My Thanks, so far...

In the last 3 days I've received generous donations from:

Jeremy Garcia
Allen Woo
Aldo & Lillian Jamorol
Candie Miron
Kitchie Samson
Dianne & Sean Seupersad
Charlene Matilla

My total so far in CDN funds is $288.50

I'm still hoping for more and am glad to receive whatever amount you can spare. I truly appreciate it, I honestly do. I also really appreciate those of you who have emailed me and just said "good job Dean!". That as well is a nice pick me up and also really means a lot to me. Its so nice to know that I have friends that are actually proud of me and supporting me in spirit.

In the last couple of days...

Papparazzi

Laura (the English girl who raised money from England) and I were at the local market close to the orphanage, picking up food for the kids. As we were about to leave we saw a camera crew filming a little Cambodian girl. Turned out that they were from England doing a story about a young girl with HIV and whose mother has died from AIDS. Cliff Richards (some famous singer from England) was also part of the story and was sitting close by in a van. The second we inquired about it, we both got that lightbulb in our heads of "please give the orphanage some media exposure as well!". We tried but of course was denied. However we did get a phone number of a man in Phnom Penh who works at an organization that might be able to help us out.

Afterwards, Cliff Richards came out of the van and was walking along the market with the small child. Laura hid in one of the stalls and took pictures of this semi-large icon. She was all giddy and excited.

On our Moto drive back we discussed that we should have pleaded and begged for them to help us somehow, put a twist on the story and have the little girl meet other orphaned children or something to that effect. We quickly went to the orphanage, dropped off the food and grabbed 2 of the cutest kids to go with us back to the market. What have we got to lose?

I kept thinking of what I'd say to them, I'd cry and plea if I had to. The second we got there, I saw them all standing, getting ready to leave. We got off our bikes with the kids embraced between our arms and....

I sheepishly said "We're on a desperate plea..." then I lost all my guts. Laura as well, wasn't as agressive as I thought she would be either. The man just kept saying, "we'd like to help but we can't". I totally understand, but I guess it was worth a shot. There was another person though, that was part of their entourage, that gave us a contact of a close by clinic that would also maybe to help us out with free treatment for the kids. It wasn't all in vain.

Long-term

We discovered by a foreigner that lives here and teaches enlgish, that the orphanage used to be run by this other man that sexually abused the kids for 2 years. He is now in jail. This teacher and her network of other English teachers have also offered to put in a bit of help and will go to the orphanage on a periodic basis to check to see if everything is doing ok. This gives me a bit of ease. It will be a steady eye on the orphans on a long term basis.

The other night the kids came to a guesthouse close by to where all us volunteers live. We were all watching them like proud parents, sitting in the front row. There's about 9 of them that do the traditional Khmer dancing, in order to earn money for the corrupt owner (we hope that the children see a bit of the money). Its amazing how well these kids looked in their clean costumes, combed hair and clean faces. In reality, only 1.5hrs prior they had old, torn, dirty clothes, raggedy hair and smudged faces. When the children were leaving, it was our turn to see them off and run down the street yelling "goodbye, goodbye, see you tomorrow, goodbye!!".

Poor Nee

Yesterday, I was one of the first volunteers to get to the orphanage. I actually went a littler earlier than normal. Upon arrival they all pointed to Nee (we have no idea how to spell the kids'names), who was on the bed (if you can call a wooden table a bed), with a high, high fever! Oh poor little guy, he's normally one of the rambuncious ones. I quickly did all that I was capable of and grabbed some cold water and a towel to help him cool down. Luckily 5 minutes later, Marie, a new volunteer and also a nurse, arrived with the medical supplies. Geez, if she didn't arrive, I probably would have brought him to the hospital, that's how hot he was. By the end of the day, he was a little cooler and at least sitting up and drinking some water. Today, he was moving around and feeling much better, but as we left I guess he threw up and had some diarhhea. Fortunatley, Michael (the Dr. who's been helping out for the last 10 days) was there and able to treat him before going home. Right now, I'm worried about him and will pray that when I get there tomorrow he's well.