If you are reader of this blog, you are probably aware of the campaign I ran to raise money for Leng Sopharath's college tuition using the ChipIn fundraising widget. Leng Sopharath is one of 19 college students being sponsored for college through a program of the Sharing Foundation,
an ngo that works directly with local officials, orphanages, and NGOs
in Cambodia to identify and carry out projects which improve the lives
of children.
The photo above came in today's letter from Leng Sopharath. You can read see the other photos and read the letter in flickr here.
Every time Dr. Hendrie travels back from Cambodia, we have a special briefing meeting for the Sharing Foundation volunteers and board members. We had that meeting over the weekend and Dr. Hendrie, had almost literally, just stepped off the plane.
The Sharing Foundation accomplishes so much! There's so much to write about .. so I'll be blogging about it over the next few weeks. I did want to report on how we're beginning to put the generous dollars you all contributed (matched by Yahoo) to work.
Dr. Hendrie passed around this photo of the 600 kids who now be able to attend school because they have school uniforms.
As many of you know, the Sharing Foundation won the Yahoo/Network for Good Charity Badge contest at the end of 2006. The blog campaign raised $49,000 which was matched by Yahoo. I wrote quite a bit about TSF's sewing program and how the sewing girls in this program (like Sina) make the uniforms for poor and disadvantaged children. I just wanted to close to the loop and show the first batch of uniforms delivered for 2007!
It's been a horrible start to the week and that photo of the kids smiling, ready for school, ready to make a better life for themselves makes me a whole lot less grumpy!
Violence against women and children (rape and sexual abuse, domestic violence, and sex trafficking) is a very serious problem in Cambodia. The Cambodian Women's Crisis Center (CWCC) is one of a number of NGOs in country addressing this problem (Stop Exploitation Now is another). The organization recently launched a new web site intended to promote their programs and help educate people about the serious violence issues, particularly sex trafficking, that are rampant in Cambodia. CWCC also works to advocate with the Cambodian Government for legal and structural reforms.
The CWCC was founded in 1997 by a small group of women concerned about the issue and the lack of services to care for victims. Since its openining a crisis center Phnom Penh, CWCC has expanded its services to include sheltering, counselling, medical assistance, literacy, vocational training, monitoring and reintegration of women who have been trafficked, training, community organizing, research, and much more.
Oung Chanthol, is the organization's executive director and co-founder. She was one of 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. She shares why she help start the program which in its ten-year history has served over 50,000 female victims of violance, rape, and trafficking in its drop-in centers and shelters. "The suffering of women encourages us to work, to do more to help. We are human beings. We cannot ignore their situation.”
Born to an upper class Cambodian family, the young Chanthol dreamed of becoming a journalist. But without a journalism school in her country, she developed an interest in law. As a lawyer, she puts her journalistic skills to work. She visits the rural areas where she encounters all kinds of issues that she informs the media about.
With her social and educational background, Chanthol could have lived the good life of the rich and powerful in Cambodian society. However, the suffering of women victims of physical violence guided her towards co-founding CWCC in 1997. Within a week, they were overloaded with cases that needed urgent attention. “We intended to provide a shelter for about 20 women per day. In just one week, it was full. From word of mouth, hundreds of women came.” she notes.
Today, the Center offers a mix of research, advocacy, and direct services to victims. Its direct services fall into two key programs, Assisting Women in Crisis and Girls Access to Education. The organization also provides services and has done considerable research and education on the whole issue of sex trafficking. Though it is not known exactly how many people are trafficked each year from Cambodia, it is estimated to be in the tens of thousands according to PACT Cambodia.
Many victims come from poor rural areas in Cambodia where people are largely uneducated about the true intent of the traffickers. Women and girls are thent raded across land borders in Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan. According to the CWCC web site, once a child's virginity is sold for $500, she is traded on to a brothel as a virtual sex slave. Many victims are subsequently detained by the authorities in other countries and sent back to Cambodia. One of CWCC services is a reintegration program that helps women get back their former lives and is provided along with vocational skills training, medical treatment, counselling, and other support.
I woke up this morning and I'm sitting here utterly speechless and with tears of joy!! Everyone's generosity is very heart warming and wonderful!! Thank you so much for contributing to the campaign.
I know the badge says I've Raised $49537 from 745 Donations! It really should say "We" There was lots of help from the Sharing Foundation family - board members, volunteers, and supporters -- especially TSF's founder, Dr. Hendrie, whose relentess attention to campaign made it successful. In addition, we received lots of support and help from the Cambodian adoptive parent community and their families, churches, synagogues, fellow employees, golf buddies, quilting clubs, book clubs, parents of their children's school mates, high school and college friends, and beyond. The Cambodian American community also rallied for us too!
In addition, I want to thank all the readers of this blog and my colleagues who I hit up for donation to this campaign! You all rock!
This money will send over thousand Cambodian youngsters to school in 2007, plus cover a lot of the costs of the Sharing Foundation's educational programs which include a pre-school, khmer literacy program, English language program in the local village schools, vocational training (sewing school) and high school/college sponsorship programs. We now await the official results of the Network for Good/Yahoo Challenge.
Sina, age 15, is an orphan and head of her family -- two younger sisters aged 11 and 8 (Sina is in photo with the white shirt and blue shorts on the left). She earns a monthly wage working for a sewing school and shop, a vocational program run by the Sharing Foundation that trains young women so they can earn a sustainable living wage with a home-based sewing business or get a better paying job in Cambodia’s garment industry.
Sina helps makes school uniforms that the Foundation provides to over 1,000 street children in Cambodia so they can attend school. Sina’s younger sisters are 2 of over 500 students who are learning English in a program in the local village supported and run by TSF.
This year we could more than double the number of uniforms we
provide to children in Cambodia, including some for HIV children's
group homes. The Sharing Foundation has the opportunity to receive
matching dollars from Yahoo via the Network For Good Charity Badge
program. This could make a big difference for thousands of children in
Cambodia. We need just a few minutes of your time and a few dollars before December 31, 2006
Here's
how it works: Yahoo! is offering a $50,000 matching grant for the
nonprofit which gets the largest number of donations before the end of
the year using its new "charity badges." (see below) What is
important is the number of donors, not the amount of dollars.
A large number of people contributing just the minimum of $10 each
would make all the difference in the world. (We also would be happy to
receive larger contributions to help more children lift themselves out
of poverty through education and the Sharing Foundation's other
programs.)
Can you think of a better use of $10 or more? Send
poor Cambodian to school, provide employment for young women like Sina in
Cambodia, and help the Sharing Foundation raise additional dollars to
help address poverty in Cambodia. Simply click on the orange donate
button on the charity badge located in the side bar or below. If
our campaign has the most individual donors, Yahoo will match what we
raise. So, why not help us today!
Many children in Cambodia do not go to school because their families lack the $10 for a uniform, required for school attendance, and other school supplies.
Last year, The Sharing Foundation sewing school made over 1000 uniform sets and donated them to needy children in Roteang Village, to the Street Children's Assistance NGO, and to a poor government orphanage. Our sewing girls, who EW employed by the Sharing Foundation's vocational training program, earn from the first day of their training, so this is a win-win situation.
This year we could more than double the number of uniforms we provide to children in Cambodia, including some for HIV children's group homes. The Sharing Foundation has the opportunity to receive matching dollars from Yahoo via the Network For Good Charity Badge program. This could make a big difference for thousands of children in Cambodia. We need just a few minutes of your time and a few dollars.
Here's how it works: Yahoo! is offering a $50,000 matching grant for the nonprofit which gets the largest number of donations before the end of the year using its new "charity badges." (see below) What is important is the number of donors, not the amount of dollars. Right now, the Sharing Foundation is number 2 and needs 20 more donors to catch up.
A large number of people contributing just the minimum of $10 each (which would send a poor Cambodian child to school and of course, we're a very efficient small nonprofit and would be happy to receive larger contributions to help more children lift themselves out of poverty through education.)
Can you think of a better use of $10 or more?
Send poor Cambodian to school, provide employment for young women in Cambodia, and help the Sharing Foundation raise additional dollars to help address poverty in Cambodia. Simply click on the orange donate button on the charity badge located in the side bar or right below.
If your campaign has the most individual donors, Yahoo will match what we raise. So, why not help us today!
We are very grateful to everyone for their contributions, links, and advice. I'm elated that we surpassed our goal to support Leng Sopharath's second year at college.
I'm not ending the campaign. Why?
Meet Sin Vuthy, pictured above. He is one of ten students being sponsored for their freshman year through the Sharing Foundation's education programs. His college fees for this year have been partially sponsored, so we want to raise more money to support him and other young people like him who benefit from the Sharing Foundation's education programs.
Leng Sopharath and Sin Vuthy are only of two of more than 1,300 children that the Sharing Foundation educates. These two college students represent the top tier of the Sharing Foundation's educational programs. In order to get to the point of sponsoring young people for college, the Sharing Foundation begins at the pre-school level with a Cambodian version of a Montessoui Pre-School in Roteang Village. The foundation also sponsors a "head start" program for the children of the poorest villagers who work in the Foundation's farm program that provides the families with needed income. In the local Roteang village school, the Sharing Foundation runs an English Language program that is teaching over 500 children to speak English. The Foundation also provides capital improvements such as a new roof, a new library, and pays for school supplies.
The village school stops at the elementary level and if students want to continue in high school, they must pay for high school, a luxury these promising young peoples' families can't afford. The Sharing Foundation sponsors over 40 high school students - their tuition, transportation, uniforms, and supplies. Plus, our sponsors provide important emotional support via personal letters. Last year, our first "class" of high school students graduated and ten students passed the entrance exams for college, including Leng Sopharath. This year, another ten students are being sponsored for college, including Sin Vuthy. Read more here.
If you haven't yet made a contribution, I'm using the Network for Good Charity Badge for this round because Yahoo is providing some matching money! So, please make a donation and help support more than 1,300 poor children in Cambodia for their education.
Mongkol,
a Cambodian college student who is studying in the US on a Fullbright
Scholarship and knows the importance of a college education had this to
say.
Keun Fast, another Cambodian blogger. Tharum, who I had the pleasure of meeting via my work with Global Voices, has linked to the Campaign.
I also want to thank Ken Goldstein for sharing with his network on YouTube.
Carnet Williams at the ChipIn blog has kept a record of links and dollars here.
Katya Andresen at the Nonprofit Marketing Blog gave me a guest spot
to write about the campaign and solicit advice from colleagues here.
We've just received a donation on behalf of all the children at Ptea Ponleu Vichea, a youth center in Battambang which is focused on similar work that the Sharing Foundation is engaged in. The Center is a project of FEDA stands for ‘Friends Economic Development Association’. FEDA is a Cambodian Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working to empower Cambodian people living in rural areas, founded in 1994 by a group of local Cambodian volunteers.
I’m the parent two wonderful children, Harry and Sara, who were adopted
as orphans from Cambodia. My children have food everyday, clothing, go
to school, have toys (probably too many), and many other necessities of
life that we in the US often take for granted. When we were in Cambodia, many
Cambodian people came up to us and said “Your child is very lucky!” We would
reply, now we’re lucky parents. But in some respects, they were
right. The infant mortality rate in Cambodia is very high, so my
children are lucky to be alive.
When we adopted our beautiful children, we also adopted their birth
country. We have embraced Khmer culture and we also feel a
responsibility to give something back to the country, particularly to
seriously disadvantaged children in Cambodia. Soon after coming home
with our first child nearly seven years ago, I volunteered for the Sharing Foundation,
an ngo that works directly with local officials, orphanages, and NGOs
in Cambodia to identify and carry out projects which improve the lives
of children. I now serve on the board.
There’s lots of could tell you about TSF and I encourage you to
visit the web site so you can get an sense of the scope of the good
work this organization does. One of its focus areas is education. Over
1,300 children in Cambodia receive educational support every day as a
result of The Sharing Foundation initiatives. The Foundation has
increasingly focused its efforts on ways to create and improve
educational opportunities for Cambodian children of all ages, including
public school projects, pre-school, Khmer literacy, English language
instruction, high school and college sponsorships, and vocational
training. These projects present what might be the only means for the
most disadvantaged children to life themselves, as well as their
families, out of poverty conditions, become self-reliant and lead more
productive, hopeful lives.
The Foundation is now its second year of college sponsorships. Last
year, our family stepped forward to sponsor Leng Soparath, an orphan
from Kampong Speu orphanage. For a gift of $750 annually, TSF is able
to cover her college fees and living expenses. (It is a stretch for us
... we’re not rich but this could make such a difference in the life of
one young person) In addition to money, we provide emotional support
and encouragement through regular letters and photographs that we
exchange. Our letters are hand-carried to Cambodia by Sharing
Foundation’s 76-year old founder, Dr. Nancy Hendrie. Watch the video for more information.
I’ve also documented our correspondence with Leng Sopharath in flickr (here, here, here, and here).
While TSF has paid staff, Cambodians, in Cambodia to manage all its
programs, the work done in the US (primarily fundraising) is all
volunteer-driven. Almost of the money raised comes from grassroots
efforts and primarily done offline as well as some web fundraising.
(See these wonderful examples.)
So, when I saw the fundraising widget, it looked like a natural
extension of the type of grassroots fundraising that we’ve been doing
offline. And I might add that our family has made a commitment to
sponsor Leng Soparath through graduation and we ask our friends,
family, and colleagues to help us. Even my kids contribute money from
their piggy banks and direct birthday money to the effort.
How you can help
1. Make a contribution: A little bit of money in Cambodia goes a long way. Click on the ChipIn badge above to charge your contribution.
2. Blog about the campaign and include campaign badge: Help tell the story aout why a college education for someone in Cambodia is so important. To copy the badge code,simply click on the HTML icon on the badge and cut and paste the code into your blog post. Here's a screencast that shows you how.
3. Click on the Video and Ad: The campaign video is in Revver which is advertiser based and pays per click through. You can also add the video to your blog by copying the code. All proceeds will be donated to support this project.
