A Healthy Helping Hand for Cambodian Children
By Emily Friedman
I am an American writer, lecturer, and photographer who has been working in Cambodia for nearly a decade, chronicling the country’s attempt to rebuilt its health care system, which was completely destroyed during the violence, war, genocide, and occupation between 1969 and 1989. I have had contact with numerous
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) during this time, some of which I admire greatly and some of which
I consider fraudulent at best.
One of my Cambodian friends, Sao Vanna, recently took a (very hands-on) management position as Office
Director with the Cambodian Communities Dream Organization (www.theccdo.org). (it is registered under
Cambodian Child’s Dream Organization in the USA)
A father of two children himself, Vanna has a special place in his heart for the kids of his country, and when
he invited me to come see what CCDO is doing, I jumped at the chance. This is an edited version of my blog
(I write travel blogs for a selected audience when I am abroad) about that visit, which took place on November 28, 2014.
One of my gripes about international charities is that although they usually mean well, they often don’t listen to the people in the field or do their homework on what the greatest needs are in the areas they choose
to assist. That is not even to mention those predatory bloodsuckers who set up a “foundation” or a
“charity” simply to garner donations that go into their pockets rather than helping anyone, the monsters
who use these false NGOs as cover for seducing young Cambodian women or to engage in human trafficking or drug smuggling, or the well-intentioned people who come to Cambodia and elsewhere and just don’t
know what they are doing, thereby often accomplishing more harm than good.
Which brings me to the Cambodian Child’s Dream Organization (www.theccdo.org), This is the USA registration and it is registered as Cambodian Communities Dream Organization in Cambodia.
There is a phony charity of similar name trying to make money off this group, so make sure you visit the
right web site. They welcome all donations, large and small. You can learn about their history and their
work on the site. An American woman, Jenni Lipa, is the driving force.
They provide three services in Siem Reap Province, all desperately needed. Despite being home to some of
the most majestic temples and antiquities on the planet, and having recently been named one of the top
five tourist destinations on earth, Siem Reap is the second-poorest province in Cambodia. The tens of millions of dollars spent there by tourists largely end up elsewhere.
The CCDO funds professionally constructed wells for low-income people, and also provides repairs when
necessary, free of charge. It also funds the building of hygienic latrines/bathing facilities and provides all
supplies, right down to the soap. And it feeds 1,500 schoolchildren every day who otherwise would likely
have perhaps one meal (as in a bowl of rice) a day – and in some cases, not even that. They also provide
vitamins daily.
My friend Vanna went to work for this NGO earlier this year, and I was intrigued by his Facebook postings,
as well as by the obvious satisfaction he has with what he is doing, so when he offered me the opportunity
to check it out, I accepted without hesitation.
The CCDO does not have a company
car (as it were), but it does have its
own tuk-tuk (a small carriage pulled
by a motorbike, a very common form
of transportation in Cambodia). Given the ruts in the unpaved road leading to the Tapang School (one of the
CCDO’s service sites), better a tuk-tuk
than a car. With the recent out-ofseason rains, the dirt roads are muddy obstacle courses, and if our driver
had not been so skilled, Vanna and I
and the driver would have been in a
pit by the side of the road.
Fortunately, although it was yet another of the bone-crunching rides to
which I have become accustomed in
Cambodia, we made it to the school in time for the pre-school kids’ breakfast. They are fed in groups,
youngest children first, then those in the higher grades.
The breakfast menu changes every day, always including protein, vegetables, and rice. Snacks are also provided to about 500 children every afternoon.
It was also delightful to see Vanna with the kids. He
so loves doing this work!
In addition to feeding the children, the CCDO also
pays all the expenses of their schooling - costs that
many families cannot afford, which prevents their
kids from getting an education. CCDO pays for uniforms, fees, books, even transportation if necessary.
Most of the students are girls, as the boys
often stay on the farms to help with
planting and harvest and other work.
The CCDO is also funding vegetable gardens for this school and the others where
they have a presence. The principal crops
will be zucchini and other nutritious veggies, and the kids will benefit in two ways:
They will have healthy food, and they will
learn to grow something other than rice.
Planting will start at the beginning of the
rainy season, as the school has a limited
water supply, like most rural sites in this
province.
No one is going to confuse the Tapang
School with the Latin School of Chicago. For one thing, it is missing one rather important ingredient: electricity. Yes, that’s right; the school has no electric power. There’s a donor in New York who has laptops
ready to donate if the school ever gets a power supply. In the meantime, the kids go to school in classrooms lit only by sunlight, and the teacher
has one laptop that has to be charged elsewhere.
The school itself could use a little work.
It’s a very frustrating situation, because it
threatens the future of Cambodia. More
than half of the population of this country
is under the age of 20, yet access to proper
education, health care, and even food can
be very hard to come by in rural areas.
I should add, as an amateur demographer,
that there is a reason for that amazing statistic. The country lost a quarter to a third
of its population thanks to the American
bombing, the civil war, the Khmer Rouge
genocide, and the famine that occurred
soon after, so much of an entire generation
– my generation – is missing. The people
who were in their twenties and thirties in
the 1970s died in huge numbers, and never
had children (or else their kids did not survive), so middle-aged people in Cambodia,
in my experience, are a bit rare. They’re
there, but enough are missing that the demographics are abnormal, and Cambodia is
a country of the young.
Many people around the world have donated to the
school through the CCDO. The playground was funded by folks from California. (CCDO, in an attempt to
prevent the confusion produced by the phony charity
with the near-identical name, has changed its name
from the Cambodian Child’s Dream Organization to
the Cambodian Communities Dream Organization.)
The library was donated by folks in Singapore. It has
teaching materials and learning aids for children and
teachers alike. This is important; schoolteachers in
Cambodia make very little money and are in no position to purchase their own teaching aids.
These teachers are remarkably dedicated, even
working under these most difficult conditions.
The kids went to class and we moved on to check
out the wells and latrines that CCDO is building for
low-income families. Here’s a well. Each one is
funded by a donor, who is identified with a sign and
the flag of their country. This one was also donated
by Americans.
The latrines/bathing facilities are also installed by
professionals and fully supplied by CCDO.
They may not look like much, but these installations
are saving lives all over the province.
I have seen CCDO wells elsewhere
in Siem Reap. My friends and I call
them “Vanna wells.”
I gave Vanna what I could afford to
help them in their efforts.
The world is full of big, fat charities
and foundations that dictate terms
to their supplicants and pursue the
wrong goals. This organization,
with which I have no connection
whatsoever except for being a new
donor, gets it. Cambodian children
are far more likely to die of diarrhea than of HIV or malaria, because their water supply is not
safe. For those who have these
wells, the prospects are much
better. These kids are at risk of early death from other conditions simply because of malnutrition and a diet
that consists largely of rice. Now, I must admit that Cambodian rice is the best I have ever tasted – it was recently named the finest in the world at an international rice competition – but it does not constitute a balanced diet in itself.
The Cambodian Communities Dream Organization is doing important, correctly focused work, and it was a
privilege to spend the morning with Vanna and see the results of its efforts. I look forward to more opportunities to follow its progress, and to be of whatever support I can offer.
Emily Friedman
Chicago
December 28, 2014