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Here is some details about each of the projects our team is involved in. More detailed information is contained within the December/January edition of our FYI magazine
ICC CHILDREN’S VILAGE
ICC’s Light of Hope Children’s Village is situated in rural Cambodia, approximately 3 hrs south-east of Siem Reap and 11km south of Kompong Thom. ICC’s Light of Hope Children’s Village is the final frontier before dirt roads and land mines. The town that ICC’s Light of Hope Children’s Village is located in has a market, from where the Village does 90% of all purchases. There is no ATM though, no KFC, no Westfield!
There are 6 homes with house parents on the site and each home has about 10-12 kids in each house. Also on site, there is a K-12 school with approximately 160 children.
At the ICC Village there is an apartment that is used by groups, which will be used by the girls. There is an outdoor (covered) sleeping area where the guys will sleep. Think of it as Pathfinders Cambodia style!
We will participate in teaching the students English language. It is important that the students have opportunities to learn and interact with native English speakers to improve their conversational English skills.
We will teach computer classes for Year 10-12. We will also fit in and help the teaching staff wherever possible. Teaching is a big thing. The students have average English at high school level, but at a primary level it is not good at all. The best thing that can be done is give the students a chance to practice conversational English and do extra English classes. Another group from Australia will be there before Christmas. We will complete some building maintenance works. We will also have plenty of time for Cambodia v Australia soccer, volleyball and the like. We may even try to teach them a bit of cricket! They will get up at dawn for soccer if you’re up for it!
Basically there is absolutely no creative classes being taught. We are working on a plan to teach some art classes. Think Cambodia StormCo! Each day the students help with gardening tasks. We’re going to get in there and help them! It will be fun plus they get to practice their English. We will also contribute to their vespers program.
ICC is working with ADRA down the road on a village project. They are going to take us there and so we can see the real Cambodian village and exactly how they live.
ICC Newsletter info on the Village.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY - GLOBAL VILLAGE BUILD
Approximately 40km Northwest of Phnom Penh and adjacent to the Oudong Temple area, lays the Oudong Habitat for Humanity building site. ICC Australia has partnered with Habitat for Humanity Australia to assist with the re-location of approximately 50 families from the Stone Mean Chewy Municipal Dump Site in Phnom Penh into safe, decent, affordable housing with appropriate water and sanitation solutions.
Using micro finance to help the families purchase their new house and land through a housing micro-credit scheme, the project is being implemented over a period of three years, which commenced in January 2009. Micro finance means that they loan people money at an affordable rate (usually about $1/day for 10 years). The money they get back helps fi nance the next house! Potential families go through an application and selection process. They are chosen based on their level of need, their ability to repay the modest loan and their willingness to become partners. Once a family has been selected, they are expected to work at least 500 hours on a habitat work site, on their own home and working on others. This project is part of a larger scale goal for Habitat to relocate approximately 300 families from the rubbish dump site.
The ICC partnership currently involves two relocation sites. The fi rst was completed in mid-November 2009 and ten houses were built. The bricks are being made on site. Future home owners are contracted to contribute to the building of the homes and local labour is also employed. This was offi cially opened in November by former US President Jimmy Carter, a patron of Habitat for Humanity International. Ten houses have been funded by the generosity of ICC donors. That same generosity has also contributed to the purchase of the next build site nearby. This site will be the location of Project 318’s work. There will be a building project supervisor on site.
Habitat for Humanity info here
MEDICAL CLINIC
Chiang Mai is in the North of Thailand and is one of Thailand’s major cities. We will travel to Omkoi, which is a regional district in mountainous country Thailand. Our base will be two different SDA Churches in Omkoi – we will visit one in each week. We will sleep there and also conduct the medical clinic from this site. Omkoi doesn’t really appear in the Lonely Planet. We are going to see the real Thailand. Real people, real rural lifestyle, and live and breathe their way of life. Not many tourists will get anywhere near this experience! We are told the temperature will vary greatly. At night it will be cold with near freezing temperatures! During the day it will warm up.
The local SDA pastor is very excited about our visit. He has already been telling the village and advertising our visit. He is expecting at least 100-150 people at each site to come and see us. Remember, no doctor has ever been here! We’re likely to be celebrities! Due to the remoteness of the area, we will need to be creative and resourceful and use what we can at the church to set up for the clinic. Basic health and hygiene are the major problems in Omkoi. We should expect to see many infections, infl ammations,improper wound care, skin irritations, lesions and the like. During the cooler months when we are there, there are also a lot of joint and musculoskeletal pain and respiratory illnesses.
Other tropical diseases do exist here, however it is hard to say what to expect since no other medical people have been to Omkoi that we are aware of. No doubt there will be people that will come in with toothaches… not sure we can help with these ones! The Kirsten Jade Rescue Centre (KJRC) is an ICC Base near Chiang Mai. The children that are looked after here receive education at a school next door. Those non-medical people will be utilised to look after supplies, other kids that are around while Mum is cared for, making sure people are seen to, and the like.
HOUSE OF DREAMS
The Phayao House of Dreams is a safe home for girls at risk of being swallowed up into the whirlpool of the sex trade industry. There are currently 34 girls in the care of Phayao House of Dreams. The children at the centre are mostly tribal and are often the most vulnerable and despised children in society. These children are not treated as equals and their rights are often violated. The girls at the centre are a happy group of girls who are eternally grateful for their rescue from the sex trade industry and are looking forward to a brighter future. The Phayao House of Dreams is a Christian ministry (not Seventh-day Adventist) operated by a ministry called Capacity. Capacity is a volunteer organisation established for the purpose of implementing community strengthening projects in Thailand.
We will split our time between the Phayao House of Dreams and the Wiang Papao development site. Both sites are operated by Capacity.
Wiang Papao is a district within the Chiang Rai province, Northern Thailand. It is located centrally between the major cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and is surrounded by hills and mountains. The area contains a population of mainly unskilled and poor rural class people. Capacity is building a youth hub, houses and a healthy living site in an effort to provide better education to this community. We intend to run some sort of Kids Club / games at Phayao House of Dreams each afternoon for the kids.
Healthy Village Project
One of Capacity’s key initiatives in Wiang Papao is the Healthy Village Project which seeks to offer a healthy living alternative to members of a nearby village in which people are living in poverty. This project proposes the construction of 10 – 30 homes together with a multifunction building, horticultural structures, infrastructure, and development of microenterprise and horticulture activities. Secure and safe ongoing living circumstances offer children and their families the best opportunity for health, wellbeing and a positive future. In addition to the improved physical environment the project will emphasise the transfer of skills and knowledge to increase personal and community capacity to order their own lives for the benefit of all members of the village and the region in which they live. Poverty is a major risk factor to the health of children and their families.
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