The Americans celebrate their traditional Thanksgiving ceremony for four days starting from November 27 to December 01, every year. In the United States, Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and sharing. People gather with family and friends on the fourth Thursday in November to enjoy a traditional meal and to give thanks for life’s many blessings. Even if family members live far apart they will try to come together for a family reunion at Thanksgiving. During the Thanksgiving Day, civic groups and charitable organizations offer traditional Thanksgiving meals to people in need, particularly the homeless. As for communities, they take up food drives for needy families during the holiday. Seeing that this kind of tradition is very good, during this Thanksgiving observance, Khmer Association for Development excerpted a news article from VOA Learning English Program to explain to the Access students about the essence of the Thanksgiving and also as part of its English Access Microscholarship Program. Mr. Meas Chandeth an executive director and also a teacher of the Access Program was very impressed by this Thanksgiving because it does not only reunite the family members, but also share meals with the needy people or families. So he decided to transform that ceremony into something else for the sake of the most vulnerable children in local Cambodian communities. Afterward, he discussed this with his students and asked them to raise money to help the most vulnerable children. After discussion, all the Access students made up their own mind to do the money-raising at Chambok high school. Mr. Phech Ponleu, the head of Community Youth Council of Khmer Association for Development together with three other leaders prepared some administrative documents to be submitted to the Chambok high school principal and to be distributed to the students in order for them to be aware of their purposes and activities. When talking about the money-raising in his school, the school principal denied it in light of a reason that he was afraid there would be a reaction from the students’ parents or guardians badly affecting the school reputation. Upon hearing that they felt disappointed and depressed, so they came to the class and explored another way to do the money-raising. When reporting this failure to the executive director, he told them not to feel like this and even said that “this is just a beginning point for their socialization and there will be a long way to go for their future life”. Then he suggested finding the exit from this matter. After discussion again, the Access students chose to solicit money in some of villages in their communes. At first, they compiled some permission letters submitted to the commune and village chiefs. They also had a very big problem to size a free time to work on this because at the end of November and in early December of 2014 they were stuck with their public school exams, so they were really pressed for their time for local fund-raising for charity. All the Access students were divided into two groups, the first one with 13 members and the second one with 15 members. Two other students who are not involved in Access Program volunteered to work on this charity as well. The two groups travelled to different eight villages such as Samraong Tong Leu, Samraong Tong Kandal, Samraong Tong Kraom, Raong Kor, Trakiet, Thmar Baing, Dok Por and Tonle Kantil. They spent one day to do the money-raising, half day with community people and another half day with KAD students. The total amount of money raised was around 730,000 Riels that was used to buy food for four children from two poorest families and school materials for seven children from three other families.

One family with three children living in Ang Tonlop village received food aid from the Community Youth Council. El Voeun, 12, the first brother, El Sreypi, 11, the second sister and El Vid,9, the youngest brother. The first and second children are studying at grade 1 while a little brother is a kindergarten student. Currently, these children live with their mother, a garment factory worker and grandmother, a caregiver. Unfortunately, El Voeun has had HIV since he was 3 years old and his two other young siblings haven’t had their blood test yet. These children have a father whose name is Vart who two years ago was arrested and charged with act of raping and is now in jail. Nowadays, this HIV boy is treated by Kampong Speu provincial referral hospital. Khmer Association for Development supports him with travelling cost to the hospital to get medicine. He has to take medicine twice a day, morning and evening. He was very skinny before he was provided with treatment, but right now he looks much better. The living condition of this family is extremely poor; they neither have farmland nor homestead ground; they have constructed a small barrack on someone’s soil.

Another family with two little girls living in Keo Udom village also obtained food donation from the Council. Soeu Sreytin is 6 years old. She hasn’t been to school yet and has a sister whose name is Soeu Tita, 3. Their father died for 3 years ago of self-hanging suicide and their mother was said to work as a KTV girls, but she has never visited or fed her two daughters. At present, they live with Mrs. Sary, 62, their grandmother and Mr. Chea Sokmu, their uncle, a garment factory worker. The grandmother stays home to look after them and she does nothing. From her birth, she has had two sorts of chronic diseases, an open heart and dumbness. Nowadays, she receives every three-month health care from Calmet hospital, Phnom Penh free of charge, but traveling cost supported by Khmer Association for Development. She has to take medicine for three times per day. Her condition differs from day to day and sometimes she has high temperature. Her father died without knowledge of any reason since she was four years old. Due to family economic hardship, her mother later on left home in order to make money to feed the children and even sent some money to the family for the first one or two months, but later, she wasn’t heard and seen and has never sent any money at all. Recently, she has been heard to suffer from a traffic accident, but none of the family members has visited her due to the lack of traveling cost.

Mrs. Sary added that nowadays, she has still had two other grandchildren whose parents were divorced and went to work abroad. She has never heard from them and they have never sent any money to feed their children. So she has four grandchildren in total under her care. She could make money of 60,000 riels per week to buy food for them. She doesn’t have a rice paddy, but she has a homestead land on which a barrack has been constructed. According to the observation of the working team of youth, it is indicated that her family living condition is very difficult.

These two families who received food donation were very happy and excited because they have never had it before, so this was just the first time for them.

Aside from food assistance, the community youth teams also donated some school materials to seven other children living in Trakiet village. Three children whose father died from a traffic accident and have been abandoned by their mother are currently cared for by Khmer Association for Development. They still live with their relatives such as grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins, but they are supplied with food, clothes, shoes, school materials, bicycles and so on by Khmer Association for Development. As for four other children, they still have parents, but they work as construction workers and live in very poor condition. They always go to the construction sites in other areas and leave their children at home without warm care. Nobody cares about their education, health care, food, clothes, hygiene, security and safety, etc. They face the lack of nutrition, morality education, motivation, warm care, schooling and health care.

Currently, Khmer Association for Development (KAD) has secured a grant funding from the U.S. Embassy to Cambodia to support the English Access Microscholarship Program that is being implemented in Trakiet village, Trapaing Kong commune, Samraong Tong district, Kampong Speu province and that focuses on English instruction. In addition, the Access students are required to participate in other activities such as community services, enhancement workshops, study tours, cultural exchanges, etc. They would be trained to have a strong courage, to be a good citizen, to assist others who encounter life hardship and on how to socialize in every social action. For now, the program has consisted of 26 students with equal gender, 13 girls and 13 boys of similar ages and levels of education. For three month since its inception in October – December 2014, there have been a lot of community services and enhancement workshops being organized.

All the Access students who were involved in the money-raising activity were very glad because they thought it could help the most vulnerable children out of misery and wanted it happen again and again. The villagers also donated their little money to this kind of charity with happy faces and even applauded them for their great initiatives to help the poorest children. According to this time of experiment on them, they could be highly valued to perform their work successfully with enough capacity and courage, a great mentality and commitment.