Tuesday, 16 September 2008

Cambodian orphans visit 'email' foster parents, receive free eye exams

Visiting Cambodian orphans at the office of Tyrie Jenkins, M.D. Eye Care
Courtesy Tyrie Jenkins, M.D. Eye Care

The Honolulu Advertiser
Monday, September 15, 2008

Twenty-eight Cambodian orphans arrived in Honolulu on September 3 to meet and stay with their "email foster parents" for the first time. The children are staying two weeks under the auspices of Email Foster Parents International. Some of them and their Hawaii foster families have been corresponding via the Internet for as long as three years.

On Saturday, September 6, many of them enjoyed another first—the staff at Tyrie Jenkins, M.D. Eye Care gave the Cambodian youngsters, ages 14-18, free eye exams, providing them with prescriptions as needed and identifying any undetected eye ailments. Optometrists Dr. Loretta Ng and Dr. Jon Sakuda donated their time.

The organizer and champion of this unique project is Rob Hail. The children are from the Future Light Orphanage near Phnom Penh. All are trained Khmer classical dancers as well, and performed at the Mamiya Theatre on September 13 in a fundraiser for the orphanage to support and educate more young children.

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