Who WIll Children's Village Update

We would like to share the  following report and photos from one of the directors of Who Will, with our donors and supporters:

The past year has been as busy as usual and with the completion of our two new houses, we now have what looks more like a village. We have excavated a new pond and used the soil to raise the level of the land in the middle of the six houses and so reduce the risk of flooding.

We plan to construct a gazebo in December to provide the children with another quiet area where they can read, play or just relax away from the more public areas of our village. We are also planning a new market garden to provide sufficient vegetables for our own needs and also have some to sell in the local market. Tree planting projects are also underway, to provide extra nutrition for the children, as well as much needed shade.

One of our children, Noun Dalin, was the first Gifted Child chosen by the newly set up Liger Foundation, and she left us at the beginning of August. She will be educated to international standards up to university entrance level, and will then be sponsored through tertiary education in a university of Liger’s choosing that is suitable to her abilities and chosen vocation. Dalin will return to the Who Will Village for all school holidays, as she has chosen to make it her home. 

We have had a steady stream of international volunteers at the village. Many of them have come through CamKids, and having one of the trustees helping coordinate the volunteer program has been really helpful in establishing this part of the village life. The work done by the volunteers has ensured that the standard of English among our children improves continually. Apart from teaching English, our volunteers have encouraged our children in sports such as soccer, volleyball and badminton. They have also taught them to play the guitar and ukulele, sing and learn craft skills. We are just completing a new volunteer house on site, and this will make the lives of future volunteers easier, as they will no longer be faced with a three kilometre cycle ride to and from the village twice a day. It will also allow the high school children to have English classes after school in the late afternoon since they are at government school all day now.

In addition to our 40 resident children, we also provide free English language classes to around 35 children from the surrounding villages as a part of our policy to integrate with the local population.

Towards the end of 2011, six of our children took part in the 17 kilometre cycle race section of the Angkor Wat Challenge where the boys took 1st, 2nd and 3rd places and the girls 2nd, 3rd and 4th in their group. This year we hope to have a team of 12 children, and they have opted to go for the 30 kilometre race this time.

As well as continuing with ongoing support of the village costs, mainly funded through a very successful child sponsorship program, CamKids also paid for a Christmas party last year, and two trips to the water park in Phnom Penh for the children and the staff. We continue to receive free dental treatment at the IU dental hospital thanks to CamKids as they fund free care there for organisations like Who Will, who can’t afford it. 

Our children took part in The CamKids QB soccer tournament in June this year. It involved other Children’s Centres also supported by CamKids from different provinces, and was a huge success. In fact Jakamo Sharpe, the son of 2 of the CamKids Trustees, chose to play in the Who Will team and we were delighted with third place having never played a tournament before!