THE OLD CENTER. A lease was taken out in December 2011 on two properties side by side within 5 miles of the furthest Village.Much physical work was undertaken to develop our School here.
THE NEW CENTER. In early 2017 we were granted a 5 year non interest bearing loan and with this purchased our own land on the river nearby. We have built our new school on this land. A savings in rent of around US$7000 will be a huge help over the long term. Please help by fundraising or finding large corporate donors, tax advantages may apply to some in Australia. We have developed Accommodation and a Food Preparation Area at the river end of the property. This area can be accessed by boat and will be fenced off, entry to the school is by permission only to authorized persons. The barrier also prevents the children from river access. A Khmer area for staff accommodation occupies the area between the School and Western Accommodation area
We still provide Medical Aid and:
1. Safe drinking water to the Villagers. The existing well/bore water in the Villages is contaminated with toxins such as arsenic, fluoride, manganese and sometimes cyanide. All are in excessive levels and cause sickness and eventually death. The center has town water supplied, the town water is run through a UV filter at the center to remove bacteria, then into a holding tank ready for a fast transfer to the tank on our truck. With the help of volunteers we deliver four days each week to the Villagers, nearly 50,000 liters per month. Our water has been tested and is of excellent quality, we have noticed a great improvement in the health of the Villagers since deliveries began.
2. Education, Vocational Training and Food. We taught the children in the Villages for a year, there were many problems with this. The best solution was to have our own school in the main Village and providing transport to take them to and from this center for education and vocational training. We provide meals for the children at the center as well. Many of the village children have not attended school before, only ours, the reasons being costs for fees, transportation and uniforms are out of reach for these families. CHOICE have placed hundreds of students into the local Government School since (Oct. 2012). Many of these have attended our Vocational training courses. We had a Sewing Course for some students but closed this due to the opening of some nearby Garment Factories. We run a Computer course for students using 18 computers. English and Phonics is also being taught. A new intake of about 70 kindergarten children has commenced in two separate groups at our new school. We employ 14 staff all Khmer, a manager, teachers, cooks, drivers, and cleaners, several from the Village. Many children, are being transported to and from the Village by CHOICE on schooldays.
School in Jasmine Village.
This School was closed in 2016, no further need due to their age.
The development and expansion of our work in Cambodia has been made possible with the introduction of our sister branch’s, CHOICE Family Australia and CHOICE Family Germany.
CRYSTAL PARK PLAYGROUND AT THE CENTER:
Crystal Park the playground at the CHOICE Center is named after Leanne Balkin’s daughter Crystal. We thank Leanne, Kate and Tom for financing the playground.
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Wishlist for Future Training Projects:
Sponsor land for a family
Hospitality
Cricket Breeding
Mushroom Farming
Fish Farming
Motor Bike repairs
Aquaculture