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  Cambodia's Heartbreak Children Most of the rubbish pickers at Steung Mean Chey are either from Phnom Penh or came to Phnom Penh looking for work and ended up in the slums. Many of the approximately 600 children have parents or relatives who also work on the dump and look after them. Some of them go to school, but most do not - at least not on a regular basis -, and it is safe to say that virtually none of them ever completes a primary school education. The school fees are too high and their families need them to collect rubbish to contribute to the family income. Adults earn, on average, 4000 to 5000 riels (US$1.00 to $1.25) a day; children earn on average about half that amount. A whole family working together can actually earn more money than they could in the rural village from which they originally came. (Source: The Centre for Children's Happiness) Give Children A Choice is determined to lift as many children as possible from the stench, and toxins of the Steung Mean Chey dump, and to get them into school where they can truly have a chance. Give Children A Choice is determined to give them a future. Give Children A Choice will provide the children with school uniforms, backpacks, school supplies, and bicycles, and send them to Khmer School, and provide English lessons. So far, we have been able to sponsor a great group of children, and look forward to increasing this group on a regular basis. In doing so, we are taking children out of what are often deplorable conditions and hopeless situations, and placing them in stable school situations. Today, thanks to our generous sponsors, young children ride new bicycles to Khmer and English school six days a week rather than plodding through the dump looking for recyclables. The program is working! Filling Their Minds with Hope and New Memories Three donors read our summer newsletter about the children working in the Phnom Penh, city dump. They read about how Give Children A Choice retrieved four children from the dump, met with the parents, and placed the children in Khmer and English school fulltime. These three donors wanted to help. With their generosity, two sisters Chheang Srey Mao, 13 years old, Chheang Duck Ka Di, 12 years old and their brother Chheang Van Chhai (15) are now in school fulltime for the first time in their lives. Until now, they have been working in the dump for over six years, since their family arrived from the rural provinces hoping for a better life in Phnom Penh. It has been nothing but struggles and despair. Your donations were godsends. The donation helped purchased a bicycle with a basket, light and lock; school uniforms, backpack and supplies; shoes; school tuition and lunch money. No longer will they be trudging through the stench for recyclables. Attending school, learning to read, to write, to communicate and most important, to have hope and choice will fill their minds with hope and new memories. Write to info@givechildrenachoice.org, if you would like to sponsor a child through school. There are many other children who need help, who deserve the same chance that we have given these children. Without sponsorship, attending school, learning to read, write and communicate is out of reach for these children. Interested in making a difference? We'll keep you fully up to date on your sponsored child, and let you know how he or she is doing every step of the way. Send us an email for more details at: info@givechildrenachoice.org Give the gift of hope. It's pretty easy to get passionate about helping when you see living conditions firsthand. I am so thankful that you have the infrastructure already established so it will be easier for those of us who are arriving late to the cause. I have so many images in my head from our trip and I know over time that I will lose most of them, unfortunately. However, I don't think I'll ever forget the feelings of exhilaration and heartbreak, nor the desire to help make a difference.
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