Sunday, 16 March 2008

Smart pupils raise hope for Cambodian orphans

Fancy fund-raisers: Wearing their Sunday best clothes to help gather cash for Cambodian orphans are pupils, from left, Lucy Nock, Emily Lane and Leo Hopley.

kidderminstershuttle.co.uk
March 15, 2008

By Paul Whittaker

FUND-raising youngsters at a Bewdley school have put on their best clothes for class to help improve lives in one of the poorest parts of the world.

The efforts of pupils, aged between four and 10, at St Anne's CE First have resulted in £1,400 being sent to Cambodia to give orphans a better chance in life.

A charity week was held at the Wyre Hill school to boost the coffers of the Cambodian Dump Children's Committee, which helps youngsters forced to pick rubbish on landfill sites in the capital city, Phnom Penh.

The money gathered from last month's events will be used to concrete and tile a play area at the Centre for Children's Happiness, formed in 2002, so the orphans can play outside during the rainy season.

It will also buy a tuk-tuk, a powered rickshaw type vehicle, to train teenagers so they can find employment as hire-drivers in the city.

The decision to support the project with a host of activities, which included a quiz, a toy bring-and-buy sale, along with the opportunity for pupils to wear their Sunday best for lessons, came from acting headteacher, Linda Withey.

She visited Cambodia last Easter and had the chance to see the work the facility does for the poor it takes away from the Steung Meanchey Municipal Waste Dump.

Mrs Withey said: "The amount we raised has both delighted and shocked us in equal measure. It is simply stunning. Everyone has done fantastically well.

"It is a nice feeling and because of the links we will actually be able to see the work our money has paid for when it is completed through pictures that are being sent over in a few weeks.

"All the things we tried to do during the week were geared towards making the children understand what life is like for children over there. It went really well."

For more information about the Children's Happiness Centre in Cambodia, visit its website at www.cchcambodia.org

1 comment:

Wanna said...

They are so cute, and know how to help others from very young age. Keep up the good job, kiddo :)