Helping Cambodian Children at M'Lop Tapang

Until recently 12-year old Veasna* and his younger sister were spending their days at a local construction site where their parents are working as laborers.

As we have mentioned in our reports before, the city of Sihanoukville is changing very quickly due to massive Chinese investments in the development of hotels and casinos here.  One of the impacts of this has been a large number of economic migrant families moving here from the rural provinces to find work as laborers.  Many of these workers, like Veasna’s parents, move here with their children and live at the sites they work on. Living on the construction sites is dirty and dangerous. There is lack of clean water or adequate toilets, and the risks of injuries and disease are high.

Your donations and support are enabling us to continue to work with many of these construction site families and their children. Since the beginning of the year more than 80 vulnerable Cambodian children living at construction sites, like Veasna and his little sister, are now attending day-time classes at our Education Center where they have the chance to study, to make friends, play and have fun, and to enjoy hot meals and free medical care.  

From all of us here at M’Lop Tapang, thank you again for your donations and for helping to improve the lives of disadvantaged Cambodian children.

All the best,

Kun

*name and photo changed for confidentiality

Links:

• Lunchtime at M'Lop Tapang (November, 2019)

Until recently 12-year old Veasna* and his younger sister were spending their days at a local construction site where their parents are working as laborers.

As we have mentioned in our reports before, the city of Sihanoukville is changing very quickly due to massive Chinese investments in the development of hotels and casinos here.  One of the impacts of this has been a large number of economic migrant families moving here from the rural provinces to find work as laborers.  Many of these workers, like Veasna’s parents, move here with their children and live at the sites they work on. Living on the construction sites is dirty and dangerous. There is lack of clean water or adequate toilets, and the risks of injuries and disease are high.

Your donations and support are enabling us to continue to work with many of these construction site families and their children. Since the beginning of the year more than 80 vulnerable Cambodian children living at construction sites, like Veasna and his little sister, are now attending day-time classes at our Education Center where they have the chance to study, to make friends, play and have fun, and to enjoy hot meals and free medical care.  

From all of us here at M’Lop Tapang, thank you again for your donations and for helping to improve the lives of disadvantaged Cambodian children.

Best regards,

Kun

*name and photo changed for confidentiality

Links:

• Lunchtime at M'Lop Tapang (November, 2019)

Hello from M’Lop Tapang!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you again for your donations. Now, more than ever we truly appreciate your support.  If you happen to follow us on social media, you will have seen that earlier this month our Education Center, Medical Center, and Arts Center were flooded.  Although we had experienced flooding before, it was never to the degree it was recently.  

The extent of the damage forced us to close the Center for two weeks and suspended classes for all students while clean up and repairs were made. We are slowly starting to get back to normal and as of last week we have reopened the classrooms for students.

The donations you have made are helping to ensure vulnerable Cambodia children and youth from disadvantaged backgrounds are once again receiving the services they need.

Thank you so much for your support. 

With much gratitude,

Roth Chanphalkun (Kun)
Co-Director, M’Lop Tapang

Links:

• Flood Damage at M'Lop Tapang (August, 2019)

Hello from Cambodia (or as we say in the Khmer language, “Soos-a-day”),

I just wanted to send a short note to say thank you again for your generosity in supporting the work we do here at M’Lop Tapang.  Sihanoukville is changing quickly from what was once a sleepy little beach town into a jungle of construction sites for new hotels and casinos.  The city may be changing but our teams here are continuing their work with the area’s most vulnerable children and families.

One of the most exciting new programs we started recently was the opening of a new Community Education Center in Village 35, near the Sihanoukville Port where there are an increasing number of families living with children and have no access to learning, health care, or child safety. Most younger children are not attending school and are malnourished. Parents have very low, unstable incomes, plus there is a lot of drug/ alcohol addiction, violence and ill health amongst families here. Although we have worked there for years through outreach services, now is the time where we need a permanent base and constant presence, so that basic, safe services can be delivered to younger children on a daily basis.

We are sincerely grateful for your donations and encouragement. With your help, M’Lop Tapang remains committed to working in neighborhoods like Village 35 and other parts of the city to help build better futures for disadvantaged Cambodian children and youth.

As always, if you have any questions about what we do please don’t hesitated to contact me and let me know.

All the best,

Roth Chanphalkun (Kun)

Co-Director, M’Lop Tapang

Hello from Cambodia!

I just wanted to thank you again for your donations and generous support of the work we do here at M’Lop Tapang.

Now more than ever, we appreciate your help.  If you have been to Sihanoukville lately you will know just how much the local area is changing.  Sihanoukville, the once quiet tourist beach town, is transforming fast.  In 2018, there were 297 buildings being constructed.  There are now almost 90 casinos and many more in development.

One of the impacts of all this change in the city is that hundreds of poor families from the countryside are moving to the city to work on local construction projects. Many families bring their children and most live in crowded, makeshift housing camps at the sites will little access to appropriate sanitation, a lack of clean water, and no access to health care, education, or other basic social services.

With your support and your donations our teams will continue to regularly visit these construction sites to ensure that the children living in these places are safe and encouraging them to join education and health programs at M’Lop Tapang. Good news is that since just the beginning of the year we have more than 30 new children from these areas now coming to our Education Center.

Thank you again for your help.

With sincere appreciation,

Roth Chanphalkun (Kun)

Co-Director