101 Challenges:

Location: Siem Reap - Cambodia

Today we visited the 'Sunrise Angkor Children's Village orphanage in Siem Reap and were shown around the place by the assistant manager, Sek Nimol. She’s a lovely lady – so much compassion and passion for the kids and someone who’s doing a big bit of good, everyday of her life. She even gave us a free lunch. So that makes her even better!

The orphanage is absolutely amazing. First and foremost it works. You expect the worst of orphanages in this part of the world but the staff here have got their act together. From the moment you enter you are wowed. Now, if you're going to help a charity make sure it's one like this, you want to know your money is being used in a positive way and this we can confirm to you.

At the moment there are 74 kids here despite there really only being (official) room for 60 odd. The organistion wants to help kids so desoeratley that they find it nigh on impossible to say they're full. So it's two kids to a bed. Saying that though, its not an overcrowded cess pit, but a camp of love and happiness. Some of these kids are orphaned through poverty or death and others have been saved from things like abuse and the sex trade. Yet once here they are so loved and well provided for, they all smile and laugh and most importantly feel safe.

 The facilities are great. After love and food, almost equally important is education. They have their own classrooms where English, Maths, and Computing are taught to everyone in the orphanage. In fact education is so important the kids attend school between 7 and 11am and then 2 to 5pm Monday to Saturday. That's more than we ever did. And this practice is paying off with some of the kids winning scholarships at Australian Universities, something the average Cambodian child could not even comprehend let alone dream about.

What's more the school also has its own theatre where customary dancing and singing are taught. This is fantastic, not only do the children receive an education worthy of any western child but they remain in touch with their heritage, something us Brits could learn from. We were lucky enough to be invited to watch the kids sing and dance and we sat there like Cheshire cats as they performed not only from the performance itself (which was amazing) but the fact that here was an organisation that everyone that was involved with, donating to or simply visiting, could be proud of.

If you want to help the orphanage out then click on this link - Sunrise Children's Orphanages (http://www.sunrisechildrensorphanage.org)

So, later on in the afternoon, we ventured off to the local market. Nimol, who took ages to find as our tuc-tuc driver took us about 15km the wrong way, apprised us that due to forever increasing rice prices, the orphanage could really do with extra supplies – simple things like pens, pencils, notepads, toothpaste and other foods stuff.

The first thing we’ve noticed today is, at a local market, in Asia, only locals pay local prices. Iz it becoz we’re White? We had to haggle and haggle and haggle and then after all that, haggle a little more.

Eventually, and after a whole lot of haggling (see above) we came away, two hours later (one-and-a-half-hours longer than planned) with 100kgs of rice ($60), 90 boxes of noodles ($13.50), 80 toothbrushes ($10), an enormous quantity of pens, pencils, crayons and notebooks ($55) and, just to be nice to the kids, we bought them (with your cash) 600 lollipops ($11). It’s bloody hard work carrying all that. Still, we’re well chuffed – and so should you be;

Colin Brown
Ceri Bethan
Louise Canny
Jenny Holmstrom
Lisa O’Reilly
Laura Page
Kevin Peggie
Stacey Reid
Pank Sethi
Scott Steedman
Nicola Stevenson
Daniel Stewart
Jaqueline Williamson (£10)
Colin Wyer

Based on $1.97 to the pound (if it’s less or more we’ll make sure the donations balance is completely spent on other good causes before we return to the UK) we hope you’re happy with the way we utilised the cash you so generously gave.

God’s happy, and very impressed with you all. He says (because He chats with Lindsay in his sleep) you’ll all get into Heaven when you die, and that all of you (except two) will live until you’re at least 57. One of you lucky do-gooders is going to last until 93. Well done!