Everyone has seen an advert on a lamppost advertising a scrap car scam, but did you know that there is an ethical and environmental way to get rid of your unwanted car, whilst raising money for charity? CamKids has just partnered with Giveacar to launch an exciting new fundraising initiative that will pick up any vehicle, from anywhere in the UK for free.

If you have an unwanted car, Giveacar arranges for the free pick-up and disposal or auction of your vehicle, and a donation generated from the sale or scrap of the car is then directed to CamKids. Every car that is disposed of through the scheme is recycled to high environmental standards and could raise an average of £80.

Do you have a vehicle, in any condition, taking up space in your garage or drive? If so, why not use it to raise money for CamKids and support us to provide services for children in Cambodia? This month alone, generous donations of unwanted cars from the public will raise over £30,000 for UK charities. By raising awareness of this free and easy car donation service with friends and family, you can help us reach our fundraising goals this year.

To donate your scrap car to CamKids, simply call Giveacar on 020 0011 1664 and quote ‘The Cambodian Children’s Charity’ as your chosen charity. If you have any further questions about CamKids’ Giveacar appeal, please call the Giveacar team or see their website at: www.giveacar.co.uk.

CamKids Winter 2010 Newsletter

In our latest Newsletter we introduce our 2 new Cambodian fieldworkers, Nareth and Vannak, who will be heavily involved in new community development projects by CamKids. Building upon the medical, education and community support programmes which we have already put into place, this new direction for CamKids goes directly to the heart of the problems we see everyday in Cambodia, by helping whole communities to work together to solve their problems. A relatively small injection of funds into this type of project can yield enormous benefits and improve the life chances of the very poorest in Cambodian society.

The Newsletter also includes a roundup of some of our most recent projects and programmes.

To access the Newsletter, please click Here or Contact Us and we will send you a copy by e-mail. If you sign up to our Newsletter Here, you will receive your copy by e-mail every 6 months (your details will not be used for commercial or any other purpose).

Thank you once again to all of our donors and supporters, without whom none of this would have been possible.

With Best Wishes for the Holiday Season
The CamKids Trustees

EXTRA DATE - Al Murray Xmas Special "Compete For The Meat" Benefit Show for CamKids

DUE TO HIGH DEMAND FOR THE 8 DECEMBER SHOW - AL WILL BE PUTTING ON AN ADDITIONAL SHOW ON THURSDAY 9 DECEMBER.

CamKids' Patron, Al Murray, has some exciting news for our supporters:

Cheers! It's the Guv'nor here!

I am bringing my sold out, smash hit Edinburgh quiz show, "Compete For The Meat" to London for 2 Xmas Specials in aid of CamKids, at the George IV Pub in Chiswick on 8th & 9th December.

For tickets, please visit: www.seetickets.com/Tour/AL-MURRAY-S-COMPETE-FOR-THE-MEAT-XMAS-SPECIAL

Al Murray Xmas Special "Compete For The Meat" Benefit Show for CamKids

CamKids' Patron, Al Murray, has some exciting news for our supporters:

Cheers! It's the Guv'nor here!

I am bringing my sold out, smash hit Edinburgh quiz show, "Compete For The Meat" to London for an Xmas Special in aid of CamKids, at the George IV Pub in Chiswick on 8th December.

Only 60 tickets up for grabs - limited to two tickets per person, first come, first served!

Grab your tickets right now! Loads of prizes and surprises and a great raffle & auction!

Please contact: Gail Taylor gailt@avalonuk.com, for payment instructions.

Kais Medical Hut

Recently, 2 CamKids' trustees, who are still living in Cambodia, visited Kais Village with some sandpaper, pots of paint, rollers, brushes and 2 volunteers who were part of the original team that built the Medical Hut at the orphanage in 2006.

The Medical Hut is used daily by the now on site nurse and used by the doctor who still visits once a week to check on the babies, toddlers and older children. Whilst the inside of the Medical Hut has still retained the beautiful smell of freshly varnished timber, the outside had taken a battering over the years from the harsh weather conditions. The Directors of Kais asked that, if we could possibly find time to rejuvenate the tired exterior, they would greatly appreciate it. Sunny, one of the Directors of Kais, also mentioned that the Ministry of Health love the little Medical Hut and wanted to know where they could get one. Since it was imported from Estonia to London to Ipswich to Cambodia, it’s not that likely, which makes the maintenance even more imperative.

Moya and Lois, 2 volunteers who were here in 2006 helping with the original project, happened to be back in Cambodia for a month, bringing donations for CamKids projects and teaching at one of the centres CamKids helps to support. In fact, all paint and materials were bought with some of the money the ladies had brought from generous donors in Australia.

When Moya and Lois were told of the plan, they jumped at the idea of not only seeing the children again, but getting their hands dirty on some practical level.

The kids from Kais joined in and it was a great weekend, with the end result being a newly invigorated Medical hut. We hope it will serve Kais and its children for many years to come. Enjoy the photos.

NFO Farm Project

In January 2010 a small farm was started at NFO with money donated by Sorell school in Tasmania, Australia. Moya Sharpe a teacher at the school and supporter of CamKids has been working with the Sorell children to raise money for disadvantaged children in Cambodia.

The space available for farming at NFO is not large and so it had to be cleverly planned to make the most of the space available. There is now large chicken coup situated over one side of the existing pond. This houses a mixture of chickens in three separate areas - those for consumption and egg laying chickens. The excrement from the chickens that drops through the bamboo flooring gives nutrients to the pond below.

The pond is regularly pumped to oxygenate the water. (Pump also supplied through CamKids from another generous Australian donor). This involves running a pipe to the middle of the pond from another existing pond on adjacent land. There are now many more healthy fish in the pond.

A small pigsty has been added to the area. This is home to a sow donated by Kais Kids in Kampong Speu which CamKids helps support, and two more small sows.

A small vegetable garden has been put in place which grows all sorts of things from local herbs to morning glory and there are even a few banana trees.

The ultimate aim of the farm is to help NFO become more self sustainable. The farm won’t necessarily lower the cost of the food bill but is intended to supply better nutrition for the children and will provide invaluable vocational training for many at the Centre.

We think that the secret aim for Neville the director of the centre is to provide himself with a full English breakfast!

Bacon, eggs, tomatoes - not sure about growing baked beans though – good luck Nev!!

New School Building at Who Will Children's Village

In the summer of 2010 CamKids, along with a Hong Kong based charity called the Sakka Foundation, completed the building of a school, office, and toilet block at Who Will Village.

Who-Will Village is set up as a group of houses with 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen/dining/living area in each house. As the children have been learning English now for the past year it became clear that the lessons couldn’t continue in the common area of one of the houses, as it was too disruptive to the house and also too tight for space. Who-Will were also keen to involve the local community in the classes and this could obviously not be done in their homes. Also there was nowhere for the new village director Saroeun to do his work and keep all the files etc.

Therefore it was decided that a new school building was necessary, as it would not only be invaluable for Who-Will, but also the wider community. The school is situated away from the children’s homes and alongside the school is a football pitch (donated by CamKids' supporters Chris Dobson and Silje Hoyden), where the village children and children from the centre can play together. CamKids made a donation of $25,000 for the school building and the Sakka Foundation donated $5,000. The schoolhouse now consists of two large classrooms, one of which will eventually become a computer lab, a large office, storeroom and bathroom, which will also be a facility for a visiting doctor to treat the children.

Who-Will are absolutely delighted with the new building and the children can’t wait to get to their extra classes once Khmer School in the local village is finished. Half of the children attend Khmer School in the morning and half in the afternoon, so English classes are held in both a morning and afternoon session. Who-Will have a fabulous Cambodian lady to teach English and she is now supported by a growing number of visiting volunteers (one month minimum stay required).

The first classroom and the office were furnished with a generous donation from Tom Gillespie, a CamKids donor, a large water tank was donated by Swiss XI directly to WW and funds for the Pagoda over the adjacent fishpond, where the village kids can keep out of the sun while waiting for classes, was donated by Elizabeth Scott, Mika Street and their friends.

The school was blessed by the local monks in a ceremony in June, just after the building was completed and we are pleased to see that a few monks now attend the English classes, as do many of the local village children. Free English classes are always very popular here in Cambodia!

Al Murray CamKids Golf Classic Fooore

On a miserable day in Surrey on the 24th of September, an amazing event occurred. The fourth annual Al Murray CamKids Golf Day was held at Effingham Golf Club. If you were to believe Al’s rhetoric, we had some of the world’s smallest men playing as well as some of the world’s oldest men and even a couple of pickled eggs joined in, one of whom took second place on the day. The entertainment was fantastic and was only matched by the generosity of all who attended a very special day.

In pouring rain, the golfers made their way out to their respective tees in surprisingly high spirits. Even given the weather conditions, the golf was actually, generally of a higher standard than last year. The cold and rain had failed to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm as they returned to the clubhouse eager for a shower and a beer, not necessarily in that order.

There were many financial forfeits incurred throughout the evening for crimes against golf. A memorable one was a golfer fined for, after having three attempts to get out of a bunker, actually picking the ball up and throwing it out! Shameful! Thankfully his teammates were on hand to report the incident and cost him some money.

It was an evening of first class entertainment as Al weaved his usual magic and insulted just about everyone in the room. Several regular teams were unavoidably unable to attend this year but actually sent through donations in their absence, which we greatly appreciate, and those who were able to attend were incredibly generous as Al gently coaxed money from everyone. The end product resulted in an absolutely amazing profit on the day of over £13,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our deepest thanks go out to:

Al, our Patron, for his tireless work on the day and for his invaluable ongoing support

Our volunteers - Gail, Lisa, Adam, Big Bob, Louise, Win, Ruby and Sam.

Steve Hoatson and all the staff at Effingham Golf Club

The golfers and friends of the charity who could not make the day and yet still donated

All our donors – Fullers, Cadburys, Brian May, Nicky Clarke, Phil Collins, Mark Hughes at the Real Wine Company, Warehouse, La Trompette, Conran’s Bluebird Café, Michael Nadra’s restaurant in Chiswick, Theory, Adam Booker, RAF Cranwell, Snappy Snaps Chiswick, Charlottes Bistro, Cote Brasserie, Chiswick Computers, Melbury’s, Maken Bros Chiswick, Big Jim’s Big Trims, Lauren Fleet, Francesca Murray, Pete Kovacs, Craig Birch, Elemis, Ark, Love Film, Space NK, Club Petit Pierrot, Nicolas in Wimbledon, Westwood Rocks Wimbledon, Zecca Chiswick, Emma Bridgewater, Jeanne Clenet, Pop School and Stage Academy, Pilates Life, John Caiger, Richard Collins, Gardenia Wimbledon, Cath Kidson Wimbledon, Joanne Pinkess, Joules Wimbledon, Smith Bros Wimbledon, Lochfyne Fishmongers Wimbledon, Wimbledon Books and Music, who generously gave prizes for the golfers, the raffle and the auction, without which we would not have had the facility to raise the money we did and, finally......

the golfers, without whom there would be no golf day! SEE YOU ALL NEXT YEAR!

The CamKids Trustees

CamKids and One-2-One SMILE Project

CamKids and One-2-One have embarked on another ambitious, but incredibly essential and effective community health development project in Kampong Speu Region. The following short report and accompanying photos were sent to us by one of the directors of One-2-One. Reports of progress on the project will follow as it progresses.

Kampong Speu is the first community for the CamKids SMILe project. We believe this is the first for Cambodia and is another example of successful collaboration between One-2-One and CamKids.

The area is about 1 ½ hours from Phnom Penh and passes through beautiful scenery, which belies the hardship of the people in this community. The nearest Government health clinic is 25 km away, with no public transport and the only moto belongs to the Village Chief. All the villagers we spoke to have never been out of their community. Phnom Penh is another world to them.....

This trip was to gauge community interest and to meet with the Cambodian stakeholders of this community - the Village Chiefs and the local village health care volunteer, as well as villagers themselves, so that we can explain what we hope to do and involve them in the planning of service delivery. In the photos, you can see the One-2-One team lead by Dr Callum explaining and discussing what we hope to do and listening to them, to understand what their needs are and how we achieve the best outcome.

We also set out to have a look at what the dental situation is like and make some friends - show the mums and the children that dentist are friends. For many, seeing foreigners is a first, so it is important for them to see the MOBILE chairs and what the examination and treatment activity may look like when we come back with a larger service delivery team - this created a real buzz in the community. They are excited about the training and the integrated way that we plan to help and work with them. Their faces beamed when we told them that we would run training courses on how to keep healthy - it was a very happy day for all concerned!

We will be back in October for a needs assessment trip and focus group interviews to better understand what the dental and medical needs are and what the pattern of feeding is for the preschoolers, so that we can better educate the mothers and the health care volunteers. This will be a week long visit. During this time our staff will live in the village and be part of village life. In November we will be back with training sessions and in December our service team will commence work with the assistance of the village mums, health care volunteers and community leaders, who we will have trained to work along side us - watch this space.

We are all really proud of this project - a great example of CamKids, One-2-One and our donors working together in partnership for the sake of the children of Cambodia. If you would like to find out more or if you have medical skills and are planning a trip to Cambodia and would like to join the team on some of the visits, please email us.

Kilimanjaro Challenge

Last month, 3 CamKids supporters took on the challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, to raise money for CamKids. The following is a short report of their adventure.

Our names are John Elsey, Joanne Chiappinelli and Antony Chiappinelli and we have just returned from a trip to Tanzania where we attempted to reach the summit of .

At 19,336 feet (5,895m), snow capped Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa's highest peak. It is the worlds tallest walkable mountain, which takes you through 5 different climatic zones to reach the summit. The climb is a test of endurance, stamina and shear determination, and a test to see how your body copes with the altitude.

We started the climb on 9th of August 2010 with 'Team Kilimanjaro' and after 5 hard days we all successfully reached the summit at 8am on the 14th August. Our experience finished on the 15th August when we all safely descended back to the start of the national park.

So far we have raised over £1,700 for CamKids. Please check out our JustGiving site: www.justgiving.com/JJA2010.

The Trustees of CamKids would like to thank John, Jo and Antony for their incredible efforts and for raising so much for CamKids. John is also travelling out to Cambodia in January, to volunteer at one of the projects we support. We would also like to wish him good luck and are sure that he will have a great time.

If you are interested in fundraising for CamKids, please visit www.justgiving.com/tccc or send us an email.

Empowering Youth in Cambodia - Education Scholarships

CamKids has been supporting this project, working mainly in the slum communities around the Boeung Kok Lake area in Phnom Penh for over a year now. It is an incredible project providing education, vocational training and other support to vulnerable children and young adults, who would otherwise be susceptible to drugs, sex trafficking or crime.

The following is a short update from Drew, the director of EYC, regarding Education Scholarships for the older children:

Things at the schools are better than ever and we have a lot going on every week. We had a lot of our closest students studying in grade 12 this past year and really got involved with supporting them. We gave them financial support for their studies and they were able to focus on preparing for their final exam. Many did very well, and all passed the exam (about 20% fail country-wide). I created a blog to show the students who want to continue their education now that they finished high school: www.ey-cambodia.blogspot.com.

All of these kids grew up in the slums and have persevered through more than most of us can imagine, yet they are optimistic for their futures. Anything is possible, but I know they have a lot more challenges ahead and I hope we can find funds for them to get scholarships for their first 1-2 years of university. Getting jobs here is very competitive and they need additional education to be able to make informed decisions. They are very committed to their education. I think our program is quite solid to support them and get them off on their own, as we have seen in many cases now.

Our financial situation is bare bones to cover our operating costs, so either we find sponsors or many will not be able to attend. We will ask students to pay a portion of their tuition, but with some it is not possible. After the 2nd year of university they should be able to support themselves, based on what we’re seeing with other students.

Please take a look at the Blog which Drew has compiled, as it includes some incredible stories about kids who have battled appalling conditions and poverty to succeed. If you would like to help sponsor a student (at a cost around £20 per month and upwards) or just support the work of EYC generally, please send an email to: education@camkids.org or set up a regular donation HERE, marking the project "EYC".

Thank you.

Sport & Fitness for Underpriviledged Children

Sports and exercise should be an important part of every child's life - the benefits of sports and exercise are well known and include better health, enjoyment, and personal development. However, in Cambodian orphanages, many children miss out on these activities. During our visits to orphanages we are saddened to see children with nothing to do or in front of the TV, locked behind high gates for fear of abduction. Surely these children would benefit from educational and recreational opportunities. This prompted the development of CamKids and One-2-One’s sports program in February 2010 - working closely with the Cambodian Gymnastics Federation to introduce an aerobics program in three of the poorest orphanages, including one with only HIV-infected children.

Instructors visited the orphanages twice weekly to teach aerobic exercise classes. This involved senior aerobic athletes and coaches from the Cambodian Gymnastic Federation (overseen by the One-2-One sports coordinator - a former gymnast and coach) going to each orphanage twice a week to provide a one hour recreational aerobics class for all children (to music). From each group of children, those who showed talent and interest in aerobics received some additional training in Aerobic Gymnastics (a sport Cambodia is particularly good at) and learned pre-choreographed aerobic routines. Our goal was for children from each orphanage to take part in the National Championships in May. CamKids sponsored this program, and also paid for the uniforms, the mats and the extra tuition needed in the last 4 weeks leading up to the competition.

The event was a great success, with our proud and hard working children competing against more experienced children from Phnom Penh and 6 provinces. There was jubilation when we were awarded a bronze medal in the Junior Trios and a 4th place in the individual Junior Male category! Because of this programme, all of these children have been given the opportunity to have fun in exercise and feel like a champion. Some of the children could have the opportunity to continue to the top levels of the sport where they may be eligible to receive Government sports scholarships (which provide funds for living expenses and education), and travel to neighbouring countries to compete.

The project also included the training of some disadvantaged youth and young adults as aerobics instructors, so that the program can later be expanded to other orphanages. Unlike artistic gymnastics, aerobics does not require any special equipment at this level - only an area in which the routines can be carried out and this can be inside or outside. The Cambodian Gymnastic Federation is supportive of this project as they wish to grow the sport in Cambodia.

4th Al Murray CamKids Golf Classic

The 4th Al Murray Golf Classic, to benefit CamKids, will be held at Effingham Golf Club on 24th September 2010. It promises to be a great day, once again, with entertainment throughout the day from the Landlord himself and surprise guests.

The last few playing spaces are still available as well as tickets for the evening meal and entertainment only. Pictures of last year's event can be seen at: CamKids News Blog.

If you are interested in taking part, or would like to register for next year's event, please email: golf@camkids.org by 30 August.

Skydive for CamKids

One of CamKids' supporters and recent volunteers, Cat, is raising money by organising a skydive next month for a number of friends and fellow CamKids fundraisers. Cat writes:

During 2009-2010 a number of us spent a long while in Cambodia, volunteering, teaching and seeing the AMAZING work which CamKids does for so many kids there.

Cambodia has so many children living below the poverty line - they literally have no money, no food, no clean water - often no parents. CamKids supports so many of them, and without the charity's help, who knows what may have happened to them.

We have seen so many of these children living a happy existence, playing games, going to school in their uniforms, eating huge bowls of food - all thanks to this charity! The trustees work *so* hard on an entirely voluntary basis and they have achieved amazing things in the country - I can guarantee that CamKids is an entirely worthy charity to support.

On the 4th of September 2010 we are completing a Skydive at the North London Parachute Centre and we are urging you all to please please please give as much as you can, however little - it all helps!!!

If you would like to sponsor Cat, please visit: www.justgiving.com/CamKidsSkydive2010.

CamKids Summer Newsletter

Our Summer 2010 Newsletter includes a short 'on the ground' update from 2 of our Trustees on some recent new projects and a report on our new partnership with the medical and dental NGO, One-2-One.

To access the Newsletter, please click Here or Contact Us and we will send you a copy by e-mail. If you sign up to our Newsletter Here, you will receive your copy by e-mail every 6 months (your details will not be used for commercial or any other purpose).

Thank you once again to all of our donors and supporters, without whom none of this would have been possible.

With Best Wishes
The CamKids Trustees

Who Will Children's Village

Who Will Children's Village is situated about an hour and a half North of Phnom Penh City in Kampong Chnang Province. It is home to 45 children at present and CamKids has been working closely with them for over a year now.

There have been some amazing changes and improvements since we got involved with Who Will. The centre now has 4 residential houses with one carer in each of the 3 houses and a husband and wife in the fourth. Listed below are some of the significant developments:

• There is a shaded play area between two of the houses, with swings, monkey bars, a see saw, a balance bar and some tables and benches to sit at and play or chat. These were donated by Lorna Morris, a volunteer who raised money in her home of Jersey and came to volunteer at Who Will for a month. She was the very first volunteer in a programme CamKids helped set up.
  
  
• CamKids donated a new generator and housing shed to Who Will as they are too far away from the electric mains in the village. Lights are only used for three hours each night and at the same time the generator is used to pump water from the well into the water tower. The diesel cost for this is approx $500 - $600 per month which is a huge cost, but at the moment there is no alternative.
  

• CamKids funded a new 8 metre deep open well which now provides good quality water for the houses.
  
  
• The construction of a new football pitch (including leach field), was donated by Chris and Silje’s fundraising efforts in the UK. We are just waiting for the long overdue first rain, before sewing the grass. Chris and Silje emailed CamKids, asking if we had any projects they could help with whilst in Cambodia. They volunteered at Who Will for three months and among other things, ran English classes for the children, implementing some fantastic phonics teaching.


• As the land floods in the wet season, a large fishpond has been dug and the land used to infill the affected areas. Fish will be going in to the pond next week!


• A new schoolhouse and office has just been completed on the raised land. This was made possible by a very generous donation of $25,000 to CamKids and $5,000 from the Sakka Foundation(a Hong Kong based charity and good friends of CamKids).
  
  
• A volunteer house and volunteer programme are now in place.

All in all a very successful and busy year for Who Will Children's Village. As well as financing capital projects at Who Will, CamKids gives ongoing support to through our sponsorship of a house and incorporating Who Will into our child sponsorship program. You will see more about some of the above mentioned projects on our news weblog soon.

NFO Workshop

As referred to in a previous post, we have included an update on the Workshop Project at New Futures organisation ("NFO"), prepared by the director of the organisation. The Workshop forms part of NFO's educational and vocational training centre building, which CamKids funded.

Thanks to CamKids, all the pieces of the jigsaw have come together to make a fantastic result. It all started with a donation for CamKids to enable us to buy a selection of hand and power tools with which could:

• Carry out much needed basic maintenance work around the orphanage

• be used to provide some vocational training for the kids in 'do-it-yourself' skills, which will be very useful when they have their own homes or some might even be able to use the skills to gain employment when they are adults

However, with CamKids' continued support and inspiration for this project, we have ended up with much more than a set of tools. We now have a fully functional workshop and vocational training area, in which we can do all of the above and much more. We can do just about anything within our workshop and are almost self sufficient in most things we need to repair or even manufacture around the orphanage.

Just to give you an idea, I have outlined below a few of our achievements over the past few months. Please remember that, on top of the physical achievement, most of our children have been involved in the vocational learning process while this work has been carried out and the skills they have gained is incredible.

From the little ones with their “not so delicate painting skills" to the older ones who can now measure, design, select materials and build most of the furniture needed by the orphanage and are even producing tables and seats for local village schools. You should have seen the girls when they helped design , convert, and pimp up our economical fleet (well 3) of "Tuk Tuks", which we use for our local transport (more on this in a later post).

Achievements

• We used the tools to construct our new educational and vocational training building. The workshop is based inside that building with other vocational training rooms and a classroom (materials funded by CamKids, building by volunteers and the children)

• Conversion of rusty old Tuk Tuks into the most reliable, eye catching run-abouts in town

• The construction (helped by a team of volunteers from Hong Kong) of a fantastic new adventure playground


• The manufacture of all tables, seats, shelving and other furniture needed by the orphanage


• The manufacture of over 50 tables and seats for a CamKids funded Village school, enabling 183 kids to be able to sit down and attend school for the very first time (out of a total over over 1,000 children, which CamKids provides funding for us to educate)

I think that you will agree that it is astounding how a project can grow and help so many people.

Thank you CamKids and thank you to all of your donors and supporters.

If you are thinking about travelling to Cambodia and would like to volunteer at NFO for a few days or even a few months, please send an email to NFO.

CamKids 2009 Report & Accounts

The Trustees of CamKids - The Cambodian Children's Charity, are pleased to report that the Charity's Annual Report and Accounts for 2009 have been filed with the Charity Commission well ahead of schedule.

A copy of the report and accounts can be downloaded from HERE.

Please direct any questions about these accounts to CamKids Finance

Football Fun!

A little while ago one of our Trustees was having a drink with the Coach of the Cambodian National Football team and told him that it would really good if he could visit one of the projects which CamKids supports.

Luckily he liked the idea and the deal was done. The next week, the Coach and 2 assistant coaches went off to the Who Will Children's Orphanage and spent the day training the kids. The kids absolutely loved it and they all recognised him and his 2 assistants, who were both ex National Team players.

As you will see from the photos, boys and girls of all ages took part and they all looked very fetching in their oversized bibs and shirts!

One-2-One Dental Treatment and Health Education for Poor Children

The following is a short report, prepared by one of our Partner Organisations in Cambodia, One-2-One. CamKids is providing all of the funding for this particular project and the impact on the dental health of the children has been remarkable.

Project Goal: Provide basic dental services for children from orphanages and deprived communities in and around Phnom Penh.

Logistics: During January to March, each morning and afternoon, groups of 10-20 children were brought to the International University Dental Clinic for treatment. After an oral health education session, children were examined and a treatment plan made. Some of the children had a mouth full of decay, often with painful abscesses.

Collaborative partners: One-2-One Charitable Trust, Phnom Penh International University and CamKids.

Background information: 6 year olds in Cambodia have an average of 8 decayed teeth! Many children coming to the clinic require extractions, but our focus is on doing what is most important for that particular child, to enhance their long term development and well-being. Our priorities are relief of pain, restoring decayed permanent teeth, and sealing the permanent molar teeth to prevent future decay. Most treatment is carried out using local anaesthesia so that the child does not suffer any pain. In addition, many children receive a fluoride treatment. All children are shown how to brush their teeth. Recently we introduced a new preventive dental product into the clinic – silver diamine fluoride solution. This topical fluoride can be applied directly to the dental decay on primary teeth and has the affect of arresting the decay, so that in many cases a filling can be avoided. We have developed guidelines which indicate when this treatment should be used, and when it should be avoided. Some children require more than one visit to the clinic to carry out the most necessary treatment.

Outcomes: The children accept the treatment well and tears are not common. The dental students who provide the treatment make a lot of effort to talk the children through the procedures and give them a positive experience. The dental students are gaining confidence in treating children, and are even willing to treat the children with HIV. This is excellent training for the students who will be more confident when they graduate. Among the staff supervising the children are two Cambodian paediatric dentists, Dr Sonita and Dr Sopharith.

From January to March, with funding from CamKids, 762 children were treated. Children were seen from 15 orphanages and NGOs.

If you would like to find out more about this or any of our other Medical Programs, please email: medical@camkids.org.

New Virgin Money Giving Site

We are pleased to report that CamKids has signed up to the Virgin Money Giving service, to enable our supporters to set up their own fundraising page for a sponsored event, special day or just as a way of raising money for CamKids. This is similar to the Justgiving service, which CamKids has used for some time, but the fees are much lower and so more of your supporters' money goes to helping the children in our projects and programmes.

CamKids will continue to be available on JustGiving, so that our supporters will have a choice as to which service they would like to use. Both sites also collect the Gift Aid on our behalf, increasing the funds raised by 28%, for donations by UK taxpayers.

If you would like to set up a fundraising page to benefit CamKids, please visit:

Virgin Giving: www.virginmoneygiving.com/charities/camkids

JustGiving: www.justgiving.com/tccc

Our JustGiving page will also give you some ideas of possible events. In the past few months, supporters from around the world have set up pages for the following events:

Marathons

Kick Boxing Event

Bug Eating Competition

Birthdays

Weddings

Paragliding

Skydiving

Kilimanjaro Climb

Ultramarathon

Cycling

10k Run

How about you - why not be the first to se up a fundraising page on our Virgin Finance Giving site? If you need any assistance, please send an email to finance@camkids.org.

CamKids Phonics Workshop

In March we were very lucky to have friend of the charity Andrew Gait (a teacher with 22 years experience) return to Cambodia with a fantastic 29 page phonics teaching workbook that he put together himself.

He was inspired to do this after volunteering at a CamKids funded school where he saw the need for an aid to help with pronunciation and understanding of the English sounds.

CamKids brought together 22 Cambodian English teachers from 5 different Provinces to attend a teaching workshop, and covered all associated costs of all transport, accommodation and food.

It was a full day spent on looking at the phonic sounds, letter blending, basic rules and words that break them and then the afternoon moved on to practical activities to carry out in a classroom situation. CamKids Trustee, Dom Sharpe, helped Andrew with the class and everyone had a fantastic day.

Every teacher left with their own resource book and a certificate to show that they had taken part in the day. It also served as an opportunity for many Cambodian teachers to meet with each other and network. The co-operation, integration and enthusiasm to learn was inspiring. Many of the teachers asked for the opportunity to attend more workshops and with this interest and the feedback we have been receiving since the workshop, it is certainly something CamKids is already considering.

Please click the Play button below to see a short video of the day.

NFO TukTuk Project

Another report from our friends at New Futures Organisation ("NFO"):

Thanks to the generosity of our friends at CamKids, NFO has recently taken delivery of two TukTuks. The TukTuk (a three-wheeled vehicle pulled by a motorcycle with seating for passengers behind) is a common form of transport in Cambodia and can be seen on the streets of most towns and cities - but most are quite basic and painted in dull colours. As you will see from the pictures, the NFO TukTuks, in contrast, are highly visible!

Painted in bright yellow, decorated with the NFO logo and information about the organisation and kitted out with lights, wheel trims, DVD players and speaker systems, these TukTuks will be based in major tourist centres around Cambodia to serve several purposes. Children from the orphanage and vocational training centre have already had a chance to put their mechanical skills to the test by helping to strip down, renovate, repair and decorate the TukTuks. Some of the older kids have really enjoyed getting involved in the project and are now considering careers in engineering or as mechanics. The TukTuks have also proven useful in helping transport volunteers, equipment and NFO staff around Takeo and out to the rural schools in the countryside.

Their other purpose is to act as three-wheeled mobile advertisements for NFO. Tourists and locals who see (and hear!) the brightly coloured vehicles roaring down the street will see the logos and information and learn about the work we’re doing at New Futures – and hopefully decide to visit Takeo and volunteer with us. The DVD players built into the TukTuks show a short film clip produced by volunteers which shows what life is like here at NFO and drivers have leaflets and information sheets to hand out to potential volunteers and supporters. Of course, each TukTuk also provides a livelihood for its driver, giving him a stable job and income and providing increased security for his family, with any surplus income generated being used to support the orphanage

The first NFO TukTuk is already running in Takeo itself, ferrying volunteers around town and the ‘Phnom Penh Express’ and ‘Siem Reap Flyer’ will be hitting the streets of those cities shortly, with another set to run in Sihanoukville later this year. If you’re planning on visiting Cambodia soon, look out for them!

CamKids Funded Building at New Futures Organisation

The following report was received from the director of New Futures Organisation ("NFO"), which is based in Takeo and supported by CamKids. This is one of a number of projects which CamKids has funded at NFO and we will be reporting on more of the projects in the coming weeks.

What happens if you get the fantastic assistance and support from a sensible and knowledgeable funding organisation like CamKids and add it to a wonderful staff team, a group of willing volunteers and 52 kids eager to learn and improve their futures.

Well, in our case, we ended up with a fantastic new education centre that will cover all of our needs for the coming years.

CamKids provided funds and advice, we supplied a willing team construction team and local knowledge, and built in a traditional building style a building which houses the following:-

Multi Purpose Room
A large room which can be used as:

• A classroom (complete with furniture built in the workshop mentioned below) which can hold a class of up to 65 children;
• An activities room for arts and crafts, board games, doing homework etc;
• A TV lounge or for watching on social evenings; or
• A home for the largest Lego set in Cambodia.

Library
A room to house our growing library of book, games, DVDs and a small group of old computers which the children learn computer skills on.

A Beauty Room
This is a room in which we teach hairdressing, beauty, nail care. This has two purposes - firstly to teach the girls life skills and secondly to provide vocational training which may develop into a employable skill at a later date.

A Dressmaking room
This is a room in which we teach dressmaking. Once again to provide life skills and vocational training to help the older children find employment, when they leave the orphanage.

A workshop
This is a fully fitted metal and woodworking facility, designed to enable us to carry out most repairs and maintenance on the premises and equipment. We also manufacture our own furniture needed for the orphanage, and our village schools. This is also the room in which we teach DIY skills, once again for life skills and vocational training (we will be posting a separate news entry on this shortly).

You must be thinking all of this must have cost a king's ransom - but you would be wrong!

Because of the commonsense approach of CamKids to funding, the entire project only cost $3,200 (or just over £2,000). Quite an achievement in this day and age of rising costs and is a wonderful and sensible use of donors contributions.

A big thank you to all of our donors and supporters for making this possible. If you would like to find out more about CamKids or our projects at NFO, please send an email to contact@camkids.org.

Mobile Dental Unit

The following is a report from a recent trip to Kampong Chhnang from 11th to 15th January 2010 by the One-2-One NGO in Cambodia, which provides free dental and medical treatment to poor children and their families. In addition to donating funds to One-2-One for their general work, CamKids is funding the cost of a mobile dental unit to perform regular visits to outlying areas of Cambodia, where the population is too poor, even to travel to the free clinic in Phnom Penh.

During this trip, 351 patients were seen in total, of which 206 were age 18 and under. 201 extractions and 195 fillings took place and 51 scalings were carried out. We had 2-5 dentist for the 5 days and our numbers were boosted towards the afternoon with a dentist coming over from the prison service to help . During this time 1 dentist was unwell for 1 day but recovered after that to continue the excellent work.

The mobile clinic took place in the local community facilities, and community leaders also helped us find the pockets of the most needy children. The team went in high spirits - all keen to help and make a difference. Everyone had a job to do - registration, dental education, treatment, worming, nits treatment, sterilizing of equipment.

Even though, for many, this was the first time they had met a dentist, they were amazingly brave and coped extremely well. We also provided health education for the children - giving tooth brushes and tooth paste and teaching them how to use them.

We also had a great nit busters team, applying shampoo waiting the appropriate time and then off to rinse and dry and a great team out at the back doing the cleaning and sterilizing.

Thank you again to CamKids and all of your donors and supporters for making this possible.


Please also check out the slideshow of the trip below. If you would like to help us fund this fantastic project, please contact: medical@camkids.org or make a single or regular donation from our website and mark the project 'Dental'. Payment can also be made online from the link in the sidebar on the right of our Weblog or HERE.

Rumdoul School Visit by CamKids Supporters

The following report was recently received from one of our longest running supporters, following his visit to Rumdoul Thmei School, which was acquired and is funded entirely by CamKids, with the help of Mark & Lynne and their extended family and other donors:

In mid December my wife, Lynne, son Harley and I were able to combine a cycle trip through Western Cambodia with the chance to see first hand some of the work that CamKids is funding. After a week on the bikes we met up with 2 of the CamKids Trustees, Dom and Benita Sharpe, in Phnom Penh. We had been in contact via email for a number of weeks so it was great to finally put faces to the names and catch up on all the current projects they are overseeing in and around the capital, during their year long stay in Cambodia, en route to Australia.

We headed south for a day to Kais Village Orphanage and then on the school at Rumdoul Thmei. The staff and kids at Kais were very welcoming and only too willing to show us around. We spent most of our time in the new nursery, with any number of kids toddling up to us to be picked up and carried around. We also checked out the mango orchard and Dom’s pride and joy - the methane collector from the pig sty that helps fuel the stoves in the kitchen – pure genius we reckon! The compact little medical centre was also very impressive. It was a wonderful visit, made all the more touching by the warm welcome that everyone gave us.

The Rumdoul Thmei school has been important to our extended family for the past three years. After our friend, Amber Murray, got us involved in CamKids we got together and decided that since we have a number of teachers in the family we would like to support a school. At the time, Rumdoul was just starting up so everything fell into place. Our visit in December was therefore very special to us. On the first afternoon we met the staff and some of the students, but many had gone home for the day. So we returned the next morning and were introduced to each class. It was both inspiring and thought provoking to see the amount of work that had been done to establish the school in such a short space of time but also to realise how rudimentary the facilities were and how much better resourced they could be. What was most obvious though was the the great enthusiasm the kids had for learning and how excited they were to be given the opportunity. I wish that every class I taught back in my well resourced school in Australia was filled with the same thirst for knowledge and sheer exuberance we saw in faces of the children at Rumdoul.

We would very much like to thank Benita and Dom for taking time out of their heavy schedule to take us to visit these two projects. And we urge everyone to continue to give generously to support Camkids. To see the work they are doing first hand was a privilege and an experience that our family will never forget.

MARK SMITH

If you would like to support this or any of our other education projects, please send an email to schools@camkids.org.

CamKids Medical Update

CamKids is very pleased to report that the medical hut, built by volunteers in 2006, still has a doctor visiting every week and the general health of the children is unrecognisable from the situation 3 years ago.

As well as paying for the doctor's visit, CamKids covers the cost of necessary medicines and is now paying for a full time nurse to live on site. This will help in the training of the nannies, day to day medical care and aiding the doctor with his visits as well as on going treatment and observation.

Each visit, the doctor sees all the babies and toddlers and all children now have well documented and up to date medical records. Babies are weighed at regular intervals to check growth and development. The doctor also spends half an hour every visit, instructing the nannies on basic first aid and hygiene. CamKids is proud to be able to continue to support such a worthwhile project.

We have been expanding our medical programs to reach more children and details of these projects will follow shortly. However, as we expand such projects (where the benefits to children are obvious and undeniable) our costs also grow. If you feel you could help in any way, please contact medical@camkids.org or make a donation HERE (please insert 'Medical', as the project).

In the slide show below you will see the doctor and the nurse, as well as a number of nannies and the children being treated.

Facebook Updates

Check out the CamKids Facebook Page for photos and videos from some of our projects, including the kids having great fun at the recent christmas party - and much more: www.facebook.com/camkids