A Family Who Needs Your Help

As you may already be aware, there was a house fire at the home of one of the orphan's sister's house yesterday. The family's home was burnt to the ground and as a result they lost everything they owned. This included all their money as Khmer people do not use banks, their personal belongings and the farming equipment that they use in order to earn money. This will have devastating consequences for the family. As there is no welfare system in Cambodia, it will mean that they will have to rely on the generosity of neighbours, friends and family, most of whom do not have much themselves.

Unfortunately, house fires are common in Cambodia, especially in rural areas and are commonly caused by lightening strikes during storms. The fires are not easily extinguished and there are no fire fighting trucks or equipment available. Traditional Khmer homes are built on stilts with a wooden frame. The walls and often the roof are made from homemade palm matting. So as you can imagine, once a fire starts there is usually nothing anyone can do to stop it.

An example of a traditional Khmer house

So this family with two young children are now left to live in a small tent-like shelter. They have the overwhelming challenge of not just replacing their home but also to address their more immediate concern of buying basic necessities such as bedding, cooking utensils, toiletries, just to name a few.

Can you imagine trying to live in such a basic shelter with nothing at all to your name? Or the uncertainly of how you are going to survive this and find a way to feed and support your children?

 So what can we do to help?

We would like to raise some money in order to firstly get this family food and the necessities they need to get through this difficult time. Secondly, to build a new home for the family. Altogether we are probably looking at around AUS$1500.

 The boys at the Stepping Out Cambodia Half-way House have set themselves the challenge to help the family rebuild their home once we have the funds to do so.

If you, your family or friends can help in any way, please contact the Stepping Out Cambodia Support Program or myself (nshanahan79@yahoo.com.au). Please keep in mind that the family has nothing at all so any small donation will help.

We can all make such a difference to the lives of this family.

Nikki

Introducing myself

Hi Everyone,
My name is Nikki and I'm Clare's sister. I will be helping Clare out by keeping the Stepping Out Cambodia Blog up to date and letting you know what Clare and the boys have been up to.
Hope you enjoy watching the Stepping Out Cambodia Programme expand and watching the boys confidence grow as they experience new and exciting things.

The boys

Our vegetable garden is growing!

The boys are very proud to show you how much their vegetable garden has grown. They all take it in turns to look after the gardens.

Wish List

Thank you to everyone who donated towards our Wish List, there are still some items we still need. Please contact me if you are interested.

February 2012

Well, it has been another busy month for us at Stepping Out. We had to say goodbye to Robyn, who has been an amazing support to the boys and I. We miss her so much already. Now I have taken over teaching the boys English at night. We also have two extra boys who join us for English class, they are from poor families and haven't got the money to study English. I am enjoying teaching the boys and SreyMom. Next week they will start learning French two nights a week.
The boys had their half-yearly exams which they studied very hard for and are now nervously waiting for their results.
We have an extra boy in the house now, Channy, has returned to the house and has settled in well. Channy is not part of the program but lives in the house. He is in Year 12 and works in the afternoon. It is a pleasure to have him back.