Showing posts with label happy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happy. Show all posts
Sunday, 4 April 2021
Thursday, 2 April 2020
The courageous and sweet children of Light of Mercy !
We paid a visit to the Light of Mercy Home, which Shanty Town Spirit is used and very pleased to often collaborate with !
The Light of Mercy Home (LMH) provides children with disabilities a home and center where they can attend school and live together with other children who have similar challenges. LHM not only supports them to receive formal education, but also provides other extracurricular activities such as extra classes to learn music, dancing, computer skills and simple craft skills. Through the care and activities provided, LMH aims to prepare them to lead an independent life. The center is held by generous and kind Sister Marie-Adelphe.
All the children were very excited to see us, especially since we came with presents for Light of Mercy: indeed, we brought them 120kg of rice and other multiple food basic supplies, such as oil, spices, sugar and all sorts of sauces !
Some of the kids then explained us the functioning of their aquaponic garden, which was installed last year by Koyaproject and with the help of Shanty Town Spirit ! Three disabled young adults were trained to take care of the garden and to teach the functioning of it as well. Those young adults have developed, because of their disability, very particular and useful skills, such as crafting various objects with wood, or fixing the plumbing for example.
After that, some of the kids offered to make us visit the center: they showed us around the dormitories, the music classrooms, the khmer music classrooms and the computer room.
And in the end, some volunteers were even taught by the kids to say their names in sign language ! It was such a funny and heartwarming moment !
Every child, however their mental or physical condition, deserves to express themselves as they want or to be active and useful to society. For example, one of the blind young adults now works in a “Dine in the dark” restaurant and is very happy to be able to have a job ! We congratulate him and all the other children of Light of Mercy for their courage and determination !
One Spirit, One Heart, One Community
You can help us by sponsoring the Shanty Town Spirit program:
OR contact Ermine Norodom: +855 (0) 17 49 27 19 (French and English)
norodomermine@gmail.com
Phirun Prak (Arun): +855 (0) 96 663 6666 (English and Khmer)
arun.aenorodom@gmail.com
words by Matthieu Membrez
Sunday, 5 January 2020
Nice association gathering for a long-lasting partnership !
We had the chance to be invited by Flame to visit a new project of theirs: a youth center that they were able to build thanks to very generous donors in one of the poor communities of Phnom Penh. They are also paying the teacher themselves for a period of three years.
The action of Flame is based on the idea of “The Full Circle”, which represents the process of a child from slums becoming a young leader: “The kids you help emerge as confident leaders in their communities, inspiring others in education, service and leadership.” (https://www.flamecambodia.org/our-mission ). Flame is an association that Shanty Town Spirit is used and very pleased to collaborate with.
The center we visited is a day-center where the kids of the community mainly come to learn khmer basis. They can also be helped with some school homework and receive support if they have issues with their families.
We came with presents for the kids: each of them would get a pencil-case full of school supplies ! We also had a limited number of backpacks that the children would get if they won little games.
They therefore played various little games in front of us ! They were all very happy to have some unusual company that morning !
At the end of the class, they all went back home in a special tuk-tuk set up by Flame for them !
Seeing those kids happily and safely gathering in this environment is such a heartwarming feeling. It is thanks to the generosity of the donors and the hard work of the volunteers of Flame that such things can happen. Thank you to Flame for their trust !
One Spirit, One Heart, One Community
You can help us by sponsoring the Shanty Town Spirit program:
Click on Make a difference
OR contact Ermine Norodom: +855 (0) 17 49 27 19 (French and English)
norodomermine@gmail.com
Phirun Prak (Arun): +855 (0) 96 663 6666 (English and Khmer)
arun.aenorodom@gmail.com
words by Matthieu Membrez
Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Happily studying with Maira !
We went to visit the community of Pre Tacom with Maira, as she does every Sunday. Pre Tacom, which was formerly situated on a river that is now dried up, is one of the slums whose children are taken care of by Maira.
Every Sunday, she goes there to teach the smallest kids of the community various subjects, such as little stories from the Bible, painting and drawing, or crafting little objects.
On that day, the kids learned the story of queen Esther, and they all made a little drawing of her, which they adorably gave to the volunteers ! They were all very concentrated to make the most beautiful and colorful drawing !
Then, it was time for the distribution. Indeed, the volunteers had come with hygiene products for every child, such as toothpaste, toothbrushes and soaps. We had also brought some donated clothes for the kids. They all received their little something and were very happy !
It is such a marvelous feeling to see all these children gathering together and playing, drawing and laughing with each other while learning new things ! Every kid deserves to go to school and to learn in a safe, comfortable environment.
One Spirit, One Heart, One Community
You can help us by sponsoring the Shanty Town Spirit program:
Click on Make a difference
OR contact Ermine Norodom: +855 (0) 17 49 27 19 (French and English)
norodomermine@gmail.com
Phirun Prak (Arun): +855 (0) 96 663 6666 (English and Khmer)
arun.aenorodom@gmail.com
words by Matthieu Membrez
Thursday, 12 September 2019
A precious afternoon with the kids of Little Hearts !
We came by the foster home of Little Hearts, in the countryside of Phnom Penh. This absolutely marvellous place is held by Tony, who decided to help orphans of the Phnom Penh province in need and give them a future. Without the intervention of an organization like Little Hearts, these children would have a bleak future placing them at risk of malnutrition, exploitation and abuse, severe poverty and at worse, an early death.
38 kids from 5 to 20 gather and play all around the vast green garden !
There, we distributed each kid a bag containing hygiene supplies, such as a toothbrush, a large tube of toothpaste and 4 bars of soap. Every child got one of his own !
Right after that, some of the children kindly offered to make us visit the foster home. So they showed us around the rooms where the kids sleep, divided into four different dormitories and beautifully decorated by them ! Then, they showed us the bathrooms, the kitchen, the computer room and finally the classrooms !
Some of the oldest girls then explained us the functioning of their aquaponic garden, which was installed a few years back by Koya Project and with the collaboration of Shanty Town Spirit ! Tony made up a special time table so that every kid gets to take care of the aquaponic garden and understand its functioning. This project turned out to be very useful for them ! Indeed, it consists of a fish tank constructed below ground level to keep the fish nice and cool. There is also a vertical garden for leafy green vegetables and 3 media beds which are already yielding bumper crops of the children’s favourites which include ‘morning glory’. (https://koyaproject.org/little-hearts/ )
While some of the kids were happily playing in the garden and others peacefully drawing the classrooms, we were chatting and laughing with a little group of them. They explained about how their life at Little Hearts was great and how they were always having fun all together !
This afternoon with the kids of Little Hearts was a precious moment of sharing and joy, and we are forever grateful for the work of associations such as Little Hearts !
One Spirit, One Heart, One Community
You can help us by sponsoring the Shanty Town Spirit program:
Click on Make a difference
OR contact Ermine Norodom: +855 (0) 17 49 27 19 (French and English)
norodomermine@gmail.com
Phirun Prak (Arun): +855 (0) 96 663 6666 (English and Khmer)
arun.aenorodom@gmail.com
words by Matthieu Membrez
