Five more months until I'm back in Siem Reap

Get me out of here.

He awoke each morning with the desire to do right.

To be a good and meaningful person, to be, as simple as it sounded and as impossible as it actually was, happy. And during the course of each day his heart would descend from his chest into his stomach. By early afternoon he was overcome by the feeling that nothing was right, or nothing was right for him, and by the desire to be alone. By evening he was fulfilled: alone in the magnitude of his grief, alone in his aimless guilt, alone even in his loneliness. I am not sad, he would repeat to himself over and over, I am not sad. As if he might one day convince himself. Or fool himself. Or convince others--the only thing worse than being sad is for others to know that you are sad. I am not sad. I am not sad. Because his life had unlimited potential for happiness, insofar as it was an empty white room. He would fall asleep with his heart at the foot of his bed, like some domesticated animal that was no part of him at all. And each morning he would wake with it again in the cupboard of his rib cage, having become a little heavier, a little weaker, but still pumping. And by the midafternoon he was again overcome with the desire to be somewhere else, someone else, someone else somewhere else. I am not sad."

— Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel)

Future Cambodia Fund Northern Adventure

After participating in the inaugural Temples to Street Retreat Charity Bike Ride for the Future Cambodia Fund from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville in February 2008, I am now preparing for the ride of a lifetime in March 2009!

This time we're heading on the Northern Adventure, a bike trip through Southern Laos, taking in the Bolaven Plateau and 4000 Islands before crossing into Cambodia and following the Mighty Mekong down to Phnom Penh, visiting community development projects along the way.

All riders are required a minimum fundraising amount in order to participate which goes towards supporting the Future Cambodia Fund's community development projects in Cambodia.

A non-profit, non-government organisation, Future Cambodia Fund was formed in Cambodia in 2004, by Leigh Mathews (voted the 2008 Victoria Young Australian of the Year). Future Cambodia Fund was established in response to the lack of support, services and educational opportunities for children and young people in Cambodia. Future Cambodia Fund was formed out of the belief that every child has the right to a childhood, to education, and the right to be protected and nurtured.

Future Cambodia Fund has four main objectives which guide our work:

Community Capacity Building: To encourage community participation and ownership through capacity building and advocacy.

Education and Training: To identify and provide appropriate education and training options and to support young people and their families to pursue these opportunities.

Networking and Support: To strengthen the overall response to Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) through integrated networking and support.

Awareness: To educate and inform young Australians about current issues in the developing world and encourage them to engage in activities resulting in positive change locally and globally.

Future Cambodia Fund supports a range of grassroots development projects in Cambodia:

Happy Garden Centre

Future Cambodia Fund is working at Andong ‘relocation’ site, a community of over 5,000 individuals who were violently evicted from their homes and forcibly ‘relocated’ to a site 22km from Phnom Penh. Residents have little or no access to fresh water, adequate food, medical care, employment, or education, and many people are seriously ill from preventable and treatable diseases.

The Happy Garden Centre is a community space, named by the children of Andong. Happy Garden provides therapeutic support to children and youth aged between 1 – 25 years in the form of remedial education, a back to school program, sports and recreational therapy, play/art/music/dance therapy, individual and family counselling, medical, and dental care.

Andong Water, Sanitation and Health Program

Future Cambodia Fund also runs a community-based water, sanitation & health program at Andong ‘relocation’ site. The project works with women in the community and aims to provide more families with access to potable water, while providing education on health, hygiene and safe water collection, filtration and storage.

M’lop Tapang Education Program

Future Cambodia Fund supports a daily education program for street children with disabilities and learning difficulties. The children participate in a range of activities, including art therapy, music, dance, and basic literacy. This program is delivered by our partner organisation, M’lop Tapang.

Emergency Assistance Program

Future Cambodia Fund provides ongoing grants for emergency situations, including emergency accommodation, counselling, and support for child victims of abuse and violence.

For further information about the Future Cambodia Fund, please visit www.futurecambodiafund.org

All and any donations would be greatly appreciated. Should you wish to make a contribution, please visit my fundraising page or contact me at judetsai73@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading this!