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                                             Kais Village Community

                                                                

Kais Village Community opened in 2003 at the request of the Cambodian Child Welfare Department. It is funded by private donations and receives no financial support from the government. The principal directors and driving force behind Kais Village Community are Soung Santepheap (Sunny) and Karen Butler (a British expatriate).  From the outset Karen’s & Sunny’s philosophy  was to do more than provide for the basic welfare of the children. In Kais Village Community they wanted the children, who had no loving families  of their own, to feel that they had  a home, a family, a community. 

The orphanage is situated 86 kms  south-west of Phnom Penh, just outside the village of Treng Trayeoung, in rural Kompong Speu province. The area is very poor and was identified as a location for the orphanage by the local authorities as there are many vulnerable children and families in the area. The village has a busy local market, fruit farms, schools and a few coffee shops. A large sugar cane plantation and the Kirirom hill station are nearby. 

Presently Kais Village Community is home to 65 children from newborn to 17 years of age, many have special needs. Most of the children have been abandoned in hospitals or orphaned and relinquished to the authorities by relatives. The centre's facilities comprise 2 wooden houses for the older children, a large nursery, a school and attached guestroom, a small medical centre, a large canteen, a toilet and shower block and a playground. Separate new girls and boys houses are currently under construction and due to be completed in May 2010. 

Kais Village Community is set in 7 hectares of farmland and for the last 3 years has been involved with sustainable agriculture, clean water and clean energy projects. It has taken great steps toward food security with vegetable crops, fruit orchard, cows, pigs, chickens, ducks and a large fishpond. Fuel from a large bio-digester supplies the cooking stoves in the kitchen. The older children help on the farm, tending the animals and crops and learning environmentally friendly farming practices. Day to day water for general use is provided by a series of hand dug wells. The kitchen is supplied with potable water via a solar powered water-purifier. In addition, during the rainy season water is captured off the roofs and into several large rainwater harvesters. Some power is provided by solar panels and topped up by a small local village supply.

The children attend the local primary/secondary schools and during weekdays, English language lessons run onsite by volunteers. Approximately 80 village children come to the centre for their English lessons. In their free time the children can learn computing, Chinese language, cookery, sewing skills and art and crafts.

For the past 6 years the children at Kais Village Community have welcomed groups of school children from Singapore, UK, Australia and  Hong Kong. Playgrounds have been built, benches crafted, walls painted, classes attended, games played, meals shared, birthdays celebrated, football matches won and lost. Children from all corners of the world have benefitted from getting to know each other and learning how their counterparts in other countries live. Perhaps most importantly many children have learnt the valuable gift of friendship. All this has only been made possible with the help and generous donations of our volunteers and supporters around the world. If you would like to help make a difference please contact us at kaiskids@online.com.kh  

 

Kais Village Community is run by by KaisKids, Society for Orphan Support. A Cambodian charity registered by the Ministry of Interior. License no. 538, June 2001   

 


 Society for Orphan Support, No. 1 Street 336, Sangkat Boeung Salang,Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia