Sreys day out!

When I started sponsoring Srey Neth I sent in a donation for her to go out for a day of shopping and a meal out with a friend. Originally because I thought it was her birthday but it turned out the original information was wrong and her birthday isn't until July. But I asked them to take her anyway. I don't have many details about her day yet, she just went yesterday but one of the sponsorship coordinators who I have become friends with went to meet her and snapped these pictures. The one is of Srey with Samron, the sponsorship coordinator. The other is Srey with her friend Somaly who coincidently I was originally sent information for to sponsor! However in the meantime they were infoormed she now had a sponsor. How cool though that they are friends and she got to go too!

Sreys 2nd letter!

I received the 2nd e-mail from Srey this evening! Twice in one week! And I just found out she will have her day out on Monday!

First letter from Srey!

Wow in less then a week I had my first e-mail from Srey. And six pictures were attatched! She is a little doll! Here is her e-mail!

Dear Lisa,
How are you getting on? I am doing well and feeling very happy to know that you are sponsoring me. That is great news and thank you for choosing me. My mail translator told me what a sponsor is so that makes me happier. I cannot write in English or Khmer yet but my mail translator here will help me to write to you and I just say out what I want to tell or talk to you in Khmer.
I am very pleased to tell you about my life before I came into CCF family and I also have a picture for you with my mother.
My name is Sin Srey Neth and you can call me Srey Neth. I was born on 14th July 2002 and I have three brothers and two sisters. I am the fourth child in the family. My parents got married in 1993 in Kampong Som province and have three children, but they divorced in 2000. Two months later, my mother had a new husband and they have three children.
My new family moved to Stoeung Meanchey, the big old garbage dumpsite in Phnom Penh, where my step-father and mother work as garbage scavengers. My family was really poor and it was always hard to feed the many children in the family. At night my step-father went to pick through the garbage for things to sell and during the day time he stayed at home to take care of the children while my mother worked on the dump.
My step-father sometimes suffered from malaria too. To make things worse, he could be aggressive and liked to drink. At home I like to look after my sister and brother and play with my neighboring friends. I also help my Mom to do some housework like cleaning dishes and sweeping dirt on the ground.
Seeing that I was in need of education and good care, my second sister, Teng Chantrea, who is staying and learning in CCF2, decided to ask the facility manager and Scott if she could take me to stay and learn in CCF2. It was lucky for me that I was offered an interview and was able to pass. I felt happy to become a part of CCF’s family.
I feel that I am very lucky to have a great chance to study at CCF and public school. I am really enjoying my new life here and learning new things like computer, English, painting, home economics and Khmer Traditional Dancing. I really love my computer and English classes as I could practice with computer and it is fun to play game with typing and so on.

In my English class there are nice colorful chairs and tables and interesting decorations on the wall so I am always happy to have this class. I can count from A-Z and right now I am studying about Jolly Phonics English Sounds.
Before going to public school, all my friends and I have to line up and listen to our names to be checked and then there is a staff accompanying us to school. My school is called Sorla Primary School, which is not far from CCF2, where I am staying. I go there on foot and I always have fun with friends on the way back and forth. I love all subjects and always try hard in my studying.

Becoming a CCF’s family, I have many friends and we all have very good rapport. My good friends are Malita and Srey Oun. . Here is a picture of me and my friends and it was taken during the party on the 24th December 2010.

I don’t know what I want to be in the future yet but the important thing that I know is that trying hard in school. Schooling is rewarding!
I really want to know about you so could you please tell me about yourself? When is your birthday? Where do you live? What are your favorite things to do when you have free time? I want to see your pictures too.
I love you and would like to say thank you again.
I wish you have a great New Year and hope to hear from you soon.
Love,
Srey Neth

Sin Srey!

This is my sweet Sin Srey Neth. She is 8 years old and will be turning 9 on February 9th. She lives in Cambodia at the Cambodian Childrens Fund Facility. She has 3 brothers and two sisters. I believe 3 off her siblings are also living at the facility. She does go home to spend time with her mother on long holidays sometimes. Her stepfather suffers from maleria and is quite aggressive. Before moving to this wonderful facility she lived with her family in a garbage dump...one of the biggest in Cambodia. (This is where most of the kids staying here came from). She loves "being a real school girl" now. She lists math, science, and social studies as her favorites. In her free time she likes to watch cartoons in the library and play on the computer. She also loves to draw flowers! Her birthday is on February 9th so I went ahead and sent in a donation so she can celebrate. For $20 they will take her out and have a meal, a birthday cake, and she will get a new outfit. I sent money for both her and a friend to go!
I cannot wait to hear from her. We are allowed to e-mail as often as we wish. Many e-mail weekly! They also send pictures sometimes. And within the first year of sponsorship you get a DVD of your child. I will be keeping this blog updated regularly!

Its been a while and lots of changes!

I have been neglecting the blog partly because I didn't know what was going to happen with my sponsor kids. I went through a time where I thought I was about to lose my house. And I knew I would have to give some kids up. On top of that I have had some concerns about the organization. Anyway I dropped the majority of my kids but then found out I was getting help with my housing situation. When I inquired about getting some of my kids back I was told most had new sponsors.

I have decided to go down a new and exciting path regarding sponsorship! I still have Lizbeth, Danna, Jessica, Adriana and Brayan from CI. But I won't be adding anymore from there. I am trying out a new organization called Cambodian Children's Fund. I will only be able to have one child from there since sponsorship fees are pretty steep. But the work they do is amazing. The children live in a loving home where they are given an education, healthcare, art, music, and most of all love. These children were all living in one of the largest garbage dumps in Cambodia. Those that didnt live there were forced to work and look for valuable items. A former executive from 20th Century Fox started taking these kids in. The sponsorship program is supposed to be amazing. Some of the kids e-mail their sponsor once a week! They send photos, and the organization sends you their education report every month. I will be posting more in the next few days when I "meet" my child!

Meet Keyla

This is my newest child. I plan on sponsring her sister Tania who is also on the site tomorrow if she is stil there. Keyla lives in Honduras. She is 6 years old and will be turning 7 on February 18th. She lives at home with her 4 siblings: Tania who is 3, Darlin who is 2, Jenser is 10, and Fenlin who is 12. They live with their parents. Their mom is a homemaker and dad is a daily laborer. They live in a house with one multi use room. The walls are made of wood, the floor concrete and the roof currugated metal. They sleep on fold out beds. I look forward to getting to know her and hopefully her sister!

Two letters from Adorable Adriana

I received these two letters from Adriana. The first one was her welcome letter. The 2nd one I got in response to a letter I sent her right after I started sponsoring her. I can definitely tell her disability is all physical and not mental. She seems like a very smart, affectionate child. I am waiting on alot of reports on Adriana. Unfortunately it will be about another month until I get them and I know why she is in a wheelchair and how I can help her.