June 2021: Worrying Times
WORRYING TIMES
This month has seen many ups and downs as the Covid pandemic continues to play havoc here in Cambodia. Numbers in Siem Reap skyrocketed this month due to a large community cluster. Just when we thought our build projects looked like continuing full steam ahead, the authorities cordoned off the neighbouring house of our next build due to a Covid case. It seems relentless, but the team continues to work hard and stay within the government guidelines.
As we write this one of our staff member's is sitting at home in self-isolation. During our three-day break for the King's Mother's Birthday, she received news her brother-in-law had been in contact with a man that tested positive to Covid 19 and himself later tested positive. Luckily it all happened during our break and the staff member was smart enough to contact us before returning to work. Although contact tracing showed she had not been in contact with him during his infection period, we took no chances and asked her to stay home for 14 days.
Siem Reap numbers continue to climb and we have had back-to-back days of reported numbers close to the one hundred mark just in Siem Reap alone. Cambodia as a nation has been reporting over 600 cases a day for quite a while now. For a country that was almost Covid free as of February 2021, (when two Covid positive people escaped quarantine), this is devastating.
With so many living under the poverty line and the government under pressure fearing people will be unable to earn a living or source food, they are holding off a lockdown.
For anyone that has been to Siem Reap you will know our town is small. You'll also know, the town is designed around tourism and we have not seen tourists now since March last year. Life is tough for locals, with most not eligible for government support, what little there is, and relying on handouts from NGOs and other organisations. We see more and more people coming to ask for assistance every single day. Our biggest priority at this stage is our food distribution and making sure we can stay open to get food out to families.
We know the world is doing it tough. We know we are not the only ones in tough times but please remember our boat is not as buoyant as yours, and we need you all more than ever.
FOOD RELIEF
Food relief increased in size this month. Three new families added thanks to the generous support from our Match It May campaign
The world is often full of stories about religions fighting against each other, mankind not being kind at all, but this month's food collection proved there is still hope. One of the family's added this month is a Ta and Yay who look after five grandchildren. It is obvious Ta is very Buddhist, he blesses us every time we see him. Ta only has a bicycle and he lives a long way from Heartprint. His friend is a Muslim and also part of our food relief program. The two arrived together by motorbike, the Muslim man waited patiently while Ta set himself down to make sure Pheap and I received our blessing. The blessing was not short. It was a special Buddhist day here in Cambodia so the blessing went a little longer than usual and once again he was very grateful. When the blessing was finished the Muslim man helped Ta back on the motorbike with all his food parcels and the two went off together happily chatting.
We are often asked at Heartprint what religion we follow, our reply, humanity. Let's all take a moment today to appreciate how diverse we all are and how much we can change if we all learn to live together.
This month we had a very generous donation of rice from Amru Rice Cambodia Co., Ltd. This donation allowed us to distribute 25kg of rice to 60 families. Packs also included sauces, oil, and noodles thanks to Nial and Maria Mathewson, as well as eggs thanks to Dianne Baumann and laundry powder thanks to Yeaksa Laundry
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
What do a plastic tub, a netted enclosure, and brick walls have in common? We're working on prototypes for our Job opportunities Project.
Over the next few months we hope to start introducing some of our families to new business setups, it will include all the training and support they need to start helping themselves to once again be self-sufficient.
The projects will not be related to the tourism industry which will hopefully mean they can start earning some money straight away.
The projects aim to not only give them job opportunities but also educate them about the environment and our impact on our world.
Not all projects will be new, part of the plan is for families to be taking better advantage of what they already have.
BICYCLES
It was a big bike month again this month. Nine bicycles were gifted to some of our local children thanks to various sponsors.
We often try to explain how much a bike means to the kids here in Cambodia and although you might see a smile in their eyes, or on their faces, you really can't see what is happening behind the scenes.
One of the bikes gifted this month was to Ort Ni Chat a bicycle thanks to the Girls With Hammers fundraiser. She was shy, polite, and appreciative but, when we said go for a quick test ride and come back, tears were streaming down her face. That's what we see, that's where we are lucky. All we can do is try to explain what it means, photos don't do it justice at all.
YOUTH GROUP
With venue closures and lockdowns in place, swimming lessons have been on hold for weeks and weeks. Finally, this month with a bit of working around to fit into restrictions and keep everyone safe, the youth group was back in the pool.
We split into two groups, beginners and intermediate, five in each group, which also meant they got a lot more one-on-one time, and the beginners improved immensely.
The kids were all so happy to be in the pool, and they told us they were so thankful, as staying home is boring and makes them think a lot.
Swimming lessons were brought to our youth by Kris Dunn and her fundraiser.
INTRODUCING TEACHER KIMCHENG
All schools in Cambodia have been closed on and off since the beginning of the pandemic. The current closure has been in effect now since the beginning of April and they don't look like reopening anytime soon.
The local English school, Heartprint sponsors children to attend has also been affected by these closures, and with no work being sent home we had concerned the kid's English skills were going to diminish.
We had a dilemma here at Heartprint. We had previously been handing out English school packs to our English program students each time schools closed but with the increased workload on our office staff due to our family social support program, the packing and distribution of food relief, the increase of people coming into the centre to ask for help, we were struggling to get them done. When the schools closed this time we were hoping it would be a short closure and we would let the kids have a break from English and just continue with their online Khmer studies.
As time dragged on we felt the pressure for the students to keep up their English studies. We approached Kimcheng, as she is a qualified English teacher to see if she would be interested in helping us.
Thanks to our Heart of Gold club members, we began handing out school packs once again to all of our English School sponsored students. And weren't they happy about that!
MEET MIDWIFE NICKY
We are endeavouring to make our baby baskets even better than they already are.
We were approached by Nicky, who is a qualified midwife from the UK, now living in Cambodia, asking if we required volunteers. With her skill set, we were not going to pass up the opportunity to utilise her knowledge and pass it on to our community.
Together Pheap and Nicky are working on education materials that will be added to our baby baskets; such as information on birthing, postnatal care, the importance of breast milk, nutrition and so much more. Pheap, of course, is overseeing the whole process to make sure all literature is culturally sensitive and Nicky in turn is sharing her expertise with Pheap making sure she understands all of the information that will go out.
We also have plans for other activities and workshops that will include mums and bubs that we are working on and will reveal at a later date.
This project and the baby baskets are of course thanks to our ever-giving Heart of Gold Club.
Every month we are blown away by how much support is behind our small humble charity. When times get tough and we are unsure if we can continue YOU our amazing supporters are there encouraging us, backing us and supporting us, keeping us going. When it feels like the list of help needed is never-ending, You are there, making donations, liking and sharing our posts on social media, sending us words of encouragement.
Heartprint is so much more than a charity, it is a family. A family that supports each other as well as complete strangers.
We hope you've enjoyed catching up on all things Heartprint. For more regular updates follow us on Social Media.
COMING SOON!
Since the beginning of this pandemic, we have wondered how long we can keep going, how long we can ask our donors to keep contributing. Every day you all keep giving and keep supporting.
Times are now tougher than ever. The pressure is really on us to continue to be there to help and support where it's needed. On days when we are honestly unsure if we can continue, don't know if we will make it through, there's a bright spark always there. That spark is you.
We hope you've enjoyed catching up on all things Heartprint. For more regular updates, follow us on Social Media.
