Cambodia, like many other Third World countries, has more than its share of orphaned and abandoned children. Thirty years of war, foreign occupation, genocide and civil war has become the norm for this battered country.
The original group of 24 children came from Site B Refugee Camp (also known as Prince Sihanouk's Camp) in Thailand, where their parents and families fled either the Khmer Rouge Regime between 1975-1979 or the Vietnamese occupation, which followed from 1979-1992. In 1993 almost all Cambodian refugees in Thailand were repatriated back into Cambodia to take part in the UN-brokered elections. However, as these children were already orphaned in the refugee camp, they were abandoned again, just over the border in Cambodia in a very poor village called Ampil, in the province of Oddar Meancheay.
After the Khmer Rouge brutally killed a teenage boy from the group, they were moved to another temporary area in the city of Sisophon in the same province for a few months. Military activity again forced them to move to the city of Battambang to even more Spartan living conditions, until finally land was found for them outside of Phnom Penh and Red Cross buses carried them to the capital in late 1994.
The Coup of July 1997 once again threatened their home, as rebel government soldiers tried to take over the land that had previously been military barracks.
In January 2001 we were again forced to move, as the owners of the land required it for another purpose. So, until September 2002, we were temporarily located in a house 12 kms from the capital in a town called Ta Khmao. At the previous land we were not paying for these items, so it was even more vital for us to find more sponsors, both private and corporate, to assist us in building a new centre on land presented to Sunrise by the Cambodian Government in 1999. In September 2002 we were able to move to the new land and our lives are much improved.
Children come to us in a myriad of ways: parents or other family members have been killed or maimed by land-mines, died of hunger or disease and often targeted for murder because of their political affiliations. When these children are rendered homeless, the villagers sometimes make every effort to care for them, but more often than not, they are taken into homes and used as slave-labour in return for food and a place to sleep until their plight is brought to our attention.
To comply with Cambodian Government regulations, Sunrise investigates claims of abuse or neglect and once the village leaders have produced background details on the children and given official notice that they wish the children to be cared for by Sunrise, these papers are lodged with the Ministry of Social Affairs, and we are then permitted to take the children from the village and become their "guardians" until they are 18 years old.
In each case we go to the villages to assess the situation on the ground to ensure that the need is real. If it is not too traumatic for the children, photos of the living conditions are taken to compare later with life at Sunrise.
Following are some of the things that Sunrise provides for the children under our care:
* Love
* Food
* Shelter
* Inoculation against Polio, TB, Typhoid, Hepatitis A and B
* Clothing (includes provision of 2 school uniforms)
* Medical and Dental Care
* Education at Government School
* Evening English Language Classes
* Traditional Cambodian Music and Dance Lessons
* Sewing Classes
* Field Trips
* Personal Counselling when required
* English-Language Library
* Physical Exercise Program, Health & Hygiene Instruction, Family Planning and HIV Aids Awareness
* Computer School
* Carpentry School
* Agricultural Training
* Life Skills Weekend Workshops
* Employment and Accommodation is secured for the children when they turn 18 and have to leave Sunrise
Experience has taught us that in the past when volunteers worked with us, the children bonded with them very quickly - they are so needy - that when the volunteer eventually left, the children were depressed and actually felt abandoned all over again. They do not understand why the volunteers can't stay forever.
Medical experts tell us what the children need is constancy in their lives and to see the same people around them every day. So to provide this we employ Cambodians on local salaries to do all the work previously done by volunteers and this seems to work well.
But if you are ever in Cambodia we would welcome your visit for half a day to see what the children do at Sunrise, so please do keep in touch.
Sunrise Children's Village
Post Office Box 2504
Phnom Penh 3
Phnom Penh
Kingdom of Cambodia
Geraldine Cox, President
Cambodia: +855 (0) 12 803 069
Fax +855 (0) 23 210 361
Australia: +61 (0) 419 696 012
geraldine.cox@sunrisechildrensvillage.orgWebsite:
www.sunrisechildrensvillage.orgLocation of the Sunrise Children's VillageAs the orphanage has no actual 'street address' please follow these instructions:
Depart from Phnom Penh in a Southerly direction along Norodom Boulevard. Go past the Independence Monument keeping South on Norodom Boulevard, continue past the Monivong Bridge and keep on going until you reach Takhmao town. Go across the river and through the town to the roundabout and take the second exit which is Road 21 in the direction of Sa'ang. The Sunrise Children's Village is 7.5 kilometres from the roundabout. It is on the right hand side of the road and there is a sign outside.
Location of Sunrise Angkor Children's VillageThe orphanage is located right in the heart of Siem Reap. Most hotels are only a couple of minutes drive away by taxi or tuk tuk. For directions please ask Gerald Trevor on 012 800960 for guidance.
AFESIP CAMBODIA is a non-governmental, non-partisan, and non-religious organization established at the grass-root level in Cambodia in 1996. The dire situations of thousands of victims forced into sex slavery are the reasons why AFESIP exists today. 
