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!