Savong's School Round Up 2010

All the following articles/posts can be found on the main website (Savong) and have been lovingly crafted by Duncan, our amiable Kiwi pal who continues to burn the candle at both ends with full time work and helping enormously with the school/orphanage.  See you in Siem Reap in April/May of 2011, mate, first round is on us.

Well, 2010 is all wrapped up and it has been a monumental year for Savong‟s project. During the last 12 months the school has experienced record attendance, four senior stu-dents have been granted uni-versity scholarships, the num-ber of children in care of the Savong orphan Centre (SOC) has increased to 35, the SOC has a more sustainable food supply thanks to the new fish ponds and vegetable gardens, and the centre has introduced two community schemes—one in the form of sewing classes for local women, and the sec-ond in the form of a health clinic which provides free medical diagnosis and care for the local community.

The growth has been matched, mostly, by an expanding support base for the project with an increased number of volunteers and individual sponsors, as well as sig-nificant fund-raising initiatives in Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand—each making a timely difference.

All growth comes with a few pangs and two issues include Savong‟s sheer busy-ness (he‟s stretched too thin) and consequently inconsistent communication with arriving vol-unteers.

Another issue—increasing and fairly unhelpful pressure from the local Apsara authority who are placing real restrictions on new building, paving and fencing work.

Cha Senh, one of the boys at the SOC cools down at Kulen Mountains waterfalls. The children have been on a number of whole-day excursions this year and these greatly enrich their experience as a group.