We at CamKids are constantly surprised and touched by the kindness and generosity of people. Challenged by his sceptical friends to “get on his bike” Phil Moses did just that – and it wasn’t an easy challenge - cycling some 500 plus miles from Bangkok to Saigon and passing through Cambodia on the way. Phil supported four charities and we were fortunate that he chose CamKids as one of the four. This is his story:
As a 50+ non-cyclist and having decided to join a friend on a cycling trip from Bangkok to Saigon, many of my friends thought I was nuts. So, having been challenged to succeed and expected to fail I made sure I trained well for a few weeks and decided to make my friends put their money where their mouths were!
I set up a Virgin Giving page for 4 charities including CamKids, which seemed appropriate as a lot of the journey was through Cambodia, a place I had never been. It turned out to be a fabulous adventure and my friend and I were joined by 16 others on the Exodus arranged trip in late February 2018.
Cambodia was amazing. Temples, Buddhist priests, sad history from the civil war and amazingly friendly people. People were healthy but not well off, and many children were not attending school. Motor cyclists often did not wear helmets and the agricultural output seemed too low for such a fertile and sun blessed place.
So, the £7,000 support I got for the four charities will enable CamKids to use nearly £2,000 to help support kids who need education to attend school rather than sell postcards to tourists. It's a great cause and I was delighted that my holiday adventure also enabled me to help them.
A big thank you to Phil and his generous supporters – thanks to his efforts and their generosity the money raised will cover the cost of educating a class of 30 children for six months. Put another way, the money we received will cover the entire seven years of primary education for 14 children!
Whilst the children CamKids supports have little or no access to tourists due to their rural location, they do face the same financial pressures to help support their families that Phil mentions. By providing a good local school and removing the financial burden we can help to keep these children in education. Whichever way you look at it, it’s a wonderful result and one that will change these children’s lives forever.
If you feel inspired by Phil’s story – get in touch and we can help you with setting up a charity giving site and provide information for your supporters. It costs just £10 to educate a child for a month and every penny donated is spent directly in helping children in Cambodia.
JustGiving: www.justgiving.com/tccc
Virgin Giving: www.virginmoneygiving.com/charities/camkids
MyDonate: www.mydonate.bt.com/charities/camkids
