Three days in Phnom Penh: Karly Franz

Day 1
The first day I was a bit nervous because I didn’t know what to expect or what I would encounter. I had many questions- would the community accept me? Would I really be able to help? I am 17 years old and a high school student volunteering at Riverkids for the first time.

I am considering the medical field for study after graduation so I was keen on working with the nurse to see if this would be a path for me to explore. After arriving by tuk-tuk, I first saw the smiling face of Soklee, one of the Volunteer Coordinators at Riverkids. She welcomed us and spent time explaining more about Riverkids Project and her involvement with the organization. She gave me a tour of the classrooms and I had the opportunity to observe the kids during lessons. My immediate impression was how intelligent the kids were. They were reciting their ABC’s like professionals and could imitate exactly what the English teacher said after hearing the sentence once! Later I was introduced to the director, Sophon, who went over the mission of Riverkids Project and reviewed our agenda for the next few days. I started to relax as I saw that it would be easy to integrate into this ‘family’ right away.

Around mid-morning, I accompanied the nurse during her visit in which she checked up on newborn babies and pregnant women in the neighborhood. The nurse had a patient approach and seemed well accepted by the community. I was warmed by the smiles and gentle gestures of greeting offered upon entering each house. To go through the community, we had to maneuver narrow corridors and even narrower walking planks through which I could see the strewn garbage from many crowded households. Some families had four walls to enclose their living space but others only had two; they were exposed to the elements year round. This gave me a perspective into the families’ lives and I began to appreciate the Riverkids mission even more as I saw the impact through their work.

I was impressed that these nurse visits were a free service offered to the community. The nurse presented valuable information in the form of picture cards that showed indications of an emergency such as premature contractions or preeclampsia. The picture cards also demonstrated procedures in caring for a new born. I was told that the women did not go to the hospital to give birth so this is the only information they had to alert them to the signs of impending complications.

In the afternoon, I visited the Blum site where I aided the nurse in a demonstration to the children on hand washing (which was being taught so the children would not contract H1N1) in preventing contagion. Once again I noticed how sharp these kids were, picking up the vocabulary associated with proper hygiene. Incredible memory!


Day 2
The day commenced early and my first task was to assist the nurse with a nutritional program. The kids were so cute and sweet and eagerly took in all that we taught them on health and nutrition (which consisted of the basic food groups). I was impressed with the way that the staff was always on their toes when teaching the children and coming up with creative approaches to maintain the kids’ attention and interest. I truly saw how the children enjoyed the class because the staff was able to make learning fun. There was a lot of information to retain and, even though the kids didn’t take notes, they remembered the important points presented.


Day 3

Today we arrived early for the excursion to the water park. The air was charged with excitement. Around 40 of us piled into the tuk-tuks with Soklee coordinating the procedure by assigning older kids to the younger ones. There was a range in ages from 7-17 and all had fun. Even with the language barrier were able to communicate and laugh over the silliest things at the water park. Everyone was so open and I felt a kinship with the other teenaged girls, being a teen myself. We swam, splashed, went down the water slide dozens of times, laughed and overall had an amazing time. At the end of the day when we returned to Riverkids, we felt exhausted, yet euphoric. Saying goodbye to everyone was especially difficult as they were all truly wonderful people to meet. I wish I could have stayed longer and I hope to return again.

This short trip taught me that we all have something to offer and that we each have a responsibility to each other. The staff taught me the importance of working together in improving the lives of the kids and their families. The kids taught me that everyone deserves to be accepted and given the chance to learn and improve oneself.


Dale Edmonds - update on Singapore's support for Cambodia

This is a difficult post for me to write, as I feel a lot of responsibility for all the financial, fundraising and administration support for Riverkids. We've been incredibly fortunate with financial and volunteer support for Riverkids - thank you!

Riverkids started eight years ago in 2001 when my husband and I began helping the local community our adopted children came from. We worked with amazing Cambodians, and within a few years, Riverkids became a non-governmental organisation in Phnom Penh that worked with hundreds of children at risk for child trafficking.

We've been able to do so much with limited resources in part because from 2007, I began volunteering at Riverkids full-time, with my family's financial, practical and emotional support. From twenty hours a week, the workload has tripled.

Unfortunately, due to a chronic health issue, I have to cut down my hours a lot. Some days are great, and some days I am unable to work at all.

We've always wanted to move to a volunteer team supporting Riverkids in Cambodia, and this year we need to step up and get a full team to replace me!

Riverkids needs regular strong support. Please email me if you can volunteer at least three hours regularly a week.

We especially need:

1. A volunteer co-ordinator
2. Database and date-entry experience
3. Donor reports and letters
4. Shop orders and marketing
5. Grant writing and tracking
6. Research co-ordination

Most of the work needed can be done on the computer. We need long-term regular volunteers as the work is usually with sensitive information, and requires training and committment.

I apologise for the lateness in updating and replying to emails and requests. It is pretty tough to step back from something so dear to me. I have had so much support from friends and family in this time, and I know Riverkids will be stronger with a bigger support team.

Thank you!

Get Ready girls touring Intercontinental Hotel

A Singapore volunteer, Adeline, organised an awesome behind-the-scenes tour for our Get Ready girls from Alexandra at the Intercontinental Hotel in Phnom Penh. They went around the kitchens and staff rooms, talked to staff and ate a delicious meal. Tourism is a major industry in Cambodia, and we've placed several Get Ready graduates in hotel jobs. You don't need a lot of paper qualifications, but you need hard work, responsibility and people skills - traits we teach in the Get Ready program.

Thank you so much for the opportunity, Adeline!

SMU volunteers bring the Great Singapore Workout to Riverkids!

30-odd students from the business department at Singapore Management University headed up at 4am from Singapore for five days in Phnom Penh. They've got a full schedule with our grade students at Alexandra and Blum, with puppet-making, t-shirt painting, games, collaging and model building. It all culminates in a BBQ (they're donating portable fire extinguishers to us as well *g*) of marshmellows on Friday.

Bite-sized news!

1. The Riverkids lunch on 22nd July at Valentino's, a wonderful Italian restaurant just off Rifle Range Road, was a huge success. We raised three times our target, with people opening up their hearts and pledges. Thanks so much to Joy Tan and Mei-Lin Chan for arranging the event!

2. Four of our latest Get Ready graduates interviewed and got jobs at Goldiana Hotel! They start as junior housekeepers, and will go for English class afterwards. Riverkids, thanks to RJC's sponsorship, is arranging for bicycles for them as well.

3. We've been able to add English classes to our gradeschool program at almost no cost, thanks to a supply of regular volunteers from another local NGO, Khmer Volunteers. The kids now have art, dance, football and English which keeps them busy and happy when they're not studying.

4. With more than a handful of kids now diagnosed with HIV, we're putting together a new program, Living Positive, for kids and families with HIV. Maryknoll provides excellent help, but if we can, we'd like to help the families lead regular lives without having to move to a new shelter. Advice appreciated!

5. We took in two more weekly boarders this month specifically for attempts at trafficking and child exploitation. We have a couple more for severe abuse, although we're glad to say, some have also returned home. One was a step-parent trying to sell a child, another with a step-parent rejecting the child and a relative trying to send the child to work on the streets.

6. The Botes visited last weekend and fixed up our computer network at the office! We're getting desks and trying to find space for the lab which all our kids will share.

Project SKY and Volunteer Khmer

Three of our Get Ready girls just graduated from a training project run by International Cooperation Cambodia - Project SKY! They had a chance to meet other young people from similar backgrounds who were also making strides into better lives.

They went for life skills training over several weeks in July. Project SKY is a short intensive course to equip institutionalized or orphaned youths with the kind of basic social skills you pick up in a family - teamwork, household management, what kind of work an orphan can get in Khmer society and so on.



Visitors from the Volunteer Khmer program came by to donate stationary and 60 notebooks. Thanks, Kimily and Louise!

Beach trip!

A group of volunteers from SIA's 5Cs volunteers organised and brought our Get Ready girls to the beach in Sihanoukville. We had staff accompanying, plus the usual checks, and the trip turned into a fantastic experience for the girls.

For many of them, this was their first trip out of Phnom Penh. The beach was a hit, and they came back talking a mile a minute about the trip, and most importantly, when would they be able to go back again?

The make-up workshop. (Dale Edmonds: We had a long discussion about whether to teach make-up skills.

We know make-up is going to be something the girls will fool around with as teenagers and young adults. Jobwise, basic pretty make-up is a plus for a young woman here. It makes you look polished and grown-up, and almost all our adult female staff wear some make-up.

But given that make-up can also be used as part of sex-work, we were worried we'd be encouraging them to value physical beauty over inner and that the community would see us as teaching adult sexualised behavior through make-up.

SIA staff have fantastic make-up, as anyone who's travelled Singapore Airlines knows, and I talked to the volunteers about our concerns. They decided to teach light professional make-up, treating it as a job skill and a way to make the most of your own natural beauty.

Talking to the staff afterwards, I was really happy to hear their positive feedback and enthusiasm for the way the workshop was held. Thanks, SIA!)

Dinner by the beach!

Yoga exercises to wake-up in the morning. That's how the cabin crew make it through long flights *g*

Thank you SIA!

Round-up for the last two weeks

• In Singapore, we've been moving and changing things around and in Cambodia, it's been Khmer New Year when Phnom Penh empties as everybody goes to visit their families.
  
  
• Most of our staff took leave to extend KNY and we had staff on stand-by for the few kids who still needed boarding and help, but things were mostly peaceful and quiet for a change!
  
  
• Women On A Mission came up from Singapore to give the kindergarten children a day of fun and made a generous donation. We were able to get all the kids a new (well mostly - second-hand but clean and presentable!) clothes for Khmer New Year.
  
  
• Inflation has hit us hard with rising food costs. The hardest has been the burden on staff. Everyone in Phnom Penh is struggling on salaries that were decent last year and now barely make ends meet. In June, we're scheduled to do a cost-of-living increase and Riverkids' pay policy is to pay exactly in the middle of the range of NGO salaries. We make up for working in difficult and unpopular neighbourhoods with decent health insurance and a really supportive work environment, but keeping good staff is a huge challenge still. We've just lost two great staff to much better paying jobs, in part from the skills and experience they picked up with us.
  
  
• Thanks Elaine Meyers too! You've been a great supporter.
  
  
• We were wonderfully surprised with an unexpected gift of a hundred backpacks full of school materials and stationary. Thanks, Jane and friends - enough for all our grade schoolers at Alexandra and Blum! The next challenge is getting them up from Singapore to Phnom Penh. If you're travelling there, please let us know! We appreciate every spare kilo of luggage.
  
  
• We can't get registered with the Singapore government as a local charity because we would have to commit to spending at least 80% of our income, including international donations, in Singapore or to help Singaporeans. This has been a big blow as we lost as significant grant opportunity because we can't offer tax deductability locally (only in Cambodia! Cambodian corporations, call us!). We're now following up on registering with the EDB or as a society, but it's not at all straightforward. The only cheerful part was that the week of the meeting with NCSS, a local paper reported that one of the biggest local foundations, Temasak Foundation, has the same registration problem because they mainly work in the region too.

A newbie to Phnom Penh

Today was my first day in Cambodia. Dale and I arrived early in the morning, quickly claimed our luggage and headed out of the airport to meet Sok Lee. We exited the airport into the normal sea of people clutching their name signs. As we searched the crowd for Sok Lee, who of course I had never met and therefore was no help in the search, she popped her smiling face out from inside the crowd and guided us through the crowd to our awaiting tuk tuk. We packed the tuk tuk (an example above) full of our luggage and stuff we brought from Singapore for the Riverkids sites and somehow made space for ourselves as well. Then it was straight to Riverkids’ Alexandra site in one of Phnom Penh’s slums. I had heard of the bright smiles of the Cambodian people and it’s all true. All it took was a slight smile from me and in return I received many mouth-wide-open welcoming smiles.

After we unloaded the tuk tuk and dumped our stuff in the visitors’ room, I was given a tour of the facilities by one of the Riverkids social workers, Mr. Chin Chea. With yet another bright smile, he showed me and a few other visitors the Get Ready room with sewing machines where the girls learn life skills as well as the facility for weekly boarding where children whose families are in crisis are welcomed to a safe place to sleep and spend the week. It was so nice to finally see what I have heard so much about for the last few months.

Dale, Heli, and Sok Lee then took me across the main road to another part of the slum where the kindergarten classroom is located. Crossing the main road was an experience in itself; trying to judge how much time you had to get across between the slow moving tuk tuks and the fast moving trucks is a skill I do not possess. I felt a bit like the frog in the old Atari game, Frogger, trying not to get squashed as I crossed. But I followed my expert navigators and we safely crossed the busy street.

The part of the slum where the kindergarten is located is mostly built on stilts so that when the river in Phnom Penh reverses its flow, as it does twice a year, the houses do not flood with the intruding water. There is a nice walkway made of boards elevated above the water line that as built by an NGO. Looking underneath the boards was not as pleasant however as it is dry now and all the trash brought in by the water is visible under the boards.

Back in the main house, the kids were being entertained by a group of volunteers from Singapore. I later joined them as they took the children from the grade school programs on a tour of the Royal Palace. I was a bit taken aback by the blatant wealth displayed on the grounds of the Palace, especially after just having witnessed extreme poverty in the slums. I wondered if any of children also noticed the contrast between their homes and community and the emerald Buddha or silver tiled flooring. Not that I expect children of such a young age to think in such terms, but it was hard for me to stomach such a contrast even though I know it is manifested all over the world including my own country where urban slums can be found within a mile of the nation’s capitol building. Despite my uncomfortable thoughts, the children seemed to really enjoy the tour, especially the fish swimming around a replica of Angkor Wat. Not sure they even noticed the replica at all. :)

Whether they be small things like crossing a busy street or large health risks like living on top of a trash dump, seeing the reality of the slums in person gives me a better grasp at the challenges faced on a daily basis by the families living in these areas. It was eye-opening to me to see the things that I studied about over the last few years in graduate school. I had learned about the vulnerability of children living in urban slums, how they are trafficked, and the risk factors associated with the practice. But hearing personal stories of children in Riverkids programs during a conversation with Mr. Sophon in the late afternoon and seeing his obvious devotion to all these children as if they were his own makes it all seem more urgent. All in all, I finished the day with a feeling of hope. Maybe it’s just my naivety especially since I know how tough it is to fight and reverse many of the intrinsic risk factors to child trafficking that exist in these communities, but I feel that Riverkids has a real influence in the lives of these children.

So everyone donate now! :)

And here's where you can do that. http://www.riverkidsproject.org

Signing off now from the internet cafe,

Posted by Ellie Klerlein (temp employee of Riverkids)

Sewing Workshop

Last December, a group of volunteers from Singapore visited Riverkids Foundation Cambodia and conducted a 2 day sewing workshop for Riverkids parents and the Get Ready girls. The workshop went fairly well except for a few attendance issues on the second day. Read on for a report by Pheakdey, the Education Coordinator at Riverkids Foundation:

We invited 15 parents and 16 Get ready girls. The parents learnt to make the bag and the girls learnt to make dolls. The first day morning all the 15 parents and also the 16 girls enjoy together in the workshop but in the second day the parents had only 5, the others did not turn up because no money was could be earned from attending the workshop. We got different information from the 5 parents that continued till the end of the workshop. They told us when we had lunch together that they were really happy and thanked us so much that we provided them with the skills and materials. With these new skills they will be able to support themselves for the long term and not just for awhile.

We began this workshop because we would like all the parents in the community to trust themselves to earn money with their skills. After one week they know how to do the bags and the flowers so now Soklee (Microfinancing officer) starts the small Micro business with them, and they also got some income to support their family.

Welcome to the RJC team 2007!

Riverkids is delighted to have 23 volunteers from Singapore's Raffles Junior College (plus two great teachers!) staying in Phnom Penh for nearly three weeks. They have been busy writing an overview of child trafficking, preparing volunteer "lessons-in-a-box", locally-made classroom manipulatives and more.

Follow their adventures on their blog: http://projectriverkids2007.blogspot.com/

Quick list update!

• We are gearing up for the first graduation of our Get Ready girls on 15 November. Parents are invited, certificates printed and best of all, we have already found a job for one girl, a business plan for three more, two back at high school and the rest being sorted out!
  
  
• The Hosea consultation has been gruelling and eye-opening. We are doing great operationally, but because we've grown so fast and organically, we don't have systematic structures for decision making and planning. Basically, we need to record down what we're doing so someone else can step in and takeover if needed, and we need to clearly link projects back to child trafficking and put in more monitoring/status reports. Doing it now will save us a lot of time later, and it is pretty simple. I have learnt what a logframe is!
  
  
• All our finances are now going to an external accountant, and we will get January-September's records first, then quarterly detailed statements. Huge relief as it was the most painful part to do because I had to triple-check everything. Now I can concentrate on checking Cambodia accounts to reality and have all the spreadsheety parts done much faster.
  
  
• I am really happy with our spending in Cambodia so far. We need to bite the bullet and hire more social workers, someone to do paperwork only, but all our new expenses - like the weekly boarding house - have been covered by specific donations. We're keeping at our costs.
  
  
• We were very lucky to negotiate rent with the landlord of our current Family House for the house adjoining that they also owned. This is going to be where the weekly boarding and Get Ready classes take place because there's way more room and privacy. The teenage girls boarding will have their own room to share! Also it's got a really nice big kitchen for us to prepare meals and add cooking lessons on. The RJC students going up are going to do up the boarding rooms so the kids feel comfortable and welcome, and help us add boards and posters for visitors to explain what's happening.
  
  
• We have met with several different NGO groups over the past two months, and in every case, people have been WONDERFUL. There are 'turf' problems when your work overlaps or you disagree on methods, but overall, in the past seven years in Cambodia, I've found the vast majority of people working in aid to be open about sharing ideas, resources and advice. We could not have gone this far without so much help. I hope we can be as helpful for other groups. Part of this might be that we usually work only with ground-level staff and small groups *g* like us!
  
  
• The two most likely new sites have been identified and this trip, we'll be firming up plans and a timetable for opening.
  
  
• Volunteers! Karen's interviews will form the basis of our microfinance, starting with three girls and about four adults. Then we have a sewing workshop group in December, more tentatively planned after, football and field trips, volunteers locally for the Riverkids shop and more. A Swedish lawyer is coming for three months to help train and put in a better child and family case management system. I met with a couple who volunteered recently and the best part was hearing their ideas for further work and suggestions.
  
  
• In Singapore, we've been selling Riverkids Shop at local fairs with a good response. We've sold close to US$5000 at them, and we're looking forward to a busy holiday season. DHL have given us great rates for express shipping, so this year, please shop with us!
  
  
• That's all I can remember right now. I leave on Wednesday for the graduation and some big meetings, and maybe this time I'll be awake enough at the end of the day to post!
  

from Karen - a volunteer with Riverkids

Hi Everyone, here's an entry from a volunteer from Singapore who went up to Phomn Penh to help up with our plans of implementing a micro-financing programme in the in the Alexandra community. Here's her story:

This is me, Karen, contributing my very first blog entry to Riverkids Project.

Long story short: stressed out company employee seeks a little time off from work, and then shelves all ideas of a relaxing getaway to join some amazing people on a volunteer trip to Phnom Penh.

The actual low-down: I read about the Jimmy and Dale’s story last year, contacted Jimmy to discuss about Riverkids and the possibility of my volunteering. Unfortunately, I was buried in my work and never got round to doing that. Couple months ago, I chanced upon a writeup on Jimmy and Dale and Riverkids Foundation in the papers - again, and it’s like THE SIGN to me. I was already thinking of taking a break from work, and I thought “What the heck! I should really go do this. If not now, then when?” And then came a chain of emails and a meeting between Dale and me, and it was decided that I would take on the micro financing programme assignment. This would entail interviewing and assessing the families of the Riverkids Project Community. Within 2 weeks or so, I was on my way to Phnom Penh via Siem Reap.

Visiting the slum area where the families of the Riverkids live was a real eye-opener for me. Slums aren’t alien to me as I’d previously seen a number in certain parts of India, The Philippines and elsewhere. However, this felt different. Different because I was not a “spectator” (to put it crudely) viewing from the bus or train or tuk tuk. This time, I went right into the slums to meet with its residents.

In all honesty, I was initially overwhelmed with disgust and guilt. Disgust at the filth and poverty surrounding the kids and their families, and guilt for what we have in Singapore and taking for granted all too often. For 3 days, I found myself balancing precariously on makeshift wooden planks and making my way from shack to shack, interviewing the families. And I couldn’t have done this without the help and company of Sok Lee, a Riverkids Foundation staff, who helped me with the interview translation and made sure I didn’t fall into the river (which I almost did once or twice! No kidding!).

Before I went to meet the families, I must have had like a gazillion thoughts (alright, this is an over exaggeration) swirling in my mind. Seriously, I felt like an intruder, invading the privacy and space of the families especially in the beginning. Yet the mothers of each family greeted me kindly and wore smiles, albeit weary ones, on their faces throughout our interview. And the children reserved their brightest smiles for me! I couldn’t speak nor understand one word of Khmer but it was just amazing how a few of the ladies just opened up and talked and talked while Sok Lee kept up with the translation. And I… I just frantically scribbled away on my notebook.

Going through my notes each night in the quiet of my guestroom, I realised that despite the different sad stories of each family, they were all looking for the same thing – opportunity and the access to it. And in a way, I believed that when they spoke to me in their own language, they were hoping for someone to believe in them, to give them a chance.

Looking back, I have come to admire a people. In a country pushing hard for development yet still grappling with the aftereffects of the horrific Khmer Rouge era, I see strength. I see dignity. And I see hope. In the slums and on the streets of Phnom Penh.

This is my story.

And to the following people who made my stay totally unforgettable, thank you:
Dale, Angeline, Eleanor and baby Sarah, Sok Lee, Heli, Preakdey, Sophon, and the rest of the staff and children of Riverkids

Edunotice by Jolene Erhardt

A little Leaving Note:

Unfortunately my time in Cambodia is up as well as my contract with RiverKids Foundation. My connection to the children and staff is not over though as I will continue to keep in touch through email. I have told the students it is their challenge to become computer literate. Many of our Get Ready graduates will have computer training as part of their next training step. I look forward to their emails.

The students and staff have become my family and I will think of each student each day, forever. Especially the Get Ready Girls who I have worked most closely with.

The last few weeks I have been finishing off the Life Skills Text Book, its about a 300 page document that includes my own lesson plans, worksheets and activities as well as accumulated lesson plans and activities from other NGO life skills programs. I am leaving with a feeling of accomplishment and security knowing the current Get Ready class and the future classes will have a good program and some awesome role model teachers to facilitate and adapt it. (Also, hopefully edit my grammar)

I want to thank everyone at RiverKids, the staff the students and all the volunteers I have worked with. You have given me the most wonderful experiences and I have learned a lot from you. I will miss seeing everyone’s smile each day but I look forward to hearing about all the successes in the future. I love all of you very much.

Thanks so much

Jolene Erhardt, Education Coordinator

RJC Open House!

Raffles Junior College (RJC) held her annual Open House last Fri where members of the public and of course future Rafflesians can visit and explore the premises. Students volunteers from RJC who have been helping Riverkids for the past few months also created a fabulous booth (Look below! Look below!).

I've got one of the volunteers, Sherie Tan, to do a little write up on the day itself:

Hello!

We are a group of year 1 students from Raffles Junior College embarking on an end-of-year international service learning project with RiverKids! As part of our fundraising efforts, we set up a booth during our school’s open house last Friday (5th October) selling bags, paper flowers and small ornaments made by the women from Bloom, and also notebooks personally designed by one of our team members!

We decided to be creative and came up with a “slum” theme for our fundraising activities for the day! Our booth was designed to look like a mini-slum house, with a structure made out of poles built by the boys of our team, covered with a blue tarp. We also got team members to dress up like children collecting “aik-chai”, wearing torn t-shirts and carrying gunny sacks, going around collecting donations. The team did not want our fundraising efforts to be merely just about asking the public and our schoolmates for money, but we wanted them to know the cause that we are fighting for- that is to aid RiverKids in its effort to stop child trafficking in Cambodia. Our structure around our booth was definitely eye-catching and attention seeking and many came by to see what our booth was about!

In addition, we have put up several posters around school to publicise about our project cause and fundraising efforts! Posters include those on toilet doors with the words “don’t push me away” and on lift doors with the words “don’t tear me apart”. We will be organizing fundraising activities for the next two weeks in our school, with an improved business plan after our first fundraising experience during open house!

(: Wish us luck!

Our Booth!

Pretty handmade flowers! Many of our friends were really impressed when we told them they were hand made by the Cambodian women.

Our Notebooks!

One of our posters placed around school

The Riverkids Funfair

On July 11, the very first Riverkids Funfair welcomed over 300 people and was amazingly fun morning!

Several months ago, SIA's 5Cs community service group contacted us to ask what their group of volunteers could do. We needed a short-term intense project that would make use of all those extra hands, and the idea of a funfair - well! Most of our kids have never been to a playground, and their families have few opportunities to be playful or loving.

So SIA's volunteers put their heads together and our staff worked round the clock and we had a big wonderful funfair, the first of its kind in the slum - not the last! Although next year, we hope it'll be easier to organise a second-time round.

We rented a small field across the road from the funfair and had a big canopy erected across it. Posters and decorations and games were all organised by volunteers and staff. Meals and snacks were ordered from another NGO and we had anti-trafficking posters from ION, water hygeine and bird flu posters from the Ministry of Health (all the posters were big hits with the families!) and staff from Hosea came down to watch then ended up pitching in. Children from Friends and PSE also visited us, absolutely well-behaved.


We arrived at just past 6, two hours before anything was meant to happen, to do the set-up and found nearly fifty kids and parents had already turned up *g* We set up games and displays at ten tables along the side, and a little stage at one end for our VIP guests and the speeches.

The highlight for me was the two skits our Get Ready girls performed. They came up with the scripts and costumes and practised until they'd memorized all their lines and did just a bang-up job. Each skit was 3 to 5 minutes long, the first one with children being tricked into prostitution, the next one with a girl getting hooked on drugs, complete with melodramatic death scene! The girls were very nervous at first, then warmed up and did brilliantly. Our kindergarten and grade school children sang songs, complete with hand-waving and salutes - the little ones clinging to each other with nerves. Lots of applause from the other children and best of all, their proud parents.

We were lucky to have several VIP guests, and a senior governor of Phnom Penh spoke about trafficking and working between the government and NGOs. Phy Sophon gave a speech in Khmer, Evon thanked everyone, and then Dale stammered for about five minutes about Singapore and Cambodia and how kids are the future. And say no to drugs! Heh.

Once the formal bit was over, we opened up all the games. Now, we had planned on 150 kids first, those in our program and some guests, and then a second session later on with another hundred-plus from the slum. However, once the games started, the slum kids started to slip in and within half an hour we were crammed full! It was chaotic, but the volunteers and staff handled the crowd brilliantly. One guest came up with the idea of tying string along one side to make out a queue for kids to swap their prize tokens for little toys.

We had a paddling pool with little rubber duckies and fishing poles for catch-the-duck, a lucky dip dart-board (hugely popular!), colouring pages, a little ball-pen for toddlers (they sat inside and giggled steadily for ages), facepaints and balloon animals and crowns. We had some games planned that had to be shelved because of the huge crowd, and my personal favourite, the cards-and-photo table.


This was a table where kids could draw and write cards to their families, then get a photograph taken. Some of the cards were drawn all over, some were just simple "I love my mother" in khmer, and in the entire funfair, I saw one card out of several hundred, lost on the ground. Parents carried them home, and the children - we have a ton of these, printed out in little origami frames for them - taken and shown off and the children asking for best-friends shots and shots with their mums and dads - wonderful.

The kids were really shy at the start about getting facepaint at the star, just swirls, dots and and and by the evening and - at by the end of the funfair, they had full-on football facepaint with giant butterflies, lightning bolts and the works. Very few balloons made it, though!


The next day, the SIA volunteers took some of the staff and the Get Ready girls on a boat trip to an island near Phnom Penh where the village mainly does silk weaving. One of the houses we visited had silk weaving looms under the stilts of the house. The teenage daughters and mum worked on the looms, and they explained how they worked and demonstrated for our girls. The youngest daughter was working on a white silk shawl and she let some of the girls try weaving. The one above is one of our youngest and she's full of energy, bouncing about and laughing. When she sat down at the loom, her whole face changed with total concentration and she was so proud of the tiny bit she'd woven.


The Get Ready girls are such city kids -- the rural village had fruit trees and so on, and they were *shrieking* with excitement over caterpillars, pineapple plants, water buffalos.

Than you, SIA 5Cs!