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Newsletter Fall 2013 

Singin In the Rain

A Huge THANKS!

Bill and Nancy and our big-hearted President of Fund Raising, Cameron Siskowic, are happy to be matching, dollar for dollar, your donations to the Cambodian Village Fund, totaling almost $12,000. WOW – you listened and dug deep into your pockets and gave. You made Bill and Nancy’s 47th wedding anniversary and the 7th anniversary of the Cambodian Village Fund a very happy event. You’ve made us, and a lot of kids in the village, very happy.
Sonia
Sonia Joins the Cambodia Village Fund Team

A big happy welcome to Sonia Lunceford! Sonia is a teacher who lives in San Diego when she’s not off traveling. Last July she paid her own way to travel to Kaun Khlong, Cambodia (our village), to spend a couple of weeks in the hot, humid weather. She tells us it was one of her best vacations. In the village she made many new friends and became good pals with Sovechea, our cherished monk. She taught English classes and coached our English teachers, Sinan and Rambo. She rode on the back of Rambo’s motorcycle in heavy monsoon rains, going from store to store to pick out just the right English workbooks. She bonded with all the Reach for the Sky girls. She treated the college girls to dinner at an “All You Can Eat” Khmer restaurant – the girls' favorite place. Sonia wants to return next year.


Sonia
Reach for the Sky Girls Start the New School Year

Thanks to Ginger Allen for her years of hard work to create and organize the Reach for the Sky program. Ginger is leaving the program to spend more time traveling. We will miss her, as will all the girls she nurtured and loved. Sonia Lunceford is taking Ginger’s place as the new administrator. We welcome Sonia. She brings a lot of talent and a wealth of ideas to the program. And thanks to your generosity, we'll be adding 3 new scholarship girls to the program this year, making a total of 20 Reach for the Sky Girls. Nine girls are currently studying at the university. None of these girls would have been able to complete high school, much less go to college, without financial help. The girls are changing how Cambodia feels about women and its future. They bring us tremendous joy.


Reach for the Sky
CVF and Seva Holds an Eye Clinic in the Village Next Month

Denise McMahon, a tireless volunteer for CVF for the past 3 years, working with Sovechea, arranged an eye clinic for the village. In November, she travels to the village to partner with the SEVA Foundation, an NGO dedicated to the delivery of vital eye care services to the world’s most vulnerable people. As part of the SEVA program, there will be a two-day “Eye Camp” where all the children will be given eye tests and older villagers will be checked for glaucoma and cataracts. For those who need glasses or treatment for glaucoma or cataracts, the services are free. Denise raised the funds for the Eye Camp – funds that are matched by her company, VMware.

Denise
We are happy that Denise found CVF. She has a heart as as big as Texas (where she lives). A couple of years ago, Denise arranged for a SEVA eye doctor in Battambang to fit Seavmey, a 6-year old girl from the village, with a prosthetic eye. Seavmey has 2 big brown eyes and is a very, very happy kid. Thank you Denise for your dedication and energy.

Reach for the Sky
Tuk-Tuk A Tuk-tuk for the Village

The village now has it’s own tuk-tuk, a motorcycle taxi. Before the tuk-tuk, sick people in the village had a hard time getting to a doctor or hospital, 20 miles away in Battambang. Some even died for lack of transportation.

The tour group who visited Cambodia with us last January took action and collected money to buy the village the tuk-tuk. Thank you fellow travelers for making lives better.
Giving the Gift of Mobility

A couple of PET (Personal Energy Transportation) hand-powered vehicles are on their way to the village. Two of our disabled villagers who don’t have the use of their legs will each get a vehicle. The vehicles are designed to travel over the unpaved, dirt roads in the village. A big thank you to Mel West and his organization, PET International, for donating these vehicles and giving people their lives back. Also, thanks to Delayne Weeks of Angkor Gold Corporation for shipping the vehicles to Cambodia at no cost to us.
PET Vehicle
Freedons Foundaton CVF Wins National Award

The Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge made us happy by awarding the Cambodian Village Fund the prestigious George Washington award. The award acknowledges all the things CVF has accomplished over the last 7 years. Those things could not have been done without the generosity of our friends and supporters. You make us very HAPPY!
Travel Plans

Bill and Nancy are happy to be traveling back to Cambodia in February. This time we’re going on a fact-finding trip with some Cambodian friends and Cameron. We’ll spend a lot of time in the village, observing our English classes, assessing the Clean Drinking Water Program, talking to school teachers and administrators and determining how we can make people's lives better. We will go to Battambang and Phnom Penh to see our Reach for the Sky college girls. We’ll also visit other NGO’s operating in Cambodia to learn what has worked for them and look for ways to make CVF even more successful. The following year, 2015, CVF plans to lead another group to Cambodia. More announcements to come ....

PET Vehicle
It's Never Too Late to Give

If you missed out on our anniversary fund drive, there’s always time to give.

You can donate on our website – cambodianvillagefund.org – or send a check to us (see below).
Cameron and Sovechea
Ghosananda A Poem by Maha Ghosananda,
The Gandhi of Cambodia


The suffering of Cambodia has been deep.
From this suffering comes Great Compassion.
Great Compassion makes a Peaceful Heart.
A Peaceful Heart makes a Peaceful Person.
A Peaceful Person makes a Peaceful Family.
A Peaceful Family makes a Peaceful Community.
A Peaceful Community makes a Peaceful Nation.
A Peaceful Nation makes a Peaceful World.
May all beings live in Happiness and Peace.

Please Lend Us a Hand

 We will be happy to accept your donation, which you can make on our website or  by sending a check to:

Cambodian Village Fund
c/o Bill and Nancy Bamberger
4376 Argos Dr.
San Diego, CA 92116-2330

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