Month: January 2023

Mornings use to be a time of quiet with most of the children in school, however, with the opening of our preschool program, our campus is now active all day long. There are now 11 children enrolled in the morning program and one who stays the whole day.

They are an active group and seem to really enjoy their time here. Income from their $10.00 a month tuition helps to cover some of the cost for the four new staff we have had to hire.

In addition to the 11 energetic young students on our campus, we were also called on to take in one of our grandchildren, who, with support, had been under the care of her grandmother. While I was in town at a Doctors appointment we got a call that the grandmother had been taken to the hospital and she took the baby with her because she had no one that could look after her. With no other immediate option available to us, we drove to the hospital on our way home and picked up Srey Leap.

She didn’t like the ride home that much, mostly because of all of the lights and traffic stops and not being around people she recognized… especially one with a beard.

But that all changed once she got to Wat Opot and was surrounded by a Community of brothers and sisters who smothered her with affection.

We are not sure how long she will remain with us, that will depend on the grandmother’s ability to care for her after she is released from the hospital… but for now, she is a welcomed addition to our Community.

Thanks for stopping in and thanks to all of you who are supporting us. If you are interested in being one of our supporters please visit our CONTACT PAGE.

THE WATOPOTIANS

We have talked about it for a while but this week we finally put the program together and opened, what we hope will be a permanent program at Wat Opot. Last week we gave all of our afternoon students a brochure to pass out to their neighbors to introduce the program to our community.

By New Year’s weekend, we had six students registered. The cost is $20.00 a month, which helps to cover some of the wages of the new staff we had to hire, but we make exceptions when necessary. The purpose of the program is not only to give the children a head start in school but also to allow parents the opportunity to work.

The first day didn’t go so well. Most of the children had never been left alone with strangers before and there was a lot of crying… especially when I entered the room.

Today things went much better thanks to the purchase of bicycles and toys for the playground by our Four Volunteers from Germany. Two more toddlers were added today and Mr. Dara would like to eventually increase the number to 20, which I don’t think will be all that difficult… keeping it at 20 will likely be a greater problem.

Thanks for stopping in and thanks to all of you who are supporting us. If you are interested in being one of our supporters please visit our CONTACT PAGE.

THE WATOPOTIANS

The funeral services for Ms. Heng Nheng, a former staff member who left us just a few weeks ago because of health problems, is presently going on just outside of our gates.

She died at the Takeo hospital yesterday and leaves behind one daughter.

She will always be remembered as Om (Aunt) Nheng to all of our children.

Our condolences to her daughter and her extended family.

THE WATOPOTIANS