This is a WISH LIST only… should anyone be interested in knowing more about the items listed please contact me at wdmatthysse@gmail.com for more detail.
For many years the Wat Opot Children’s Community has enjoyed the friendship and support of several organizations and individuals from around the globe. They have fed us, clothed us, provided educational and recreational supplies and equipment for us, and entertained us on Holidays and special occasions. For this, we are very grateful and there is no doubt that without this assistance we would not have been able to provide hospice care and free cremation services to the hundreds of AIDS victims who died with us, or to assist in the reconstruction of the livelihoods of the surviving family members, or to care for the affected and infected vulnerable children left behind.
Times have changed, however, and there seems to be much more uncertainty about the future of mankind. The COVID pandemic had a lot to do with that, of course… but so has the increase in natural disasters around the World. Extremism is growing and it is difficult not to be forced into taking sides… on any given day there is a new threat of another World War or the annihilation of mankind. All of these things have resulted in a drastic decrease in our funding sources and although we have done much to self-sustain our community by growing vegetable gardens and selling livestock, fish, and foul, there is no way we can do it all.
In the past couple of months we have taken in eleven new children, most coming from Social Services, and because few have any known family, will most likely be long-term placements. That puts us at 36 residents now, with the youngest being 4 years old. That number will most likely be going up because Social Service workers say they have few other options for placing children needing long-term placement, especially when there are multiple children from one family.
Our commitment to raising our children in a positive environment hasn’t changed and we are very proud of the successes most of our Alumni have attained… many are now married with families of their own. Several have graduated from universities while others have attended trade schools, started their own businesses, or they work in other Non-Government Organizations. You may run into them at some of Phnom Penh’s finest hotels and restaurants. Most would not be where they are today if it were not for the Wat Opot Community and its staff of dedicated workers and the Volunteers who assist in their upbringing.
For this reason, I am forced to ask for assistance in helping us to pay our indigenous staff a decent wage. Most earn less than $200.00 a month for full-time work, and some of these staff have been with us for over 20 years. Expats and Volunteers pay for their own living expenses and many make contributions after they leave. Our infrastructure is excellent but what we need most is running costs. https://www.watopot.org/en/donate
- We have enjoyed our swimming pool for several years now and use it almost every day in the hot season. Like all things, however, time and constant use have resulted in worn-out pipes and valves. We called the repairman and he gave us an estimate of the cost to make it clean and save to swim in again. I paid the $200.00 deposit but if anyone would be interested in helping out with the rest of the bill it would be appreciated. https://www.watopot.org/en/donate
In 2017 The SAKKA Foundation raised the funds to install Solar Panels on our property. At the time it was connected to the government grid and it worked very well, cutting our electric bill substantially… we did not feel batteries were needed at the time. Unfortunately, the power company fell into private hands and when they saw the dials turning backward they felt we were cheating them so they demanded we disconnect the panels from their grid. Just recently we had a team come out and they said they could fix us up with a new system for less than $5000.00 to power primarily our swimming pool pumps, which is our biggest consumer of electricity.
WISHES GRANTED
We were able to fix the fencing in front of the office but still have to repair the doors which are quite dangerous right now because one of the children ran their bicycle into one side and the other was done with a slingshot but no one seems to know who did it. We hope to cut the glass and put metal in the bottom half. The cost will be approximately $250.00.Funded… Thanks, Donna, Linda, Vicky, and Sandy!
Work has started on the long overdue repair and revitalization of the wall in front of our main office building and new library. This is one of the first structures built many years ago and is still one of the most used areason our campus because of its centralized location under the large Umbrella trees. The costof this project will be in the range of $500.00 if anyone is interested in chipping in.The wall was completed with funds from our Sustainability Projects.
