The Kauk Chrey School, Cambodia

by In Hye Lee, CEF Social Media Coordinator After an exciting year filled with successful photo shoots in 2012, CEF is thrilled to continue giving back in 2013. One of our new sponsorship projects is the Water and Solar Project with the Kauk Chrey School in Cambodia, with Kids International Development Society (K.I.D.S.).

K.I.D.S., a non-profit organization founded by Adrianne Dartnall and Rick Lennert in 2004, works to improve living standards in impoverished communities in Southeast Asia. Adrianne and Rick founded K.I.D.S. after losing their only child, Danielle, to a drunk driver in 2000. Danielle had wanted to be a teacher and loved children, so they sought to honour Danielle’s memory by working to improve lives of children all over the world.

“We’ve come to understand that suffering is a part of life and can’t be avoided,” Adrianne explains. “It’s what we do with our pain and grief that matters.”

Funds are used to assist communities with housing, clean water, medicine, schools, educational supplies, transportation, and small business grants. Adrianne and Rick ensure that at least 95% of donated funds goes directly to help children and their families. The Kauk Chrey school is one of their projects in Cambodia.

The Kauk Chrey School serves approximately 330 children and is the hub of the area, which is filled with families who primarily make their living through rice farming. K.I.D.S. has been involved with the school, as well as two others in the area, for the past three years. Over the years, K.I.D.S. has provided many resources for these schools, including a lunch program, bicycles, and school supplies. Although 90% of residents are involved in rice production, failing crop production have forced many wage earners to travel to other parts of the country to find work. The children are often left to fend for themselves, but luckily the school has offered many of them a safe haven.

The CEF sponsored Water and Solar Project will support  K.I.D.S.' plans to assist approximately 1000 people in the area. The current well in the area is quite shallow, meaning that it provides an insufficient water supply for the community’s many needs. Clean drinking water is a must, as the current wells provide water of a low quality, which contains arsenic and iron.  By also providing solar electricity for two schools in the area, K.I.D.S. and CEF will enable to further education in the area, which is essential for a brighter future for the community as a whole. Although this area has access to a local elementary school, bicycles are essential if children want to attend high school, as it is too far to walk.

CEF is confident that through the donated funds, these communities will be able to achieve a higher standard of living for both the children and adult residents. We look forward to working with K.I.D.S. on the Kauk Chrey School. It’s looking to be another fantastic year for CEF in 2013.