A Brighter Future for Cambodia

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Focus Cambodia is a not-for-profit organization formed by Lesley Hewitt, a remarkable West Australian woman who went on a journey of healing and discovery and founded a group of volunteers to bring help to the poverty stricken areas of Cambodia. After many years of working in difficult and challenging conditions, dealing with fund-raising, governments and volunteers she is still full of fire, enthusiasm and passion for the people of Cambodia ’They are such beautiful people’, she says. ‘They live in the most dreadful conditions but are full of hope and take enormous pride in the things they are learning.

They are also giving hope and skills to their children to build a better future for Cambodia. Until recently Lesley spent eight to ten months a year living in Cambodia while now she   has six month-long visits per year.

Lesley and her team work with some of the poorest and the forgotten people; people who call the rubbish tip of Steung Meanchey home: who live in filth, drink water that is undrinkable and exist on the meanest of rice meals daily. The elderly there get one meal every second day and the children get one small meal a day. Through Focus Cambodia, in 2007, 500 pairs of gumboots were distributed to these people to protect their feet from the needles, sewerage and other sharp objects dumped on the tip.

The organization also works with the people of Andong Village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, who have been displaced from their cities – after being dumped there and told to grow their own food and establish their own village. None of them knew how to achieve this. Today however, thanks to Focus Cambodia, they have a fresh water well, a weekly mobile medical clinic and distribution of rice, clothes and baby formula. They also have houses made from recycled timber frames with blue tarpaulins fastened over the frames. Another town – Svey Reing – just 10 kilometers from the Vietnamese border is one of the poorest towns of all. AIDS is rife and hunger is foremost in peoples lives. Volunteers at Focus Cambodia have taught skills to these townspeople providing income generating projects that incorporate sewing and life skills.

{quotes}According to Lesley, hunger is the most debilitating of issues facing the poor in Cambodia{/quotes}. In 2008 sufficient funds were raised to purchase 6 tons of rice to send to Cambodia, which fed 400 families for one month. Looking ahead to 2009 fund-raising is underway to purchase more rice in order to feed more families for longer, and to enable children to be supplied with one bottle of fresh water and one vitamin pill per day. Money raised will also be used to bring mobile medical clinics into areas that have not had any medical aid in many years.

Focus Cambodia is always looking for volunteers to help with the many tasks that need to undertaken both in Australia and Cambodia in order to maintain the many projects that are bringing hope and life skills to so many people.

If you are interested in knowing more about Focus Cambodia or you can help call Ross Allen on 0432 098 703, Adele on 0432 098 685 or Kerrie on 0438 584 615.

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