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Message from the Directors
Bill and Nancy Bamberger
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Hi Everyone,
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We have been very busy – publishing a book, starting our new ”Reach for the Sky” program, updating the website and keeping in close touch with our Cambodian family here in San Diego and in the village.
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In October we published our first book, “To Warm Your Heart,” written by our friend Katy Guard and illustrated by our daughter, Amy Dyson. Nancy took yoga classes from Katy years ago. Recently, Katy came to us with the idea of writing a book that would benefit our school and the school Katy supports in India -- so we went right to work. Katy wrote the poems on her old typewriter. Amy edited and did the illustrations. We learned all about publishing – printing, ISBN numbers, Library of Congress numbers and legal agreements. Now the book is a reality with beautiful, insightful words of wisdom accented with our daughter’s sensitive, touching drawings. All the proceeds go to benefit children’s education. You can order the book on our website: cambodianvillagefund.org.
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We gave a presentation to the Mission Valley Rotary Club in November. Bill reports on the facts and figures and financial data while Nancy covers the heartwarming stories of the village and our new Cambodian friends. We’re hoping these presentations spread the word and bring in contributions to continue the work. If you know of an organization that would like to learn about the Cambodian Village Fund, please contact us.
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We’re excited about our new program--“Reach for the Sky.” Thanks to Soroptomists International of La Jolla and Ginger Allen, we’re now helping 5 girls continue their education. We are all so proud of our girls. (Ginger says she feels like a mother hen.) Our hope is that these girls will go on to college and come back to the village with special skills and serve as role models for other children.
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Thanks also to Ginger for her fundraising efforts with her granddaughter’s school in Solana Beach – Skyline Elementary. Because of their work, the children at Kaun Khlong Primary School now have playground and sports equipment.
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Celebration to thank Skyline Elementary |
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We’ve kept Sovichea, our English-speaking friend in Cambodia very busy. He is a monk and very dedicated to educating the children. Sovichea grew up in the village of Kaun Khlong and now coordinates activities for us. Through his emails, he answers our questions and gives us guidance. He is also a terrific photographer and attaches photos of the children and the village. Thanks to him, we get immediate gratification when we see the school children on the swing and slide sets and our Reach-for-the-Sky girls with their new bikes and uniforms. He is a tremendous asset to the team.
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Sovichea - our eyes and ears in the village
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We are planning a trip to Cambodia in January 2012. Many of our friends have expressed an interest in seeing Cambodia, so we’re making arrangements with a travel agency. We’ll visit the great temples of Angkor Wat, take a boat trip on the Tonle Sap River, spend some time in the village and then some R&R at a seaside resort. Please let us know if you’d like to join us. We promise that it will be an amazing trip.
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Since our last newsletter, we have collected $5,000 in contributions, getting us closer to building the school. During this holiday season, we are thankful for those of you that are a part of an effort that truly changes lives. With your continued help, we will build that school.
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Bill and Nancy Bamberger
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| “Reach for the Sky”--
New Project to Help Children Continue Their Education |
The Cambodian Village Fund started a new program to help children continue their education beyond Primary School. For many reasons, it's difficult for children in rural Cambodia to continue their education beyond 6th grade. Less than half of the girls from Kaun Khlong Primary School go on to the 7th grade. Although there is no tuition for secondary school, the costs of books, school uniforms and transportation are beyond the budgets of many families. In addition, parents often need their children to help out at home with subsistence farming, child care for siblings or other activities to help make ends meet. However, with just a little financial help, girls can complete high school and even continue to college.
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| The Soroptomists International of La Jolla provided funds to get our "Reach for the Sky" program started, and our friend Ginger Allen has made additional contributions. We now have five girls in the program. School officials in Cambodia picked |
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the girls based on need, academic achievement and interest in continuing their education. Each girl received a bicycle to ride to school, a school uniform, books and school supplies. We proudly present our girls. |
Sokhom, 15 |
Sary, 13 |
Sey, 15 |
Sreysith, 13 |
Sopat, 15 |
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Girls and their mothers at the awards celebration |
Off to “reach for the sky” |
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New Playground Equipment for Kaun Khlong School |
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In May our friend Ginger Allen, organized an "Olympathon" at Skyline Elementary School in Solana Beach. About 50 children participated to raise money for our school. This money was used to purchase a variety of sports and |
| playground equipment, including a swing, slide, soccer and volleyball equipment, hula hoops and jump ropes. The new playground equipment was waiting for the children when they returned to school this fall.
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Happy kids at Kaun Khlong Primary School
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| “To Warm Your Heart”--
CVF Teams with Katy and Becomes a Publishing House |
The Cambodian Village Fund has published “To Warm Your Heart,” a wonderful book of poetry written by our friend Katy Guard. Warm and insightful, this little book of contemplations radiates spirituality and teaches us down to earth wisdom. It inspires and amuses, but best of all, it warms our hearts. |
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| The profits from "To Warm Your Heart" are split between the Cambodian Village Fund and Katy Guard's Kaivalya Mandiram Trust. When you purchase this book, you benefit children around the world.
The book can be purchased for $15.00 (plus shipping and handling) on our website. “To Warm Your Heart” would make a wonderful Christmas present. We’re offering a discount on shipping if you purchase more than 1 copy. |
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We’re Getting Closer to Building a Classroom for the Kaun Khlong Primary School
Our largest project is to build a new classroom building for the Kaun Khlong Primary School. The cost of the 10-room building is $100,000. We plan to build it in 5-classroom modules that will cost about $50,000 each.
We have over $17,000 in the bank earmarked for the school, so we only need $33,000 to get started with the first module. Because of you, we’ve raised almost $30,000 and distributed close to $10,500 to the village. Please help us get that school for the kids.
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Looking for 40,000 Friends to Build a School
Nancy figured out that if each of our 40,000 friends contributed just $1 each, we could build the classroom for our Primary School in Cambodia. Because of successful fundraising, we now only need 33,000 friends. One small problem—we don’t have 33,000 friends. But if you forward this newsletter on to your friends, maybe they’ll become our friends and contribute to the school. Kindly ask them to put a dollar, wrapped in a plain sheet of paper, in an envelope addressed to:
40,000 Friends
c/o Bill and Nancy Bamberger
4376 Argos Dr.
San Diego, CA 92116
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| Or you (and your friends) can make contributions on our website by clicking on the "Make a Donation" button on the homepage -- cambodianvillagefund.org |
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We can’t change the world, but if we can just change a few lives, the world will be a better place. |
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