Rupa Bose
04-18-2004, 02:26 PM
A couple of years ago, I visited Cambodia to volunteer with Sok Sabay,
a children's shelter. This post is to ask for help for the shelter.
It's run by an amazing French woman, Marie Cammal. She has spent all
her life helping people who desperately need it... from people in Hong
Kong's refugee camps, to now, children at risk in Phnom Penh.
I have stayed in touch, and Marie recently sent me her financial
statements. They have recently developed a deficit of the order of
thousands of dollars -- not hundreds, not tens of thousands. If anyone
feels like helping, it's on the web at soksabay.com and there's a
button "How you can help."
This post is off-topic, but not completely. Some years ago, while
working at a missionary orphanage in Phnom Penh, Marie adopted a baby
girl. Marie then followed leads back to the child's birth-family, to
establish contact. She discovered that the child's older half-sister
had been sold into a house of prostitution. Marie arranged for the
girl to be rescued -- a rather James-Bond-like event -- and then was
left with the question: What next? If she returned her to her family,
she would be at risk again. Marie saw the need for a shelter for girls
like her, and that was the beginning of Sok Sabay.
Marie went back to Paris, and raised seed money from a consortium of
pharma companies, and religious institutions. In Cambodia, you can do
a lot with a small amount of money: Her staff bill, for instance, is
under $20,000. Sok Sabay takes in girls who have been abused or sold,
or are at risk for it. Recently, she started accepting boys, when it
became evident that brothers of the Sok Sabay students were in as much
need of care and protection.
Marie has a large house, where the children sleep in dormitories. They
go to local schools (where they tend to do very well). She arranges
homework support and extra tuition. classes in traditional Cambodian
dance, and vacation outings give them pride in a culture that is still
suffering the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge. For those children where
it is safe to do so, she arranges for them to go back to their
villages for 4-8 weeks every summer, so they stay in touch with their
families.
In some cases, she also provides assistance to families.
Non-threatening parents are allowed to visit; while I was there, the
mother of 5 of the girls was there on a visit with her two sons. She
stayed at Sok Sabay while visiting.
Besides the Cambodian staff, Marie makes use of volunteers. She
encourages overseas volunteers; she thinks it gives her children a
broader perspective on the world. (So if anyone plans to visit Phnom
Penh -- consider calling Marie and spending a few days at Sok Sabay.)
Marie's daughter is growing up in her birth-country; but she is also
comfortable in France, where she has a-relatives. Marie spends a month
or two there every year; her French office helps significantly in
fund-raising.
Marie hopes to get a 501(c)(3) organization set up here in the US, but
from what I can gauge, it's going to take a while. The infrastructure
required would cost too much money. Her total operation currently
costs under $100,000 a year. Until such time as she does, anything
you donate isn't tax deductible.
Rupa
a children's shelter. This post is to ask for help for the shelter.
It's run by an amazing French woman, Marie Cammal. She has spent all
her life helping people who desperately need it... from people in Hong
Kong's refugee camps, to now, children at risk in Phnom Penh.
I have stayed in touch, and Marie recently sent me her financial
statements. They have recently developed a deficit of the order of
thousands of dollars -- not hundreds, not tens of thousands. If anyone
feels like helping, it's on the web at soksabay.com and there's a
button "How you can help."
This post is off-topic, but not completely. Some years ago, while
working at a missionary orphanage in Phnom Penh, Marie adopted a baby
girl. Marie then followed leads back to the child's birth-family, to
establish contact. She discovered that the child's older half-sister
had been sold into a house of prostitution. Marie arranged for the
girl to be rescued -- a rather James-Bond-like event -- and then was
left with the question: What next? If she returned her to her family,
she would be at risk again. Marie saw the need for a shelter for girls
like her, and that was the beginning of Sok Sabay.
Marie went back to Paris, and raised seed money from a consortium of
pharma companies, and religious institutions. In Cambodia, you can do
a lot with a small amount of money: Her staff bill, for instance, is
under $20,000. Sok Sabay takes in girls who have been abused or sold,
or are at risk for it. Recently, she started accepting boys, when it
became evident that brothers of the Sok Sabay students were in as much
need of care and protection.
Marie has a large house, where the children sleep in dormitories. They
go to local schools (where they tend to do very well). She arranges
homework support and extra tuition. classes in traditional Cambodian
dance, and vacation outings give them pride in a culture that is still
suffering the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge. For those children where
it is safe to do so, she arranges for them to go back to their
villages for 4-8 weeks every summer, so they stay in touch with their
families.
In some cases, she also provides assistance to families.
Non-threatening parents are allowed to visit; while I was there, the
mother of 5 of the girls was there on a visit with her two sons. She
stayed at Sok Sabay while visiting.
Besides the Cambodian staff, Marie makes use of volunteers. She
encourages overseas volunteers; she thinks it gives her children a
broader perspective on the world. (So if anyone plans to visit Phnom
Penh -- consider calling Marie and spending a few days at Sok Sabay.)
Marie's daughter is growing up in her birth-country; but she is also
comfortable in France, where she has a-relatives. Marie spends a month
or two there every year; her French office helps significantly in
fund-raising.
Marie hopes to get a 501(c)(3) organization set up here in the US, but
from what I can gauge, it's going to take a while. The infrastructure
required would cost too much money. Her total operation currently
costs under $100,000 a year. Until such time as she does, anything
you donate isn't tax deductible.
Rupa
