This story will definitely brighten your day

I wanted to share a really heartwarming story from our Cambodia projects that clearly illustrates the profound impact our donor support is having in the lives of some of the poorest families on the planet. There's no way to tell this story in a couple of lines, so I would encourage you to get comfortable and commit a couple of minutes out of your day to read to the end.

While visiting the remote northern province of Oddar Meanchey (OM) during a trip to Cambodia recently, we conducted an emergency food aid program to help some of the really struggling families and one in particular really tugged on our heart strings.

We came across a mum with her four little ones at the end of a really isolated dirt track who were living in absolutely terrible conditions. Separated from her husband, her family lives in a very basic one room dirt floor structure on land owned by someone else. She is able to stay there for free as she tends the land for the owner, but her only source of income was is cutting local grasses and weaving basic roof panels to sell to her neighbours. She gets 25c per panel and I reckon she would struggle to pump out more than five or six per day.

The family's water is drawn from a stagnant pond and her children are forced to eat a bi-product of rice harvesting that is normally fed to livestock. Many families in OM struggle to stay alive, but this is one of the most desperate situations I have seen in recent years.

Well, I'm pleased to say that thanks to the people who came on this latest trip with me and some extra funds raised in the last few weeks, we have been able to provide some much needed support to this wonderful little family. Our in-country director, Pastor Abe, and his team (including some students from our school), have now installed a water tank, water filtration system, provided additional good quality rice and sauces, some tools to make producing the grass panels more productive, mozzie nets and sleeping mats. We have also enrolled three of her children in our school where they will get a first class education and one nutritious meal a day which will really help now and pave the way for a much brighter future. These proud little students also got new uniforms and backpacks as well. Freeing up mum's time at home will hopefully enable her to increase her income too.

We have made a commitment to continue to check in on this family and support them where we can. This is such a great reminder of the power of humanity to transform the lives of people who, through no fault of their own, have found themselves in a terribly helpless and hopeless situation.

If you've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read this encouraging story. I hope it brightens your day as much as it did mine.

We would love for you to consider partnering with us in an array of great projects across two of Cambodia's poorest provinces by making a tax deductible donation today (or any day).