Float, Tread, Swim, Survive

ABCs and Rice does so much for impoverished children in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  Along with English lessons, training in health and hygiene like tooth brushing, lessons in safety, and nutrition to fill their bellies, the children at ABCs get swimming lessons through the incredible efforts of Safe Waters Cambodia.

 Didy Silber started Safe Waters Cambodia a little over a year ago.  I sat down with him over lunch recently to learn more about his story. 

 Didy is an American who quit a good job in Israel to come to Cambodia and save lives. “I left Israel not long after getting a promotion,” Didy said, “and got on a plane to Cambodia. For me it was flight, children, teach. There were all these questions I asked myself like how can I do this? I decided that the questions didn’t matter. There’s nothing stopping me from doing this. Most of us want to give back to humanity by doing something more important than gaining a salary. The hard part is making it all a reality.”

 Each day, twice a day, a half-dozen children at ABCs and Rice board our school bus and make their way to a hotel pool to get lessons from teacher Didy. “With such little time for actual swimming because the kids go to their government school and to ABCs and Rice,” Didy said, “I need to ensure that the kids get as much out of the lesson as they can in the shortest amount of time.”

 For the most part, the children have never been in the water before.  The kids at ABCs don’t live next to the lake.  Culturally, it’s rare for the children to go to the swimming pool and I don’t think water parks exist. 

For a few months each year, though, heavy rains fill the ditches and fields all around rural Cambodia, endangering the lives of our children every day.

 “For our culture, swimming is a lot of fun,” Didy said, “and many of the children here at ABCs and Rice like the lessons just because they get out of regular classes.  But, I’m more interested in making an impact on the fact that around 2,000 children in Cambodia drown every year.  We have to stop the drowning.”

According to Didy, the main goal is for “the kids to get over their fear, have the tools to survive in the water, and then do a little swimming for fun.” The first challenge for Safe Waters Cambodia is to make sure they find the kids who really need lessons the most.  So far, 60 children have gone through Didy’s lessons and become certified swimmers.  According to Didy, though, this isn’t enough.   

On a few occasions, I’ve been fortunate enough to get to fill in as a chaperone of students at ABCs who are getting swimming lessons from Safe Waters Cambodia. Didy has set up a rotation of local hotels to provide the swimming pool.  Jaya House River Park Hotel has been a great supporter of Safe Waters Cambodia. 

On one of my trips to take the kids to swimming lessons, I witnessed the nervousness spread across their faces as Didy began his lesson.

 One young girl looked particularly afraid as she climbed the three steps to the lip of the pool. It was her turn to swim and dive for the rings at the bottom.  She cautiously dipped her toes in the water as we clapped and cheered her on.  

On her first attempt, she reached for and clung to Didy’s outstretched arms, not yet ready to brave the pool on her own.  

On her second go, she swam across the narrow width of the pool, fighting her way across like a little bird first learning to fly. 

On her third and final try, she committed herself to the deep like a great fish and made it three-fourths of the way down the length of the pool. After tiring out, she swam to the edge, held on to the side, and looked back at her peers with the confident gaze of Joan of Arc, ready to dive into battle. Her classmates clapped and cheered. 

At the end of the lesson, as everyone else climbed the steps to exit the pool, she stood on the top and proclaimed loudly and triumphantly, “Now, I want to swim all the way to the end!" 

Our campaign,” Didy said, “is first and foremost to stop the drowning, but every time the kids triumph, we triumph as educators.”

 Didy faces many challenges in his role as Director of an NGO, chief fundraiser, pool coordinator, and swim coach.  “My main challenge is the language barrier,” he said. “I want to train Cambodians to be swim coaches to ensure the children are safely getting the most out of the lessons.”

He has bigger dreams for Safe Waters, as well, like owning his own pool in Siem Reap some day, “but right now it’s going to take 2-3 years just to become a sustainable organization that can continue our mission of certifying swimmers." 

Safe Waters also faces a similar challenge as ABCs and Rice.  While the kids at ABCs aren’t always getting enough nutrition to learn and grow, many aren’t getting the nutrition they need to stay safe in the water. 

“The kids don’t always have the energy to do laps in the pool,” Didy said. “Though they are getting two meals at ABCs and Rice, some of the children don’t come for breakfast in the morning because of their schedule.”  To keep them safe in the pool, Didy feeds them fruit to ensure they have enough energy to stay afloat.  

Together we can support Safe Waters Cambodia and stop the drowning. Just $36 supports a child from first dipping their toes in the water, to overcoming their fears, and ultimately to being certified swimmers.  Join me in supporting this great organization to continue its mission. Your donation could save a life!

Donate what you can here: https://www.safewaterscambodia.org/donate

...And Rice

At ABCs and Rice, rice is the students' incentive to go to school and get an education instead of being out on the street. With good attendance at ABCs and Rice, twice per month, each child gets to take home 6 kg (13 lbs) of rice to feed their families.  The kids are happy, healthy, and learning, and there's something in it for the whole family, too. It's a win for everyone involved.

Today is Rice Day at ABCs and Rice.  But, unfortunately without enough funding, it’s the first Rice Day we’ve had in several months. 

At ABCs and Rice, we must continue our mission of keeping the kids in school so they can grow to be what they want to be. We can't go another month without a Rice Day.  

For me, my parents made me go to school. My teachers made me go. My principal made me go. Really, my culture made me go. I certainly didn't go for the food.  

Had I been born 80 years prior, living in the bread-basket of America, I might have been encouraged to drop out of school to work on the farm to support the family. Had I been born in the wrong neighborhood in the wrong city today, I might have left my value for education in the dust and allowed desperation to overtake my morality. 

I’m thankful to have been born where I was, when I was, and to have parents who pushed me to be successful in everything I do.  As a result, I have gained skills that allow me to support myself, live a good life, and give back to others in need.  

When the photo below was taken, if you offered me the chance to drop out of school and play soccer, try to beat Battletoads, and eat Fun Dip as a job, I probably would have taken you up on it. 

But, alas, I had to go to school. 

In Cambodia, though, education is not compulsory.  There aren’t principals or teachers telling kids they must go to school.  Because they are poor, the parents aren’t making them go, either.  Instead, the children must work to support the family. The kids beg on the street, pick pockets, work under the sun in the rice fields, and/or peddle souvenirs to tourists just to make a few dollars a month. 

Even students who attend government school, which is only half day, and don't come to ABCs and Rice the other half, are out on the streets begging for money in their school uniforms.

The kids work hard every day, and it's often necessary for family survival, but it won't stop the cycle. How does one climb out of poverty this way by struggling to survive? How do you learn ethical skills to dig yourself out without structure?

ABCs and Rice is not only a first-rate school that teaches valuable skills to hundreds of children every day, it is a haven from life on the street. It is the support system that impoverished children typically do not get.   

At ABCs, the kids get to work hard, play, socialize, and grow. They get to be kids while they wait the right amount of time to become adults. The kind of happy, healthy adults who can teach the value of education to the next generation, just like my parents, principals, and teachers did for me.

Each student leaves each day knowing that they can be what they want to be. In the 9 years since it was founded, ABCs graduates have become chefs, hotel managers, business owners, and some are even on their way to becoming doctors. 

ABCs and Rice has done it all by proving to hundreds of impoverished children and their families that education is valuable--and they've done it by giving back just a little, in the form of rice!

Practicing carrying home his rice on his friend

This week is Thanksgiving in America.  Each year, we give thanks for all that we have, whether it’s a roof over our head, fresh, running water with the turn of a knob, the delicious food on our plates, a Netflix account that we all share, or heating to ease the cold of those unexpected early Chicago winters.

This Thanksgiving, on top of being thankful for all that you have, be thankful for all that you have to give to those in need.  

Help us not miss another Rice Day. Just $6.80 (£5) feeds a child at ABCs and Rice for one month.  Just $20 (£15) sends rice home to 10 ABCs families in need. At ABCs and Rice, we are thankful for any amount you’re able to give. 

Donate what you can here! 

A Small World

ABCs and Rice relies on volunteers, donors, and visitors to get the supplies and the support they need to keep moving forward with their mission.  The world gets smaller and smaller, as a result of this network of helping-hands.

The kids at ABCs greet visitors the only way they know how!

This week, the world became microscopic for me. I’m from a tiny town in north central Illinois called Oregon.  Janelle Matthews is from a tiny town in north central Illinois called German Valley.  Janelle went to Forreston High School (a rival of Oregon when I was growing up) with a cousin of mine.  My dad, Mike, my uncle Steve, and many other members of my family are also FHS grads.  Not to mention, Janelle's sister is best friends with Cindy, a great friend of mine from back home in Oregon. 

This week, Janelle just so happened to be traveling to Siem Reap, Cambodia on business with her company Genesys Telecommunications. 

After arriving here, I asked Janelle, "How many times do you think two people from two different little towns in north central Illinois who've never met before were simultaneously in Siem Reap, Cambodia?" 

"Probably none," she said. 

Small world.

In the weeks prior to making the 21-hour, two-stop flight to Cambodia, Janelle reached out to me and asked, “Is there anything you all need that I could bring with me from the US? I’m happy to make room.”

This is the kind of helping hand that keeps ABCs afloat! While school supplies are easy to come by, other essentials are overly expensive or impossible to find.  Houk, our Project Manager, and I put together a list.   

As is the case anywhere in the world, the kids at ABCs get sick every day.  Headaches, the flu, earaches, and colds are common-place. In Cambodia, though, children's strength medication just doesn't exist. Nearly 90% of the kids at ABCs and Rice are underweight (some have a BMI under 12.0), so we have to be extra careful dosing medicine to cure what ails them.

I sent Janelle the list, which included children’s-strength medicines for the flu, colds, earaches, etc.  

She didn't just arrive in Siem Reap with some supplies, she cleared the shelves at Walmart and literally filled a suitcase!

On top of the medication, she packed in some other items that are difficult to find in Cambodia: Halloween candy—a nice treat for our celebration with the kids this week—some paper plates and Popsicle sticks for crafts, and some chalkboard paint.

Janelle's week was packed with client meetings, but on Tuesday, she made time to visit us at ABCs and Rice to deliver the goods and see the operation first-hand!

Janelle and a student explode their fist bump!

Of course, after some early morning fun and games, like all visitors and volunteers, we put her to work. Paul from Pack the Essentials, Janelle, and I chopped veggies, mushrooms, and herbs and tossed it all into a hot pot to make Tom Yum soup.

Just as the soup began to boil, the bell rang for recess; the best kind of payment for a morning of hard work.

If you're asked to do this once, you'll be asked to do this again! Rotate the direction each time so you don't get dizzy!

Though "Being a kid IS their job," ABCs isn’t just about play.  Janelle got to take in a few classes, and commented “All of the teachers here are really good!” I agree.

The students at ABCs identify proper nouns from pictures on the board.

At 11 am, the bell rang again, and it was time for lunch, which meant back to work.  Paul, Janelle, our Cook, and I handed out meals to the dozens of hungry children of ABCs. 

Most of the bowls came back empty, so I’d say the soup was a great success!

He might look unsure of the taste, but he ate it all, I swear!

After the kids loaded up on rice, meat, and veggies, Janelle and I took out trays of cut pineapple; a rare dessert for the students at ABCs.

ABCs and Rice would like to thank Janelle for donating and personally delivering much-needed supplies from back home, and most importantly for helping out and spending the day with us!  It's small world stories and small town generosity that make an impact every day around the world. Tuesday was one of those days!

To make more days like this one happen at ABCs and Rice, click here to donate!

Coming to Cambodia and want to volunteer?  Email us at abcandrice@gmail.com

It Takes a Village

Unfortunately, last night, the Chicago Cubs increased their World Series win drought to 1 year.

On the bright side, today, 155 families in rural Siem Reap, Cambodia received 50 kg (110 lb.) bags of rice to feed them for one month.  This was all done thanks to the incredible work of 6 visiting volunteers from southern Australia and the coordination of ABCs and Rice. 

It’s usually Feed a Kid Friday, but at ABCs and Rice on this Friday, we fed villages.  

A village family receives two 50 kg bags of rice

“Rice Day” is the term applied to the day that the 220 kids at ABCs take home 6 kg of rice to feed their families.  But, today, “Rice Day” was something much greater. Thanks to six amazing people from "Somewhere between Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia" and dozens of families and organizations who funded the project, 155 families from all around the rural areas of Siem Reap will be fed for at least one month.  I was fortunate just to be a part of the delivery team.

This morning, we all piled into the back of the ABCs school bus, or more aptly the Rice Delivery Mobile. Seated comfortably on stacks of rice bags, the Australians, Tammy, Huok, ABCs Project Manager, and I rode out to a village located off the beaten path toward Angkor Wat. Once we arrived, we soon realized the thoroughfare down to the village was too narrow for the school bus. 

We men said, “We got this!” 

Hauling a truck load of 50 kg (110 lb.) sacks of rice down the half-mile stretch of the road sounded easy enough.  Fortunately, we didn’t allow our egos to break our backs. 

As we began unloading the bags of rice, the villagers emerged from the forest wheeling their bicycles and motorbikes right up to the tailgate of the truck.  One by one, we loaded the hefty sacks onto the racks and seats of each bike.  Once they were loaded up, two by two, we wheeled the bikes down the dirt path and through the muddy forest.  

As we passed each little home, we carried the bags of rice through the mud and heaved them onto the front stoop.  It was like Christmas without the chimneys; each sack a gift for those most deserving!

This village was only our first stop, but it isn't just any village.  It is a colony for locals living with HIV and AIDS.  The residents are not only physically unable to work, they are cast out for their illness.  It takes community support like this just for them to survive.

After dropping off rice at several homes, we were all soaked in sweat and covered in mud. The Australians and the ABCs crew gathered in the village center to rest.  Suddenly, a man came down the steps of his home carrying what at first just looked like two pieces of wood. He stepped into our social circle and placed them down on the ground.  He signaled downward with his hands, the universal gesture for "Please, take a seat." He pressed his hands together as if praying, a sign of respect and appreciation in Cambodia, much like bowing in Japan or China. Each of the villagers around us followed suit. As we sat, catching our breath, we returned the humble gesture. 

I was offered a seat. It doesn't take much to show how thankful you are. 

All 165 bags of rice delivered today were donated by organizations, such as Rotary Club, and by dozens of families from around southern Australia.  Each bag came with a hand written message to the family receiving it.  As the families came out to say thank you and pose for photos, Tammy and Houk translated the messages from English to Khmer and delivered photos of the donors to each family. Each donor will get a photo of the family they supported in return. 

At one of the last homes in this village, only one man came out to say thank you and pose for the photo. At first I thought he lived alone, but Houk told me he was actually the father of 8 children.  Houk asked the man, "Can the rest of your family come out for the photo, too?" 

"The rest of my family are too sick from AIDS," the man said. 

After delivering rice to 12 families in that village, 13 families in another, we got back onto the empty truck to head back and reload.   

Over the course of two days, the visitors from Australia and the staff at ABCs and Rice delivered 194 bags of rice to families all around Siem Reap.

After day 2 of delivering almost 200 sacks of rice, which is almost 10 tonnes!

As they say, "It takes a village..." On this special Rice Day, a village of donors from Australia contributed to support 155 families in desperate need. 

Thanks to donations from people in villages around the world, ABCs and Rice feeds 220 children two meals per day, every day. 

To my village of friends and family back home, the cost of two beers at Wrigley Field, $20 (£15), is enough to purchase a 50 kg bag of rice.  This will feed an entire family in need, or 3 students at ABCs and Rice, for one month.  If you have the means, your support is greatly appreciated!

Click Here to Support ABCs and Rice! 

Close Your Eyes and Walk

What does it take to make an impact on the world? For Tammy Pomroy, it took just a few hundred dollars and a lot of hard work.

Just over eight years ago, ABCs and Rice was a bamboo hut offering free English classes to anyone willing to show up.  It is now a school with an annual operating budget of just under $90,000, supported solely on donations from people all over the world.  It has 6 classrooms, a staff of Khmer teachers, cooks, a janitor, and a project manager, a volunteer coordinator from England, a rotation of dedicated volunteers including Tammy herself, and most importantly, 220 incredible children making their own waves in their own way.  “Being the change you want to see in the world,” it turns out, simply requires you to take the first step. ABCs and Rice now provides the skills and the confidence boost for hundreds of children to take their own first step every day.

The ABCs family celebrates longtime Project Manager, Chhut Long

I sat down with Tammy recently and asked her, “If you had to divide the story of ABCs into chapters, what would they be?”

“Chapter one,” she said, “is Close Your Eyes and Walk.”

In 2009, Tammy was traveling and volunteering her way through Southeast Asia. After helping out a few communities in Cambodia, a Khmer woman, who was a local landowner, said, “Tammy, you are helping all of these other neighborhoods, but not this one.”

Tammy always wanted to start a school, but she initially thought it would be a couple of years down the road. “After my trip,” Tammy said to me, “I thought I’d go home, develop a plan, raise money, and find investors first, like any rational person would.”

Everything changed in that village outside of Siem Reap. The Khmer woman said to Tammy, “Sometimes in Cambodia, we just close our eyes and walk.”

Instead of doing the rational thing, Tammy closed her eyes and walked.

With only $300 to her name, she paid $140 to the woman for first and last month’s rent on the property and bought bamboo for the walls and wire to tie it all together. With a grass roof, she had all the makings of a school hut.   

A one room school hut!

She had so little money left over she had to live on ramen noodles. She found a teaching job in town to support herself and her mission, and rallied her Khmer friends to build the first ABCs classroom.  “If I’d had a plan,” she said, “it probably wouldn’t have worked.”

 “Chapter two,” she said, “though it’s kind of cliché, and stolen from somewhere else, is If You Build it, They Will Come.”

The property was rented, the bamboo hut was in place, and the word got out. Nearly 100 adults and children flocked to attend Tammy’s free nightly English lessons. 

English, for Khmer people in Siem Reap, is often the key to good jobs in a tourist economy.  Whether they are a tuk-tuk driver who takes visitors to see the temples of Angkor, a shop or restaurant owner, or a pharmacist, Khmer people find success when they know English.  

Though, for Tammy, it wasn’t just about the kids getting an education. “Seeing animal abuse, garbage everywhere, poor sanitation…There was no safe place to be during the day,” Tammy said. “It was more about getting them into a safe, happy life.” 

With 100 kids attending her classes, she had to build three more bamboo huts.  “Every new paycheck I got from my job, I put it toward more supplies for school in order to keep building.”

Expanding ABCs

Just as quickly as the wave of people flooded into ABCs, people started dropping out, though.  Tammy felt discouraged. Was it the lessons? Was it the location of the school? She went into the village and found some of her students. She spoke to them and their families to try to figure out what was going on.

Everyone had the same response: “We just can’t afford to have our kids studying English.”

“What do you mean,” Tammy asked, “they are free English classes?”

“If the kids are learning,” they said, “then they aren’t working.” 

With an average family income often around $50 per month, the children are integral to the survival of a family, whether they are working around the house doing chores, begging on the street, selling trinkets, or tilling fields. If they are in school, they aren’t contributing to the needs of the family.

“There were points like this,” Tammy told me, “where I thought, what am I doing? I should leave, but you have to be able to roll with the punches, man. It’s never what it’s supposed to be. Just be flexible. What’s that expression? The trees that survive the storm are the ones that are strong enough to bend.”

 

This is when Tammy took the second step. “Maybe the kids weren’t working for the family,” Tammy said, “but being a kid IS their job. I just wanted them to have access to being a kid. I got to be a kid.  I don’t need them to be smart, I don’t need them all to be doctors, but just to be happy in their life.”

Nearly 200 kids employed!

To keep the kids in school, learning skills to get out of the cycle of poverty, and have a safe place to spend their day, Tammy had to find a way to get them to stay. “I didn’t want the kids to keep having to lie to their parents about where they were.  There was one boy, who is now in medical school, whose parents didn’t allow him to go to school. He lied to them saying he was out taking care of his cow.”

Tammy’s school was already free.  She couldn’t offer scholarships like universities do to get them the education they so deserve. She began offering a kind of reverse tuition which would benefit the entire family.  What started as ABCs, in a stroke of genius, became ABCs and Rice.  Twice per month, with attendance at ABCs, Tammy sent the kids home with 6 kg of rice to support their families.  Nourishment for the whole family and an incentive to stay in school. 

Students at ABCs on Rice Day!

 “Something About Angels,” Tammy said, when I asked her about Chapter 3.  “That’s a silly title for a chapter, though, man.”

No one builds a non-profit school like ABCs from wire and bamboo without the help of others—something about angels, indeed.  “Even today, ABCs never has more than 2-3 months of operating income to support itself.  In the early days, some volunteers brought money,” Tammy said, “some people taught us curriculum, some taught us to feed the children, how to take care of their wounds…whether they were there for a week, or a month, to me, they are all just one brick.” 

A few volunteers recently gave out toothbrushes and donated rice to ABCs!

Tammy faced many roadblocks along the way, but this brick of volunteers was the capstone that held everything together.  Corruption from the government and a lack of trust in the community were just two of the hurdles to overcome. “Each day I reminded myself,” Tammy said, “that there is good in everything that’s bad, and there’s bad in everything that seems good. You have to be able to lean on people when those shocking realizations hit. There’s lessons to be learned in everything. Life isn’t about you.”

She overcame both of the roadblocks by building trust, supporting the community, and getting the ABCs name out there. “Initially, parents were afraid of sending their kids to ABCs,” Tammy said, "but, man, volunteers and donors brought in more bamboo huts, a toilet, and a water pump, and the community started to see us making real change—and with that came trust. Ultimately, parents started looking to ABCs for advice on parenting." 

Tammy believes one of the most important successes of ABCs is that “culturally, it’s unusual for girls to be educated enough to go after what they want. Girls used to get pulled out of school at 12 or 13, but today, they continue on, some even on to university. At ABCs, they’ve learned that education is important and there are some really confident young girls.”

Tammy takes the girls out for Girls Day

Though ABCs relies on a steady rotation of volunteers and other angels, the majority of the staff are local Khmer people. “ABCs is now about Khmer people helping Khmer people, which is the way it should be," Tammy said. "Crossing the culture gap has built even more trust." 

With trust comes an attitude shift. The same parents who once said that they couldn’t afford to have their children go to school, now look to ABCs for parenting advice and encourage their kids to get an education.  Be the change.

ABCs then and now

Tammy and her husband Charlie work as teachers at schools nearby to support themselves and their three adopted children. Tammy spends all of her time outside of work and family as volunteer Director of ABCs and Rice.  She built a school from the ground up and hasn't earned a dime doing it. "It's awesome to know that I'm where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to be doing," Tammy said.  

I asked Tammy if she were to do it all over again, would she change anything about how she started ABCs and she said, “Probably everything, but really, I just would have given more thanks along the way.”

In just 8 years, ABCs has dozens of former students who are university graduates, currently attending university, or who are working/supporting their families.  EVERY ABCs student has a safe place to be a kid every day, all thanks to one woman's guts to take that first step. 

ABCs requires continued work and support, though.  As Tammy said, at any given time, ABCs only has 2-3 months of operating income. I want to raise $5,000 to support ABCs' projects including getting bicycles to help children get to and from school every day.  

So far, together, we've raised over $1,000! Just $6.80 (£5), will feed a child at ABCs two meals per day for 1 month.  Please help ABCs continue to "be the change" and donate what you can! 

Mobile Donation Link

Computer Donation Link

Learn More about ABCs