Safe Drinking Water, Delivered Daily.

In Cambodia several areas are effected with poisonous toxins in the artesian water, this occurs naturally in many parts of the world. The Villagers we help have this problem, but unfortunately they have had no alternative safe water supply as they do not have town water;  these toxins eventually cause death.  At the new CHOICE Center we have installed a water purifier which removes any bacteria from the town water, there are no toxins in town water. We deliver 1000 liters to the Villages each day. Every hut receives 2 deliveries per week, this water was tested and proven to be very good quality drinking water by RDI. Volunteers can now help us to deliver each day.

The New CHOICE Center.

Work is progressing well but a lot more to do. The tarpaulin area is for meals and classrooom. The small building in the background “Russells Refuge” has 2 rooms, one we have just painted, built a mezanine floor above for storage and added a roof. Its use will be for kitchen, mezanine storeroom and library. The whole area has had 51 truckloads of soil as well as raised floors in some buildings, we raised the level of the ground and floors about 10 inches, to prevent flooding.

Great News & Recent activities by CHOICE.

The great news is that starting early next year there will be a registered CHOICE Germany and CHOICE Singapore working together with us.
We will now be able to bring initially 60 of the Village children to a Government school for education, this number will grow as we develop. CHOICE have purchased a transportation vehicle and rented a center near the Village and school. They will be given a meal each before school at the center. The center will be used for entertainment on Sundays and for children’s vocational training later in the year. A water filtration system will be installed at the center to allow us to take safe drinking water to the Villagers and school daily.
We will be taking volunteers next year for maintanence work on the center, plus work on the government schools in the vacinity.
Recent activities:
Jayne purchased 20 chickens for the twins family and we had a chicken pen built, we also gave them a big bag of chicken pellets.
Ashok provided a new car battery and light so they can see at night.
We have taken many women for medical treatment this past month. Firstly, Jackie provided medical treatment for Mum and her newborn baby daughter they were both very sick, Jackie also gave baby clothes to the baby, they are both well now.
Another group of 3 very sick ladies from the Village. We took them to the clinic and some stayed overnight. Our lovely friends from Malaysia covered the costs for their treatment, again all well now.
We helped with the costs of replacing a hut in the first village due to flood damage,
and provided a village lady with crutches and treatment for a damaged leg.
As well we have purchased over 200 mosquito nets as it will be a bad year with mosquitos after the floods. So far we have delivered 140 nets.

Many more pictures are on our facebook album, click here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.327754583902534.87628.100000039859783&type=1

The Latest News on Sokha 8th December 2011

Many of you will have followed the story about Sokha and her 16yo son Channy. For those who havn’t, Sokha 53, fell off a moving truck in January 2011 and broke her neck in two places. CHOICE arranged and paid for an operation for her then followed this up with physio treatment. She has been at the Physio center for for more than 6 months, CHOICE have been seeing her twice a week bringing essential items, as well as caring for her brother at the hut, he has severe Leprosy. Channy quit school to care for his mum. In order for Channy to begin a normal school life again next year, CHOICE have been preparing an area next to the hut where Sokha can continue with her daily physio exercise. Sokha has come a long way, from being paralized to now being able to walk with the aid of a hand rail. We intend to build an adjoining bedroom on the same level so there will be no obsticles in her way. Financial help from  sponsors have enabled us to do the work, many thanks to Ad & Monique Schoonen and all the others. If you can help CHOICE do more work like this and help others please donate on our website. www.choice-cambodia.org

An appeal for 5 year old burn victim Ryta Rith.

Ryta’s story: Ryta fell bottom first into a boiling pot of sugar and water. Her bottom and reproductive organs melted together. Her parents are very poor, they borrowed money from neighbours. An emergency operation was done and Ryta was fitted with a catheter and colostomy bag. They live 55k’s outside the city and cannot afford the costs of colostomy bags or the traveling costs to and from Phnom Penh.  CHOICE are covering costs at the moment and have taken her to the C.S.C. Hospital where Dr. Jim may have to perform many more operations over time. Can you please help by donating on our ”Donate” page of this website, tag your donations “For Ryta”

WARNING: some people may find this video disturbing to watch. 

Click on the link below to watch the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGy4fk2_SYs

Tragic Drowning in the Village on November 22nd, 2011.

A 4 year old boy fell into the water in the middle Village and drowned on Tuesday late afternoon. Unfortunately no one noticed until it was too late.

CHOICE was represented at the funeral on Wednesday and donated $100 to the family to help with the funeral arrangements.

The boy was cremated on the roadside near his hut after the ceremony, very sad villagers arrived from the neighbouring areas.

Please understand that these pictures are only intended to let past visitors and supporters, who may know the child, about this tragic accident. These extremely poor people still follow the Khmer ceremonial practise albeit in a very simple way.

Village Trip 13th November 2011

We decided to revisit the baby girl that Rudi helped deliver last week. We brought along some new baby clothes to give her, donated by Jayne Turton. Among our volunteers was a nurse, Jackie from the UK. When we got to the hut it was empty, Mum and family had moved up to a relatives hut as the mother was very sick and baby not well either. We decided to bring Mum and the baby back to P/Penh with us for treatment. Jackie has been volunteering in a clinic here for a month, so we decided to take them to that clinic. An ultra scan showed infection in the breast area so an antibiotic course has been initiated. Both Mum and baby were kept overnight and monitored, both much improved in the morning they were taken back to the Village by Ratana the Khmer helper for CHOICE. The volunteers were great, they provided the food for Mum, Jackie personally paid for the costs involved with the clinic’s medicine and treatment. It is rewarding for us at CHOICE when we have the support from visiting volunteers like this, where there is a real need. The bracelet making and drawing program was great, the kids loved it as they don’t often get to do this. Thanks to all the volunteers on this day you were all great.

The black charcoal cross on the babies forehead is to scare away the evil spirits that want to take the baby away.

Village Trip November 13th.

Rudi had just finished the medical clinic in the furthest Village when we were made aware of a women ready to give birth. Rudi went into the hut ready with his birthing kit, just at the last minute the midwife turned up. A relieved Rudi helped the midwife with the delivery of a baby girl.

One of the twin babies is very sick.

As promised we donated a bike with a pillion seat to the older boys of the twins family to get them to and from school. The family is still unable to get to the hut we built, as you can see from the picture, the muddy track is still underwater but receding.
Sambo is very sick with a breathing problem so he will be admitted to the Kuntha Bopha Childrens Hospital this Monday for treatment. No meals are provided at the Hospital so we will pay for the families meals, transport, medicine and whatever else is needed.

Boys Start School

Pictured are Terra, Rudda with their older cousin they each received two sets of school uniforms and are now attending school, thanks to their sponsors. Terra and Rudda are the other sons of the mother of the new twins, their house is still flooded out so they are temporarily staying nearby.

FLOOD RELIEF FOR THE VILLAGER’S

Due to the effects of the extremely high flood levels we have taken extra food and other much needed supplies to the Village.

Many Tarpaulins plus one 18m x 10m which was cut up to suit.
20 mosquito nets
10 straw mats
160 x 4kg bags of charcoal
3/4 Ton of Rice
over 1000 packets of noodles
Angela provided 100 blankets

The Village wells are all underwater so their is no access to clean water.
We will have to provide more Mosquito nets and replacement water filters as soon as possible.

WORST FLOODING 2ND OCTOBER 2011

A Report from Kevin Buckley, a CHOICE Trustee:

With the rainy season in full swing, and more powerful this year, CHOICE wondered how the people in the isolated communities were coping with all the flooding. Rudy, our medic, called an emergency meeting and put it to the rest of us that we should double the budget for supplies for this week, to combat the high water problem. It turned out to be an excellent suggestion. On the way out to the communities, we could see what might be in store for us when we got there. Even the main highway out, was awash with fast flowing high river water.
The dirt road to the first village was impassable so we tried an alternative route. When we finally got to the village, we saw that many of the shacks had survived the flooding for now, and were just above the water, but there were also a few that were already well below the water line, and with the straw roofs having been blown away in the storm, what was a miserable existence had gotten even worse. Water was now coming in from above and from below. Some shacks were simply abandoned, left derelict by the flood.
We handed out more than double the rice quota, along with blankets, floor mats, charcoal and much needed tarpaulin. As always, these resilient people with their ever smiling children showed their gratitude for the little help we could give. A medic report from Rudy, told us that health conditions were thankfully not as bad as anticipated, but that situation could easily change at any time in the coming days, with more flooding on the way. Cholera, malaria, and dengue fever are all prevalent in these conditions so we are keeping a more cautious watch on events.
Travelling back to Phnom Penh that evening, we were caught in a massive downpour. Thankfully we have solid ground beneath our feet to go back to. One can only imagine what it is like for the forgotten people of those isolated communities in Kandal province.

P’CHUM BEN FESTIVAL CAMBODIA

The PSI Physiotherapy center is closing down for the P’Chum Ben Festival, all the staff  have a few weeks break. For this reason we are taking Sokha and Channy back to their hut until the festival is over.
P’Chum Ben is an important Religious Ceremoney held in Cambodia each year. The festival lasts for fifteen days and everyone remembers the spirit of dead relatives. This year the ceremony officially falls on 26th, 27th and 28th September, but celebrations take place for a week or so either side of these dates.
Please check with Richard at Chivas Shack, to see if Village Trips are able to be held during P’Chum Ben.

UPDATE: Birth Control August 12, 2011 Cambodia.

UPDATE 12th September 2011:

The month is up and the women given birth control measures were picked up earlier this time from the Village and taken back to the clinic for their check-up. A few extra women that had previously missed the first clinical trip came along to receive the procedure. As usual they brought along several of their children who always enjoy a ride in the truck. Again a very good day and we were all pleased in getting home a lot earlier than the last time. Many thanks to all our Donors who enable us to pay for this.

PREVIOUS ARTICLE:

For some time now some Village women have been asking us to help them with Birth Control measures as their partners will not wear condoms. Twenty one year old Choy has four children and another women has ten children. These two are just some of the women who want Birth Control measures as they cannot afford to keep more children. CHOICE approached P.S.I. (Population Services International) a world wide organization to ask for their assistance. They offered to advise, instruct and fit birth control measures. CHOICE had to pay for the procedure and device as well as bring the women into Phnom Penh. We were given Birth Control Literature written in Khmer to hand out to the Village women. A few weeks later we brought staff from PSI to the Village to explain the different methods and answer any questions. Finally on the 12th August we took 20 women and 16 of their small children/babies to the Sun Quality Health Clinic in Phnom Penh. Female Doctors and Nurses from PSI again spoke with the women before a particular procedure was provided. Unfortunately 5 women were not acceptable, 15 chose either the 5 year implant or the I.U.D. CHOICE will bring them in again in a month for a check up. Meanwhile we gave water and food to those who were patiently waiting outside. We were impressed by the professionalism of PSI and the manner in which their staff operated, many thanks to them from us all. It was a very long day for us all, the women got back to their Villages around 8.30pm and an hour later before the truck was back in Phnom Penh.

UPDATE: A House for the Family August 18, 2011.

UPDATE:

The house that we paid to be built is almost finished, we just need to get some guttering and piping to feed to water urns yet to be given. Thanks to our sponsors this family will be able to survive together.

PREVIOUS ARTICLE:

We visited the mother of the twins today, her name is Tuan Shorn the baby twin boys are Sambo and Sambat. Her older boys are Terra 6 and Rudda 4, the Grandmother is Ian Nee.
The older boys have never been to school but with the money from the sponors they will be able to start when the next term begins.
Photo’s of their new hut show that it’s well on the way and will be finished soon, when it’s completed we will give them pots and pans etc.
The House is being built using secondhand materials where possible, the neighbor has allowed us to build the house on their land.

The wet season is finally setting in. August 28th, 2011

The wet season has finally started to take affect. The normal classroom in the middle Village is about 3 feet under water, you can just see it on the right of the second photo. The classroom in the furthest Village is also out of action, water and too many Mosquito’s.

The teacher is now squeezing all fifty of the children into his house to teach them, the floor and ramp are a bit dodgy with the extra weight so we will donate some money to strengthen both.

Road conditions are getting worse and our regular volunteer Bill got bogged on the way out, to make matters worse the truck got a flat tyre on the way out as well.

CHOICE Educational Day Sunday 21st August

On Sunday 21st August it was another CHOICE Educational/Craftwork and fun day in the Village’s. Led by Melanie, Jess, and Blair it was a great day, Margeret brought some new ideas to us for the children’s entertainment, we will use these again, thanks Margaret. Thanks to David for these photo’s and to all the volunteers who helped entertain the children.

Join us on one of these trips, they are conducted every second Sunday from Phnom Penh.

Choice Cambodia 19th August

Sokha is now able to walk for a few minutes with the aid of a frame on wheels and support from her son Channy. She still gets dizzy after and hour or so in the wheelchair, and they still living in the VIC Physio center.
We continue to visit her twice a week, today we gave her more diapers and a years supply of Multi Vitamin tablets, thanks to the sponsorship for the family. We also sent a bag of rice out to the rest of the family.

The Scolded Boy is out of Hospital August 14, 2011

                                                                

The young burnt boy has been released from Hospital and has gone home to his Village.
You may recall that firstly he had a severe case of Shingles, then after recovering from that he accidentally tipped a large pot of boiling water over himself.
After 2 months in Hospital he has been released, though his wounds are much better he is left with terrible scarring.
CHOICE  supported the boy and the family throughout this ordeal.

Recent News and Updates

Sokha and Channy are still housed at V.I.C. we visit  them twice a week and still give them money for food, supply Sokha with diapers and any other incidentals. Progress for Sokha is slow but she is trying so hard to improve her situation, Channy has learnt how to help her with her exercises. Sokha has gained slight movement in her right hand side, her main problem still is dizziness when she sits upright. The longest she has been able to sit in the wheelchair is about one hour. She may go home in a week with a borrowed wheelchair until hers is ready.

The three year old burn victim boy is still in Hospital, the main reason being his neck has not fully healed and is still weeping as well he has an infection on top of his right shoulder. He is in good spirits, and can walk around the Hospital, we are still giving them money for food etc.

Last Sunday on the Village trip we encountered a very distressing situation. We arrived at a grass hut to find a mother with 2 week old twin boys, she was weeping and being comforted by local village women, she is struggling to breast feed the two babies and wondering what to do with them.

In the next hut was another young mother with an eight day old baby girl. She told our interpreters “don’t worry about me I’m OK, please help the lady with the twins next door”. We gave her a baby kit donated by Leanne.

Back with the twins mother, we learnt that her partner had deserted the family. They had been staying with relatives but the relatives could no longer afford to keep them so they had to leave. They moved into this unoccupied grass hut, they have no money, no food, no work and no property and 2 babies they can’t feed properly. We had to refuse when she  asked us to take her twin babies as this is against our policy. We told her  CHOICE  will help them and gave some supplies to keep them going until we could return.

Two days later we returned with a 50kg. bag of rice, 2 tins of baby formulae milk, safe drinking water to mix with the baby milk powder, mosquito net cover for the babies, adult clothing, baby clothes and kits containing bibs, mittens, bottles, booties etc. donated by Leanne. Also baby blankets etc. that were donated by Natalie and a few other items.

We established there are 6 in this family, Grandma, and the mother with the twin babies has two other young sons.

Can you sponsor this desperate family, CHOICE will continue to support the family in every way we can until a sponsor comes along.

UPDATE: We now have 2 sponsors for this family, you can see their names etc. on the page “Major Choice Supporters”

Today 21st July CHOICE went to all the Villages with khmer P.S.I. staff for final talks with the Village women re Birth Control. Somewhere between 30-40 women want to take advantage of this. The implant/injection lasting around 5 years seems to be the most popular. The final stage of this depends on PSI but we are hoping to have the implants placed soon. CHOICE are paying for the cost of transport to bring the women into the clinic as well as the cost of the procedure.

Our nurse Kunthea and the other volunteers also gave out worming tablets and safe drinking water to 55 children in the middle village.

Also today we brought a sick young girl and her auntie back to Phnom Penh with us for blood tests, the girls mother and father have passed away.  We gave her some new clothes and her auntie gave her a good clean up. We will pay for their accommodation and food while we wait for the results, and any treatment which may be required, then we will take them back to the Village. Thanks today to Sandi, Bill, PSI and all the others in the past that have helped us with these projects.

Finally we would like to report that we have started on the building in the furthest Village, the foundation pillars are in. (see photo) This is a 4mx6m building to be used for education, temple and community events.

UPDATE: The authorities have made us pull down the school building mentioned above, hopefully they will not stop our teachers from teaching Khmer to the children.

First He Had Shingles Now He Is A Burn Victim

Our Medical team was presented with this very sick little boy in the Village on Sunday 5th June. He has been treated with antibiotics and we will visit and monitor his progress regularly and hope he gets a full recovery in a couple of months. He has a severe case of shingles and a staff infection. His family are too poor to visit a Doctor so it was left to us to help.

UPDATE:

The third picture above, was taken last Sunday 19th June 2011 and you can see how the antiboiotics have cleared up the boys infection. He is the son of the Teacher we now employ at the last Village.

Last night the 23rd June, there was a terrible accident in their Village hut and the same young boy pulled a tub of boiling water over himself, he is in a lot of pain. This poor little 3yo. has had so much bad luck, fortunately it was pay day last Sunday for the Teacher, so they had money to bring the boy in to Kuntha Bopha Childrens Hospital last night. We are giving the family whatever assistance they need, today we took over milk and fruit juice as the boy has difficulty eating solid food. ( Below are pictures of the boy in bandages in the Hospital.)

UPDATE :

The 3 year old boy who suffered burns over most of his body is now a lot happier. Most of his pain has gone away, he was burnt a little over 2 weeks ago. We continue to monitor the situation with regular visits, and we support the boy and the family with any reasonable requests. Latest pictures below. As at the 20th July the boy is still in Hospital, the reasson being the skin tissue on his neck has not healed enough yet and is still weeping. We continue to supply money for food for the family.

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Many Village women have asked if we can help with some birth control measures.  So we have contacted PSI (Population Services International) who will formally advise and provide and CHOICE will cover the costs. Choice have also shown PSI brochures to the women, written in Khmer. We are now conducting surveys in the Villages to ascertain the prefered method of birth control and the total numbers of women requiring the procedure. 

Thanks to the Van Le Family from the U.S.

Attached is a picture of the VAN LE family from Los Gatos, California. They have matched the bake sale money of $400 donated by the girls soccer team “Wildcats” from West Coast Coaching. Thanks to a lovely bighearted family.

Recent News

Sokha and her family are slowly recovering after the tragic accident in which Sokha broke her neck in two places.

Shown top left is Leanne Balkin presenting Channy with education material in an attempt to keep him up to date with his school work until he can resume. Items given included books, calculator, pencils etc. We are supplying Sokha and her family on a regular basis with rice and fruit and vegetables, other essentials such as soap and toothpaste, plus medical aid and Multi-Vitamins for Sokha.

On a recent trip to visit the family we were accompanied by Ad & Monique Schoonen and their foster daughter Lyn pictured top center. Deeply effected by what they saw they have decided to sponsor the the family by donating $100 per month through CHOICE. This is great news for all concerned, as well CHOICE have been seeking support from other organizations for help. We went to Veterans International Cambodia and met with the manager Rithy Keo, he agreed to help. He sent the V.I.C. technical team to assess Sokha and her prognosis is good, they will now help her to rehabilitate her. So CHOICE have taken Sokha and Channy to the V.I.C. center where they will live in while physiotherapy is carried out. We will continue with visits every 2 – 3 days and give Sokha and Channy money for food and any other support needed. Pictured below on the 21st June, is the journey back to C.S.C. for a medical check by Dr. Jim  and then to V.I.C. for the physiotherapy.

On recent village trips we have delivered over 550 clothing items from baby wear through to adult sizes. Many people have donated the clothes including Wan, Christy & friends of V Hair & Beauty Maroochydore Qld. Leanne Balkin, Chris Dickeson, both Aussies, Sandra and Lisa from Hong Kong, Melanie Edelson and a few others, many thanks to you all.

Again thanks to Leanne Balkin, Dylane Hubbard, Sarah Crook and West Coast Coaching girls soccer team the “Wildcats” from the US for their help in setting up and/or financing the two education centers in 2 of the Villages. There are over 100 children now receiving full time education in Khmer, see the photos of the two classes.

Journey Forward

Please view our video Journey Forward this will give you an insight into poor Cambodian Villagers and some of the work we do in the Village. Many thanks to John Glasson and Pon Puon Foundation and all our supporters.

All the way from USA

Special thanks to the girls soccer team from West Coast Coaching, last weekend from their bake sale the girls soccer team raised $390. This is about the amount we need  to supply the education books, blackboards, pencils etc for the children in the next village. Any money left over will go toward the next lot of lesson books, we believe they will need replacing every 3 months.

I am sure the soccer team will be happy to know that their donation will be used for this, so many thanks and keep watching this page for the updates and pictures.

Village Trip 22nd May 2011

Rudi set up the Medical clinic in Angela’s Village with nurse Kunthea, the rest of the team went on to the next Village. The usual food supplies, powdered milk formulae milk powder was delivered (5) and we supplied 2 tarpaulins erecting one.

We have organised a teacher for the 52 school age children needing education in this village. The children sat on a Tarpaulin on the roadside to receive their lesson books, fully equipped pencil cases, and personal blackboards supplied by Leanne Balkin. These children cannot attend school its too far away and they cannot build a school in the village as they are squatters, so education for these children will be on the side of the dirt road. We watched the teacher give a lesson to the very enthusiastic class who showed their appreciation to us for our support before we headed back to meet up with the medical team.

Rudi had some bad news for us, a local 16yo. village girl Kim had been diagnosed with a hole in the heart, she had all her test results with her. It was revealed last year that Kim had this problem but because the family is so poor they cannot pay for Kim’s operation and nothing further has been done. CHOICE are  trying to find out now who may be able to operate and at what cost.

Seven Weeks after Sokha’s Operation

UPDATE: 18/05/11

To assist Sokha to sit and hopefully use a wheelchair, we have made a ramp to place under the mattress to support her back, we will raise this once a week to see if  she can slowly adjust. At the moment she cannot hold the sitting position for too long, she feels sick and gets dizzy.

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Desperate Cambodian Family Needing Help

On Tuesday the 8th March 2011 after being asked for help CHOICE visited an extremely devastated family on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

CHOICE was contacted by Bill Jones from the US and a friend of  his Samnang who works for Phnom Penh Post. We agreed to help so Samnang took us to meet the family of  four, Sokha her son Channy, her brother Savuth and his wife  Somali. A friend allows them to live  in a little hut along with the chickens.  Channy,  a 16yo.  has had  to stop going to High School, to mind his Uncle and Mother. She fell off the back of a truck in January and suffered spinal damage.  She has lost the use of the right hand side of her body and cannot sit, she has to lie down continually, her condition may be curable with an operation.  Channy also looks after his Uncle Savuth now that his Mother cannot, the Uncle appears to have Leprosy and has lost most of his fingers and toes, he cannot walk. Somali is the only one who can work and she earns US$55 per month at a clothing factory, this does not provide enough for all their needs.

We need caring people to perhaps part sponsor or get a group together to help this family on a day to day basis as well as finance treatment for Sokha, it appears the condition of  Savuth has gone too far though he needs treatment for pain.

Friends – International Cambodia, were also contacted and are going to help the family. They have agreed to supply food and rice and depending on the recovery of Sokha, may be able to help 16yo. Channy with his education.

UPDATE: Friends have helped the family a little, most of their support is from CHOICE and our supporters. We now have the Schoonen family sponsoring the family.

CHOICE desperately need financial help to cover all the medical costs,  ALL DONATIONS WILL BE USED FOR THE MEDICAL COSTS.

UPDATE: On Monday the 14th March CHOICE contacted the CEO of the Children’s Surgical Centre, Dr. Jim Gollogly. He organized an Ambulance to take Sokha to the Children’s Surgical Centre. On Tuesday she was transferred to Calumet Hospital for X Rays and CAT Scans then back to C.S.C. The X Rays have shown that Sokha had a broken neck in two places and damaged spinal cord.

An operation was performed at C.S.C. on Wednesday 16th March. Sokha is no longer in pain, now we all wait to see the results. This may take many weeks and there will need to be extensive physiotherapy for her to gain improvement, CHOICE may provide a nurse to help with her physio and rehabilitation. Her son Channy remains at her bedside. Many thanks to Dr. Jim Gollogly and the staff of  C.S.C. for this.

CHOICE  volunteers transported Savuth on Friday the 18th of March to the Leprosy Hospital for assessment; his condition is serious and he will need at least two operations and a lot of treatment after that.

UPDATE:  On 28th March, Sokha and her son have returned back to what they call home. The good news is that Sokha can now sit to an angle of 45 degrees and most likely will gain more movement with time and exercise, we have managed to get her a wheelchair in anticipation that one day she can use it. The sad news is that only 4 people have offered to help with the medical costs. That includes myself one of the persons involved in drawing attention to this family crisis, and two of our friends. Every dollar counts  PLEASE  help us to help them by donating via our website. This money is not for CHOICE  but will be passed on to the Children’s Surgical Center so as they too can continue to help the very poor Cambodian adults and children who are either sick, injured or suffering from such things as acid attacks. We thank C.S.C. and staff so much for their help and support with Sokha and her family.

Savuth is still too scared to agree to have the operations  to improve his condition. 

Village Trip 27th February 2011

This was a special trip, apart from the regular volunteers and Rick, the rest of the volunteers were Melanie’s  (CHOICE Trustee) family. Fourteen year old sister Katie Edelson had done a charity fundraiser for CHOICE  as a Girl Scout project back in the US.  She purchased 7 bags of rice, 4 x 8′x4′ Whiteboards, 240 school books, pencils etc, food for the village trip, she  paid for Tarpaulins to cover leaky grass roofs, a replacement water pump head in the Village and  many cans of  baby formulae milk for the women unable to breastfeed. We really appreciate Katie’s support, she raised a total of US$766  to help the desperate needs of these Villager’s. Thanks to everyone who helped and donated this Sunday.

THIS  IS  KATIES  STORY:

“My name is Katie Edelson and in 2011 I went to Cambodia to give food and supplies to the people in the provinces.  I just turned 14 and before this trip I had never seen poverty.  Sure, I had heard about it, seen it on TV, but they were pretty much just faces on a screen. Just like so many other things in my culture, they weren’t real.

I have been a Girl Scout for 9 years now and it was time to earn my Silver Award, which is the highest award a girl my age can earn.  It took me several months to come up with an idea for my project, but when my sister told me about CHOICE it was set: I decided to collect money for CHOICE.  According to Girl Scout rules, I am not allowed to just collect money and give it to another organization, so I decided that I would collect money and then buy supplies to take to the village people.  In order to gather the funds, I sent out a flyer and did several presentations to local groups.

Thanks to everyone’s generosity,  I arrived in Cambodia with $766 and met with the CHOICE people.  We figured out which supplies were most needed and went shopping for them.  The next day we went to the villages to distribute the supplies.

It was amazing to me how the people could literally have nothing, their water contaminated with poison and their grass huts looking like they are about to fall over and still be so happy and smiling.  The children came out and surrounded me.  They clung to my arms and smiled at me.  They offered us nuts and yams and sugarcane juice to drink.

We handed out bags of food and soap.  The looks of happiness and gratitude on those people’s faces was mind-blowing.  We set up a whiteboard and that was now a school room.   We sang songs, played games and finger painted.  There was a girl who gave her painting to me.   I will keep it forever, along with this memory.

I connected with some of these people in a way I never have before.  I know that this is  a life changing experience.  It was just as wonderful as I imagined, only more so.  I am so very grateful for this opportunity.”

______________________________

Pictured is Katie with some of the rice, handing out baby formulae milk powder. The art class at work, Melanie and Katie rest while Mark does some juggling,  storing one of the whiteboards, giving out a donated guitar, the pumphead and dressing an old Villager in a donated leather jacket.

CYCLO PUB CRAWL FOR CHARITY

On Saturday 22nd January 2011 we met at California 2 to begin our fundraising pub crawl. Organized by Bill, Kevin and Rudy for “Russells Foundation”,  in turn the money raised was donated to CHOICE.  With “T” Shirts on about twenty of us went around the corner to Nay Nay, then Lonestar  losing only one on the way. Now well into the spirits of the evening it was Golden Vine, Zapata, Top Ten, Sharkey and finally Walkabout with only about one dozen remaining.  Special thanks to Graeme from Top Ten Bar who collected US$61.50 from from staff and patrons.  A great night with a total of US$366.50 raised. Thanks to everyone who donated and supported the night.

Burn Victim Village Trip 16th January

The first picture is of a 1 year old girl Rudy is treating for a very bad burn to her arm,  the child had fallen into a fire at the furthest Village.

We thank CAMBODIAN HOI FU GARMENTS & KNITTING COMPANY for supplying 6 box’s of new knitwear garments all sizes for men women and children. Below are pictures of some of the villagers receiving them, we also thank Gerado for his help with this donation of clothing, more pictures next trip. Three box’s were donated to 87 Village families this trip, the remaining 3 box’s will be distributed next trip, any left over will go to the Homeless at the “Soup Kitchen”.

The new pump we paid for is in and working, interestingly its stamped and dated ” UNICEF 2010 “. We also put another Tarpaulin on a Village hut. Finally is a lovely photo of the baby girl that we took to Phnom Penh for the  operation. Its nice to see her face instead of the pictures of the back of her head, she is doing very well.

First Village Trip for 2011

On Sunday the 2nd January we headed off with our supplies including the remaining 25 x 10kg sacks of rice donated by Sun Yong Xing from China. We also had several box’s of clothes from the CANON team and baby clothes donated by Ronnie & Navee to deliver. The baby taken to the Hospital on the 19th December appears to have recovered well and her parents are very happy. Three more tins of baby food were handed out. The Villagers at Cancerman Village (about 150 people) have a problem with one of the two pump wells in their village, the part above the ground has corroded through, they do not have the funds US$25 to fix it. After some discussion with the elders CHOICE gave them the US$25 to have it repaired, we will inspect it next trip. Thanks to all the Volunteers.

Village Trip 19th Decamber 2010

Another Very sick Baby: A one month old baby girl was brought by her mother to the medical clinic for treatment. She had a very large weeping abscess on the back of her head, the abscess appeared 2 days after birth; Rudy decided the baby needed urgent Hospitalization so we asked the mother and father to bring her with us in the truck back to Phnom Penh. We gave the parents US$10 and nurse Kunthea took them to the Kuntha Bohpa Children’s Hospital. Kunthea managed to speak to a doctor who immediately admitted the baby and mother, this was a lucky break  as it is usual to have to queue up overnight and wait to be seen on the Monday.

On Monday the baby underwent surgery and the abscess was removed, we are told the operation went well and after a few days recovery the family will return to the village. We will monitor the babies progress as it has been a very serious illness and dangerous operation and it will not be known for quite some time whether the baby is completely cured. During their stay in Hospital CHOICE has taken the family meals from the “soup kitchen” and a supply of donated baby clothes and towels, we also paid for their evening meals.

While the medical clinic was in progress the volunteers had a very busy day handing out the normal food supplies and clothing donated by our CANON friends from Malaysia. At Jasmine village an extra 25 x 10kg sacks of rice donated by Sun Yong Xing from China was handed out (there is another 25 for next trip). We also supplied another 3 tins of baby formulae, erected a Tarpaulin over the leaking roof of the blind babies hut and handed out photo’s  taken by past volunteer Rhonda. Rudy also checked the health of the other babies previously sent to the hospital for treatment, all are well. More pic’s in Photo Gallery.

Christmas Greetings

CHOICE wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We would also like to thank all volunteers and donors for their support this year,  our best year so far with the development of the “Soup Kitchen” project. We will be giving out food on Christmas day, there are no holidays for the hungry. Whilst you are enjoying your Christmas celebrations please give some thought to those here who are much less fortunate, every donation whether it’s big or small helps, we can provide two meals for $1. Below is a photo taken on the last village trip of two boys, they have just caught some rats with a slingshot; a meal for their family.

CANON Village Trip 11/12/2010

Many thanks to Allan, Vice President of  EAS MARKETING SDN.BHD. & RECARTS TRADING SDN. BHD. for bringing over his team of CANON Representatives from Malaysia. They brought with them 25 box’s of new and near new clothing and some toys for the families at the Villages, and the Homeless at the Soup Kitchen. On Saturday the 11th Dec. the team arrived at Chiva’s Shack around 8.45am, where we prepared food supplies for 84 Village families. The pictures below show some of the team members handing out the supplies and dressing some of the children. One mother had a very sick baby, Allan gave her US$20 to cover the cost of a visit & treatment at the Children’s Hospital, we will check next week on the babies condition. At the end of the trip we joined the team for lunch where CHOICE was presented with a donation to make the total value for the day US$430 thanks again.

Village Trip Sunday 28th November

We thank June Burton, John Conner, Sarah Saxon for their donation of baby/children’s clothes which we handed out on Sunday the 28th Nov. at the Village, some who received the clothes are shown in the pictures below. We also thank Tad for bringing the clothes to P/Penh and Rhonda for the pictures previously taken of some of the Villagers, we will hand these out next trip. The mothers of the twins were also given their supply of powdered milk. Entertainment was provided by Robert, balloon tying and Michael for running the drawing class, we thank them for their help. Eighty five food bags were handed out and our nurse Kunthea provided minor medical treatment. We checked on the two sick babies from the previous trip (pictured) and both the parents had taken their babies to the Children’s Hospital for treatment with the money we had given them, both babies are now well.

UPDATE ON THE TWO SETS OF TWINS

If you have been following our posts you will be sad to hear that one of the baby twins has died. CHOICE had received verbal support and empty promises from several people for Formulae Milk Powder, only one person came forward with a generous donation, Hamish Mckinlay and that was very much appreciated. Our resources are stretched to the limit, “we cannot feed babies with empty promises”. A 1kg tin costs around $10 and a baby will consume  over 2 tins per month, please donate for one or more tins get others to pitch in with you and tag your donation ” Baby food”.  If you are in Phnom Penh you can come with us on the trip and hand it over yourself.  Lets hope the next update regarding the remaining twins is a happy one.

Update: Hamish Mckinlay has donated US$360.00 for the babies formulae milk powder to add to his previous donation of US$180.00 for them, “Thanks Hamish”. Others have now come forward Julie & Colin Werrett have asked that AUD$100 of their donation is for the milk also the “Gentlemen’s Poker League” from Melbourne are supporting the babies and Krystle Haughney (EUR 82.00)  from Europe. Thank you all for your support, we have enough funding now for these lovely babies, watch this  site for picture and updates.

28th November: Added at the lower right are some pictures taken on the village trip on Sunday the 28th November of the twins and the surviving twin baby. They are pictured with mum receiving their regular supply of Formulae milk, all appear to be healthy now.

THANK YOU

ROTARY of Geelong Central, Victoria Australia

A big thank you to all the Rotarian’s at Geelong Central for their generous donation of $1000 to CHOICE Cambodia. At an early morning breakfast gathering of Geelong Central Rotarian’s, Ross Wright spoke about the work of CHOICE in Cambodia, and the “Soup Kitchen” starting in December 2010. Jane Cox, an International Committee member for Rotary has recently been to Cambodia and is well aware of the problems there. At a second breakfast Jane is pictured presenting the $1000 cheque to Ross. We hope to meet up again with some of the Rotarians who may visit us in Phnom Penh in the future.

Thanks for helping to sell the Silk Scarves

More Twin Babies in the Village

Choice Cambodia Sunday 26th September, we suppled tarps to 2 families. Shown in the picture is one of the tarps donated to a very poor family, it will also allow better catchment for drinking water in the wet season, as well as allowing those inside to remain dry when it pours, we also donated a mosquito net to them. This is the family where Angela is fostering the 12yo. girl from. We bring the girl back here nearly every 2 weeks for a family visit. Also pictured is our nurse Kunthea firstly explaining to the mother of the twins, how to mix the baby powder and in the other Kunthea is shown tending to a patient. CHOICE would like to thank Camlin and Preston Goodell from Texas USA we have been waiting for those pictures, anyway thank you for your generous donation. Would you believe we have another set of new born twin babies in the Village, they also have the same problem, mother cannot supply enough milk for 2 babies, we need a generous person to donate powdered milk for a year or so. Please is there anyone else, or a group that can provide this for one baby (US$360).

New Born Twins, Formular Milk, Update

Update on the twins and formula milk

An update from the earlier request for donors to come forward and supply formular milk, desperately needed by the mother for one of the of new twin boys now in Hospital. Thanks to Hamish McKinlay who immediately offered to supply the formula milk for 1 year. This however I was told this is not enough formula milk, one baby will use twice that amount. A big thank you to Hamish, now this baby will  leave Hospital soon and re-unite with the family now that mum has this support.

Village Trip 15th August

Saddened by the tragedy we pressed on with our deliveries of food, clothing, footwear and baby toys. Thanks to Tad and the Saxon family and their children from Maroochydore, Australia for their donation of clothing, footwear and baby toys. This is the second time the Saxon family have generously donated such items to CHOICE.

Shown in the photo’s is the blind baby boy receiving some of the donated toys a valuable gift and teaching aid for him especially now as he is very sick, hopefully it will distract him from his illness.

The medical team will monitor the blind babies progress, and if needed will bring him into Hospital. We thank all those who helped out, Roz who conducted the drawing class, Bob, Mike, Josh, Krystal and James.

Distribution of Schoolbags Tennis Shoes at the Village

Many thanks to both Singapore International Foundation and Neville O’grady from New Futures Organization (NFO) for donating 54 pair of tennis shoes and the same number of schoolbags. They were  distributed  over the last two trips to the most needy at the village. On the trip on the 1st August Sabina Stelting donated 10 ducklings  to two very poor families, we hope they will reach maturity to supply eggs and not just be eaten.  But when food and money is scarce for these people it is highly likely these ducklings will not last long. thanks Sabina. Also Jim Kearney is seen in the picture performing a Thai massage treatment with a wooden hammer and peg, this treatment is called Toksen and is used to release muscular tension. Our regular child entertainers were there Melanie with songs and dancing and Mark doing his magic, balloon tying and juggling all very much appreciated by the children. Rudy and nurse Kunthea were kept busy with there clinic. Thanks to Michael who has been on a couple of our trips in the past, another happy day for all.

Village Trip 6th June

Choice Cambodia The children at the Village could not have been happier, firstly they were treated with a finger painting session run by Melanie then Mark performed his clown act, juggling and balloon tying. see the pics. Meanwhile the volunteers handed out supplies of food, soap, toothpaste etc. as well 200 clothing items including the balance of the Calvin Klein childrens pants, thanks Michael and the ladies from Taiwan for donating the clothes. Rudy and Kunthea treated some 40 odd villagers. Pictured last is a villager who is blind, one eye cannot be saved but we hope to get him cataract surgery soon to recover sight in the other eye. Thanks to all the volunteers.

Update.  We took the blind man to the Fred Hollows clinic for an eye examination where sadly they determined that the nerves behind the eye were dead and his sight could not be recovered.

Village Trip 23rd May 2010

Choice Cambodia A most enjoyable day again, Rudy and our new Khmer nurse Kunthea were very busy again, they removed the stitches from the man recently taken to Hospital, the wound has healed well and he is fine. Thanks to the many volunteers as well we had the company of 4 women from Taiwan and 1 from China, they supplied 300 pair of pants to the children as well as giving us 180 packets of noodles to add to the food supplies we handed out. Thanks to Rosa an English speaking Khmer who joined the translating team. Melanie once again did finger painting with the chidren in the 1st village this time, the children loved it as did the volunteer helpers who joined in, one village left to go Melanie. Thanks to Ben for the rice and to all the Volunteers that helped us this weekend.

Clinic and finger painting

Choice Cambodia Friday 14th May and another clinic this time in the middle village. Dr. Mark in the foreground and Rudy, also before and after the operation photo’s, showing the leg of the villager transported to Hospital on 9th May. Meanwhile entertaining the children is Melanie, who by the way had more paint on herself than all the other children put together. another great day.

Medical Clinic and delivery of supplies

Choice Cambodia On Sunday the 9th of May 2010 we headed off to the furthest of our Villages with a medical team consisting of 2 American Doctors Emily and Mark, our Paramedic Rudy and 2 Khmer nurses. Also on board as volunteers were their partners and/or friends, James, Jane, Becky, Diana, Isaac, Dayna, Lisa, and David plus our regulars.
The medical crew set up and saw to all those needing attention as well as those we had selected on previous visits needing special attention.
Meanwhile the Volunteers distributed 80 Mosquito nets, 80 prepacked foodbags, 75 pair of Flip Flops donated by Diana and the Jones’s and around 300 clothing items donated by Lisa, we thank you very much for these. As well CHOICE would like to give a big thank you to Harvest Fellowship, Mark & Jane Truax for their very generous donation.
Most of the Villagers received minor treatment but one serious case was transported back with us to the hospital and given money by us for an operation to remove a large growth on his leg, we will follow up on his progress. “Blind man” will have a cataract operation in one eye in the near future, the other eye has been blinded by a bullet wound. Nothing else can be done for the young girl who’s eye was attacked by a chicken.
It was a very hard and long day but we were all pleased with the results.

We had purchased another 100 of the treated Mosquito nets, 20 were given to the Orphanage the remaining 80 mentioned above were handed out at the Village, a total of 200 have now been handed out at the Village, we need to do 100 more then each hut will have received 2 nets per family.

Medical Clinic near Svay Rieng

 On Thursday 6th May we were invited by the Orphanage to join them on a medical clinic. After a 4 hour journey from Phnom Penh we arrived at a remote farming village about 1 hour south of Svay Rieng and close to the Vietnam boarder.  Rudy (CHOICE Paramedic) and Mark an American Doctor began their examination and treatment of the many who had gathered. Some 5 hours later and no less than 115 patients, they had finally finished. Fortunately there were no serious cases so the exhausted team began the long trip back to Phnom Penh, finally arriving at Chivas Shack at 11.30pm.

Video of our Village trip by “Orangetrotter”

Orangetrotter, GEFRO and Friends

 In April CHOICE members had the pleasure in meeting up with Helga and Jurgen. Using the name “Orangetrotter” they have travelled in their VW Bulli from Germany throughout Australia and are now travelling through Asia. They are meeting up with various Charities on their travels and documenting their experience with them on U TUBE. We wish “Orangetrotter, GEFRO and Friends” a big thank you for their generous donation and help at the Orphanage and Village trip on Sunday 25th April. and we wish them good luck for the remainder of their journey. For more information on their travels visit : http://www.orangetrotter.de/
The young girl pictured wearing the sunglasses has only recently been brought to our attention. She had been attacked in one eye by a chicken a long time ago, the eye was blinded and disfigured. We were told she always kept to herself and hid her face, embarrassed by the scarring, unaware of her presence until her parents asked CHOICE to provide her with sunglasses, the girl is very happy now she has them and we will keep her well supplied in the future. She will be seen by an American Dr. who will be visiting the Village soon, and we hope we can provide her with some treatment to improve her situation.

Delivering Pallets

Many thanks to the friends of Angela who kindly donated 15 pallets, (10mil plywood on steel frames approx. 2.4m x 1.2m). They are used by the villagers for all sorts of things but mainly to provide solid flooring in their huts. CHOICE volunteers delivered them to the Village on Sunday 25th April 2010.

A new nurse to help at the Village

Equally as important to the supplies that we give to the Villagers is the medical support. As the numbers of  Villagers needing treatment is always increasing, we are now employing a local nurse, Sotheara, to assist Rudy. (pictured 28/03/10) Severe cases are transported to Hospital in Phnom Penh. We are always in need of medical supplies, if you can help please donate on our website.

Delivering Mosquito Nets to the Village

Welcome for the boys new Orphanage.

Donating School shirts at the Orphanage

These pictures show some of the smaller children at an Orphanage receiving school shirts donated by CHOICE. Many of the children at the Orphanage need replacement school uniforms. A shirt costs US$2.50, a skirt US$3.00 and shorts US$2.50, shoes $4.00. Please send us a donation as some of the kids have only one of each item and they have to wear the same clothes each day. From the prices shown above a small donation such as $10 can outfit one child.

Water Filters Delivered

At 10.30am on Tuesday 23rd Feb 2010 we loaded the truck with 85 water filters and headed to Kandal Province. Angela gave detailed instructions on their use and care, each family was given a ticket then they were handed out. The villagers were always aware of the advantages that water filters provide. Now through CHOICE and the efforts of our valuable friends, these poor villagers have the water filters. Three of the filters were given to the an Orphanage. We still have another 70 Villagers who have not received water filters, we will have to replace the filter inserts in 18 months or so, but this is a great start. Sincere thanks to all of you who have worked so hard for this and to those of you who have donated to this cause.

Water Filters Pre-Purchase

For some time now a dedicated young couple from Melbourne Australia, Cath & Josh have been fundraising to raise money to provide water filters for the very poor Village families that are supported by CHOICE. There are approximately 150 of these families and this couple have raised enough money to supply around 55 filters at $10US each.

An American named Mountain from Northern California has also given a donation to supply another 12 filters so we can now enable almost half the families to have safe drinking water. Unsafe drinking water causes a large number of illness’s and deaths in Cambodia and we need to supply a lot more. You might ask “why not provide wells” these have been provided in some locations but a lot of the well water in Kandal Province contains arsenic and is only suitable for washing, filters will not remove arsenic, so the most available water is surface water which is dirty and needs to be filtered.

The filters are also produced in Cambodia, so this creates jobs as well. These families have no land, no jobs no sanitation and are severley disadvantaged, if you can help please donate on out website. We need to provide more water filters as well as replace the inserts every 12 months or so. Thanks again to these wonderful people who have helped us.
A further update on the Water Filters, Cath and Josh are arriving in Phnom Penh on 22nd Feb. 2010 and with a combined effort with CHOICE we will be delivering water filters to around 85 Village families the next day, we have now got a deal for US$9.50 per unit including a cleaning brush and delivery will cost US$40.  Stay tuned for the photo’s.

Giving Out Baby Clothes at the Village

Pictures taken at the Village on the 17th Jan. 2010 when CHOICE volunteers gave out baby clothes and toys. Thanks to two families from Australia, the Lowe family from the Sunshine Coast and the Nicholas family from Geelong who donated the clothes.