protein-Calorie, a severe protein deficiency condition and thus has to be brought to the hospital frequently for check ups. As her uvula has not developed, the doctor recommended an operation when she turns 5.

Her mother’s health isn’t good too. During the hospital stay, she gave a lot of blood to Nuch and as she did not have enough money for food, her health deteriorated and she left the hospital abruptly without telling us.

In view of the situation, our Community Nurse and Social Worker gave her some money for food upon visiting her.

Accordingly, the mother is supposed to have a longer stay in the hospital but because she does not hold a job now, she found it difficult to support the healthcare cost for her baby and herself.

We are monitoring this case and have contacted Khen Klang Hospital to discuss how best we can help her.

Contributed by: Ms Sakona

Nutritious breakfast for kids

A healthy breakfast enables a kid to concentrate better in class

Soya milk is exceptionally rich in vitamins such as B12 which has good metabolic functions. It also has health benefits such as reducing cholesterol levels, controlling osteoporosis and reducing cancer.

For these kids who come from poor families, providing them with healthy breakfast means a lot to them because it enables them to concentrate in class, perform better and behave well.

On other days, our Housemother prepares alternatives such as egg, banana, pumpkin dessert, bread with milk and porridge with egg, etc…

We are glad that with our donors’ generous support, these kids are able to learn effectively in school.

Contributed by: Pheakdey

We received an order to make 600 bracelets and 600 earrings!

With $4/ day from Micro-Business Department, she is now able to provide more for her new born baby

One of the women in our Micro-Business Department who had been learning to make necklaces and bracelets to support her family is delighted that today, her 2-month old baby is chubby and healthy.

While she was on maternity leave a month ago, we supported her healthcare fees. Being thankful and wanting to provide more for her family, she requested us to give her additional work.

As we have recently received an order from a customer from Canada amounting to 600 bracelets and 600 earrings, she is glad that she can be part of the team to fulfill this big order.

She is now earning $4 per day from this order.

Contributed by: Sinoy

Volunteer wished for more time with Riverkids children

"...You find much more here than you would if you were just a tourist." said Riverkids Volunteer, Richard.

Hello, my name is Richard Bellis. I’m 18 years old and live in North Wales in the UK. I’ve been volunteering at the Riverkids project for 5 weeks. This week is my last week at Riverkids and I’ll be very sad to leave. The time I’ve spent here has been very rewarding and I really enjoyed teaching the children.

It was difficult at first. I’d never taught English before but you soon get used to it. I’ve taught several different classes whilst I’ve been here. It has been really interesting to see the children learning English at different levels and ages. I hope that I’ve taught each class something new and that they also remember it in the future!

The work that Riverkids has been doing is very important. I remember visiting the area where the children live with Soklee. It was a very sobering experience but it helped me realise just how vital it is to educate these children for the future. I know that in 5 weeks I can only contribute a small amount, but I’m very happy that I’ve done something to help. The work that’s done by all the staff at Riverkids really makes a difference to these children’s lives.

In the future I hope I will be able to come back with some of my friends to show them the work that Riverkids is doing. Cambodia is an amazing country to visit. Being a tourist here is great fun. But by volunteering you find much more here than you would if you were just a tourist. I just wish that I could spend a few more weeks here!

Contributed by: Volunteer, Richard Bellis.

147 kids braved teeth extraction!

147 kids braved tooth extraction!

On 5 March 2010, a group of 15 dental volunteers came through i-to-i to Riverkids. They provided their dental service such as cleaning of the mouth and teeth. Fluoride was added for better protection against tooth decay and to make their teeth more resistant to acid attacks, plaque bacteria and sugars in the mouth. 147 kids braved teeth extraction that day!

The volunteers did not just provide dental service but assisted to check on the children’s health. 4 boys and 4 girls had small problems with their private parts due to negligence in hygiene practices, so one of the volunteers prepared some medicine for them and handed it over to our community nurse to treat and follow up with the children.

On behalf of the community nurse and Riverkids staff, we would like to say, “Thank you” to the volunteers for their kindness and generous work.

Contributed by: Ritthy

Let's volunteer and make a difference

Volunteers teaching children in Riverkids

We’re two 18 year olds from a small town in Wales. We decided we wanted to do some volunteer work and found Riverkids through the organization, i-to-i.

When we arrived in Phnom Penh, we were pretty taken back with the culture compared to at home. We had no idea what to expect but were looking forward to meeting the kids and getting started with teaching.

We were told that we would be teaching 3 different groups of 6-9 year olds, we were pleased with this as we realised we could repeat our lessons with each class. We did some brain storming of things we could teach the kids over the next 3 weeks but found there was no record of what they had been taught before. We decided to base our lessons on vocabulary as the children’s level of English was not to a high enough standard to tackle sentences.

Throughout the lessons we tried to incorporate games and songs to keep them interested and not lose their concentration. We found that a drawing exercise always kept the kids entertained whilst we continued to test their knowledge on the topic. During our time teaching the kids, we found that in each class there was a wide range of ability and this sometimes meant the better children were held back by the less able. We loved the enthusiasm of the kids and how welcomed they made us feel.

Being so young, we were not use to being called “Teacher” but we got use to it and knew it was the children showing us respect. Everything we needed was at hand and all kinds of assistance given to us by the Riverkids staff and for that we were very grateful. During our time here, we were lucky enough to visit the community that some of the children live in. This was a real eye opener but made us realise why they need our help so much.

We hope we have made a difference to the children at Riverkids and have got so many experiences from this and they will never leave us. We have met some amazing children and made some great friends whilst here in Phnom Penh and can definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to volunteer and make a difference.

Contributed by volunteers: Sally Chubb & Katie Picton

A T-Shirt for you, an Education for a child.

The Micro-business department in Riverkids not only manages the making of craft products, it makes T-shirts to raise funds for children’s education. Yesterday, 18 T-shirts were sold to Americans who visited Riverkids at the price of $5 per unit. With the funds, more kids can now get extra meals, books and stationery!

Contributed by: Sinoy

Best practices for book-keeping

With the donation we receive from all our donors, Riverkids is able to pay for food and school fees for the children, transportation for family visits and children who are ill to the hospital…etc.

We are also grateful to our Accounts Company that provides us with valuable advice on how thorough checks can be done in our book keeping so that we can report accurately to our donors.

Thank you for all your donations.

Contributed by: Pheakdey