Many of the children in this village had lost one if not both of their parents but despite the extreme poverty were taken in by other members of the village who could not even feed themselves. One elderly woman was found simply lying on the floor of her shelter, blind and too ill to fend for herself and looked after by her daughter with club hands who was also deaf and could not speak.

Another woman had recently given birth and was found looking after her many young children which is a very demanding job for any parent. However after almost 20 minutes of discussion it was discovered that a few days earlier the baby had died through a very treatable condition. There was no help or support available to this mother who then had to just carry on surviving.

After this village was discovered, another volunteer I had met from America donated $1,000 to buy the village food and medical supplies. This will not last forever and although they now have the support of an amazing project already in place, they can not afford to support both themselves and the village.

Upon arriving back in the UK I have decided to make it my mission to get back out there and help these people be able to feed themselves and give them every opportunity to live and not just survive.

I wish to:

• provide them with food and water until they can sustain themselves
•  learn about and then teach some simple farming methods which could make a massive difference to their lives.
• get their children in to education.
• help them learn new skills.
• open as many opportunities as possible.

I know this is a major task to take on and will not happen over night but I truly beleive that it is possible. Cambodia is a wonderful place full of wonderful people who just need a helping hand to get them in the right direction.

In addition:

For two months I volunteered in a day centre for street children called Anjali House (www.anjali-house.com) who provide food, education and healthcare for over 80 children. They also give food parcels to their families which encourages them to stop sending their children out to work to earn money for food.

I worked with some dedicated people to help teach English as well as running workshops during the day. Depending on the age of the children the workshops involved arts and crafts and small projects such as 'space', 'our planet' and 'the environment' so they could further their knowledge in a veriety of subjects.

The children were amazing and always seemed to be happy with what they had. I wish I could have stayed longer to see them grow as individuals who truly appreciated the chances they had been given.

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