2014 A Letter to our friends back home in Canada
Back in Canada!
At Christmas we sent out an email to wish all our friends a Merry Christmas and share that we were in Cambodia building a sewing school in the Province of Svay Reing. We wanted to send a follow up so people don’t think we were lost in the jungle (well, rice paddies to be more accurate!)
Our Christmas letter left off with the foundation of the building completed and the framing and rafters in place. The building is now finished, thanks to so many. The organization with whom we partnered had a well drilling crew with time and knowledge of Cambodian building practices. Many of the high school students staying in a dorm on the same property eagerly joined in to help as well. It was fun to watch as the boys showed off to the girls, flexing their muscles, each carrying a heavier load than the last one. We were grateful of the help and enjoyed our time with these awesome kids.
With the building completed we hired an instructor and purchased 10 sewing machines, a button hole maker, a serger, a cutting table, chairs, scissors and material needed to open the school.
The final task was to select the women from 20 villages surrounding the town of Svay Reing, with the furthest being about 35k from the school. This task was in many ways by far the most difficult, given the stark reality of their poverty. Piled onto motorbikes, we criss-crossed the countryside and met with each prospective student in their homes, many constructed of dung and straw. We were warmly greeted by their husbands, children, grandparents and curious neighbours, and discussed their family situation to determine need. How does one determine who needs support more – the family earning $45/month, the one who does not have a roof or walls over their beds, or the one with malnourished children? We looked on in humble awe as each woman signed a document with her thumb print, beaming as her family looked on.
The intention of the school was to provide impoverished woman with the resources (skill and tools) to allow them to stay home and help support their families without the need to move to the city where they are all too often led into prostitution. We had expected the student candidates to be 16 - 20 year old girls, but with the exception of one 19 year old, all were married women who simply wanted the opportunity to feed their families and send their children to school. To give them a future. Although it is unlikely that any of these woman would leave their families to go to the city, they desperately wanted the ability to properly take care of their families
We are thrilled to share that the school officially opened on February 3, 2014 and the first set of students have begun their tailoring program.
While in rural Cambodia, we also had the opportunity to set up two small library/reading areas with the books and stationery that friends and colleagues sent along with us prior to leaving Canada. With two suitcases full of treasures, children’s lives are being transformed…these storybooks are the first the class had seen. It was amazing to watch their faces as we read (with the help of a translator) the story of Jack & the Bean Stalk. What hours of joy and learning those books will bring.
We feel so fortunate and returned home truly affected by the people we met, realizing how blessed are lives really are. A huge part of that blessing is the friends we have made along the way…Thanks!