The Over 40 Tour is complete.
C4C made a trip to Phnom Penh and Pursat, Cambodia the last week of April, 2013. We dubbed it "The Over 40 Tour" since all of us that went (Todd, Bruce, Jamie and volunteer Steve) are all over 40 as was the temperature each and every day. We learned quickly that April is the hottest month in Cambodia. Weather aside it was a fantastic trip with much accomplished. The trip had 2 main purposes. One goal was to meet with a number of organizations that have people on the ground full time in Cambodia so we can forge partnerships with them in the future and make finding qualified projects a bit easier for us. The other was to complete a building for Sustainable Cambodia's Sylvia Laskey school. Both were a huge success.
Visit our Monkey Mermaid Academy build page here
Another Successful Trip
Being good Canadian boys we also introduced hockey to the kids of the Kien Khleang orphanage. They of course had no idea what the weird sticks and pads were for but they loved playing once we got going.
March 2009 Trip
On February 26, 2009, two members of Carpenters4Cambodia headed out to Phnom Penh with 4 computers, a lot of clothes and desire to find out what more we can do. The trip was a great success. We delivered all the clothes to the Kien Khleang orphange, since a group from Italy beat us there with computers, and they asked for clothes. We climbed around the roof of Kolap 4 to get an accurate estimate on what is needed and lucky for them we arrived when we did. They had just gotteb a new false ceiling installed that was unfortunately falling down so we seized the opportunity to fix that while we were there. We also put two computers in the girls dorm as they didn't have computers but some of the boys did. We also went to an amazing place called A New Day Cambodia (www.anewdaycambodia.com) and found our next project. A New Day Cambodia has an old wooden and tin shack on it's site that is currently unuseable and we can fix that! They also have two buildings that are only about 30 feet apart but once it gets dark they can't leave the grounds as it is too dangerous. One building has computers and the other didn't so we put the 2 computers there also. We were very impressed with the work A New Day Cambodia is doing and would very much like to continue to help them however we can.
Extreme Building Makeover Cambodia
Carpenters 4 Cambodia director joined our lead-carpenter to complete the first stage in providing orphans in Phnom Penh with rebuilt computers from Canada. Thanks to a grant from the For the Love of Children Society of Alberta they gutted, re-roofed and fully restored this building located at the Kien Kleang Orphanage in the northeast of Phnom Penh. They poured a new floor, roofed it, painted it, installed new lights and fans, and had new windows as well as a new door installed.
Eventually we hope to stock this room with donated computers from the Calgary area. This will provide the more than one hundred children that live at the orphanage with the computer familiarity and skills that will give them real opportunities in adulthood (rather than just returning to life on the street after leaving the orphanage’s care). In the interim, the grateful staff and kids at Kien Kleang will use the new space as a small dining hall.
Thanks to a grant from For the Love of Children Society of Alberta, there is a newly renovated building at this grossly under funded orphanage (the staff at Kien Kleang receive about $4.50 US per month to house, feed, clothe, educate and provide medical care for each child).
A New School for the rural children of Angdop
In October of 2008, Carpenters4Cambodia travelled to Cambodia with Sophal Mom from the Cambodian-Canadian Association of Calgary. Their primary job was to scout out three potential sites for future construction of a For the Love of Children Society school.
They assessed two sites in the Takeo Province and one in Kampong Speu Province. All three sites are very rural and have large numbers of primary school age children with either no school to attend or only insufficient, overcrowded schools available in their areas.
We are thrilled to announce that a site has been chosen in Angdop and, with the generous support of For the Love of Children Society, construction should begin as early as April 2009. The school will be located beside a Buddist temple being constructed by Sophal Mom and the Cambodian-Canadian Association.
Bringing Kien Khleang Orphanage what they asked for
While rescueing the delapidated building at the Kien Khleang orphanage, directors of the orphange mentioned that they would love to turn the building into a computer lab for the children. In Cambodia, the average worker earns $30/month, if they learn english that goes up to $100/month. When you add computer skills in, the wage jumps to $300/month. This would give the children a real chance at making a better life for themselves.
Armed with that information Carpenters4Cambodia decided we should get them computers. In March we will be heading over to Cambodia with computers in tow to help give these kids a chance at some new skills.