This orphanage has 157 children ranging form babies to 19 years old, all with Aids or are HIV positive. It is founded and run by John and Kathy Tucker. An American couple who have been in Cambodia for 9 years. It was established only 2 years ago. 
John Tucker states, that there are 200 Christian organizations in Cambodia, and none of them will accept kids with aids or HIV positive. (whether that is because they don't have the facilities or not, I am not sure. And I have no proof to back his claim up) According to John, no National Hospital will either. Come to think of it, all the patients I have seen at the Aids ward in Kampong Cham, have been adults. 
Until recently there was no Aids medicine in the country. Bill Clinton now supports this type of work by funding all the medicines needed for kids with aids. As seen here holding little Bazil, this picture has pride of place hanging on the office wall. Bazil was abandoned at a hospital on the Cambodia/ Vietnam border. His mother died of aids, possibly during, or right after child birth. No-one came to claim him. He had no name, and no way of tracing who he was or who he belonged to. The hospital sent him to Vietnam, thinking he was Vietnamese. Then realizing he was Cambodian, sent him back to the same hospital where he started.
John & Kathy ended up with him and, with the necessary aids medicines, tenderly nursed him back to health. Although he is still living with aids, he is a relatively healthy little boy now. ( picture here with Kathy)
John & Kathy ended up with him and, with the necessary aids medicines, tenderly nursed him back to health. Although he is still living with aids, he is a relatively healthy little boy now. ( picture here with Kathy)
They also have 850 children on their outreach program. That means they supply medicine, food, and schooling (I think) and monitor the care of orphans that have been able to be placed with extended family members. An Aussie team's artwork!!!
This is one of our Aussie youth team. She is an average height, 15 years old. The Khmer girl with her is 14 years old. It just goes to show the comparison in sizes of both nationalities. And to think that girls this size and younger (i.e smaller build) are typical of those being raped everyday in brothels, by full grown men (both Westerners and Khmer). It's heartbreaking.
We spent some time doing craft and playing games with the kids. I learned to make balloon animals for them, by copying one of the Aussie girls. These kids loved the cards we helped them make. They especially liked the glittery touches that I helped them apply.
They have built teaching facilities, for the preschoolers. And the older children go to a nearby school that caters for grades 1 through to grade 12. It is truley a wonderful facility. That has been designed in a village like setting, on very spacious land.
John is proud of growing these trees. Once the leaves are dried to a certain extent, they can be fed to the pigs. He had to convinve the nationals that it was OK, as if fed to the pigs green, or too early, they are poisonous. This will save them money on pig food.
The cluster houses on the background of this young man posing for the camera.
This is one of our Aussie youth team. She is an average height, 15 years old. The Khmer girl with her is 14 years old. It just goes to show the comparison in sizes of both nationalities. And to think that girls this size and younger (i.e smaller build) are typical of those being raped everyday in brothels, by full grown men (both Westerners and Khmer). It's heartbreaking.
We spent some time doing craft and playing games with the kids. I learned to make balloon animals for them, by copying one of the Aussie girls. These kids loved the cards we helped them make. They especially liked the glittery touches that I helped them apply.The kids just love having visitors around interacting with them. Although very few of them speak much english, we managed to communicate and have fun together. Surprisingly, the boys loved the skipping games I played with them. 
They raise pigs to eat, sell and produce gas from their excrement.
This gas element is run off the gas they produce themselves, by putting the 'pig poo'through a process of treatments. They are very proud of their recent achievements.
They raise pigs to eat, sell and produce gas from their excrement.
This gas element is run off the gas they produce themselves, by putting the 'pig poo'through a process of treatments. They are very proud of their recent achievements.
They have built teaching facilities, for the preschoolers. And the older children go to a nearby school that caters for grades 1 through to grade 12. It is truley a wonderful facility. That has been designed in a village like setting, on very spacious land.
John is proud of growing these trees. Once the leaves are dried to a certain extent, they can be fed to the pigs. He had to convinve the nationals that it was OK, as if fed to the pigs green, or too early, they are poisonous. This will save them money on pig food.
The cluster houses on the background of this young man posing for the camera.
It really is a great work that they are doing, and are touching the lives of a lot of people. Hope you found this interesting. lLve and Blessings, Lane.
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