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!
Laura Christianson, author of the "Exploring Adoption Blog" has written a great review of the widget fundraising campaign on her blog. I'm linking to her because I know some of the readers her are adoptive parents like me. Her blog focuses on information relevant to couples who are considering, in the process, or already adoptive parents. It's an excellent general adoption resource.
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.
Last night we attended a performance of Sandglass and Sovanna Phum (Here too)- the culmination of these two artists working together from different cultures, puppetry traditions, and language. What they produced was gorgeous, brilliant, and exceptional. It was a fusion of khmer/American artistry like I haven't seen.
We took Mongkol - and after a quick dinner at Whole Foods, we had a fabulous evening. My camera really sucks at taking indoor photos (probably something stupid about the settings I'm not doing) or maybe it is me. Mongkol, the expert photographer he is, has some beautiful ones here. I used them to create the slide show above.
Mongkol did a great write up here. He points out our meeting with a blog reader who recognized us!
However, that’s not all. While we were waiting for the Q&A session with the artists, we noticed one white guy approaching us from the distance. Surprising us from behind, he said, “Hello Mongkol and Beth! How are you? Mongkol, how are things going with your study?” At first I thought he was Beth’s friend, but yet how did he know my name? Hmmm.. A big question, huh? Only later did I find out that his name was Decker and he was one of our regular blog readers. Decker is from the UK and currently resides in Providence. He loves Cambodia and viewing Cambodia-related blogs is one of his ways to get in touch with Cambodia. Well, what a coincidence! Nice to meet you, Decker! :D I hope to see you again sometimes. :p
I took a lot of video clips and I'm editing them and will post later.
