Above and below: children from the remote village.

A woman in the remote village.

Street boy in Phnom Penh.

continued......................

I am going back there again shortly to spend  five days with the boys in order to work on a project with them creating art work.  There is a man in Australia, Damien Kamholtz, who works with art therapy with children who have been through traumatic situations.  Damien is mounting an exhibition in Toowoomba in November of art works from children all over the world who have been through traumas of one sort or another and I will be sending the boys artwork over to be exhibited.   

SIHANOUKVILLE

Sihanoukville is a coastal village about 300kms south of Phnom Penh on the Gulf of Thailand and is home to some beautiful beaches and islands.  It is still a very poor and undeveloped area and has yet to be overtaken by the tourism monster.  Angela and I stayed right on the beach front in a bungalow on stilts that overlooked the bay - absolutely breathtaking and all for the grand total of $10.00 a night!  We spent 4 days and 5 nights just soaking up the sun.  One very sad aspect that bothered me a lot was the amount of rubbish on the beaches and islands.  Unfortunately, the Cambodian people have yet to embrace the concept of environmentalism and it is just the norm for them to leave all their rubbish behind.

WHAT'S NEXT?

My plans now are to head back to Siem Reap for a week or so in order to spend time with the boys at the Land Mine Museum working on their art for the Exhibition in Toowoomba.  While I'm in Siem Reap I will also being doing some volunteer photography at an orphanage (for their web site, etc).  I also intend to visit the remote village again with YouSa and hopefully help out the sick man as well as look at other ways to help the village in general.

Then its back to Phnom Penh as I have been fortunate to secure a weeks paid photography work with an organisation called Hagar.  They have been established in Cambodia for a decade and run a number of wonderful programmes helping disadvantaged women and children.

There is also an old man here in Phnom Penh who walks the streets begging.  He comes to our guest house every second day and it amazes me that he can even get out and about - he is so old and frail.  In Cambodia, there is no social security network at all so if the elderly  have no family to look after them they are basically left to fend for themselves.  I really feel compelled to follow up on him and find out more about him and if there is any way to assist him.

I have also made friends with a homeless single mother and her two children who live on the riverfront in Phnom Penh and want to spend more time with them.  There are many homeless people here and the riverfront seems to be a popular place for them to "live".  Most beg to get by.

Well, everyone, I hope you enjoy the photos - I'll be working to add many more over the coming days.

If you feel inclined to donate money to any of the "causes" that I've mentioned above (particularly the Land Mine Museum boys, the poor, sick man in the remote village, the elderly man in Phnom Penh and the homeless river kids) please send me an email and I will reply with details of my bank account.  You can rest assured that every single cent, without exception, will go directly to these people.  Even a very small amount can go a long way here.  My email is grovesphotography@yahoo.com.au 

Warmest regards,

Island Paradise.

The view from our bungalow.

A young girl and her sister - homeless children who live on the riverside.

A homeless child who lives with her mother and sister on the riverside

Phone (in Cambodia):  092 442 669  (outside Cambodia)  855 92 442 669

Email:   grovesphotography@yahoo.com.au

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