Thanksgiving Weekend Adventures

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Dray Season! 

The rainy season is finally over, and we’ve entered that “sweet spot” of cooler, dry weather, it’s wonderful! Lukas and I were commenting yesterday that we have more energy and feel more productive, and it’s probably due to the wonderful weather!

We kicked off our holiday season by celebrating Thanksgiving dinner with a few American families who are living in Kampot. The holidays look a bit different in the tropics, but we’re celebrating just the same. Last weekend we set up our plastic Christmas tree, planted some vegetables in our little garden patch, and went kitesurfing at the beach. 

We’re excited about the new “Lunch and Tutoring” program that started this month. The aim of the project is to provide a healthy  lunch and academic support for low income and at risk children. About eight months ago we asked our local church if there was anything they needed, we were thinking they would ask for new chairs, an air conditioner, a kitchen, or something like that. They surprised us by saying that they really wanted to restart their “Lunch and Tutoring” program. During Covid they’d lost their support for the program, and they were wondering if Warm Blankets might consider helping the church with the project. They presented us with a modest budget and we passed it on to some donors, and within eight weeks we had raised the first 50% of the budget for the year.

Lunch and Tutoring Program

Due to the corruption in the public schools, many children from poor families don’t succeed in school and drop out around the 5th grade. This happens because they can’t afford to pay bribes, and when they don’t pay the bribes then they don’t get equal access to the learning materials or the teacher’s support. I know that this sounds crazy to a western reader, but I assure you it is true! Just last week I talked with a Cambodian friend, and when she drops off her kindergartener she must buy the little cakes that the teacher is selling, and if she doesn’t then her daughter won’t get fair treatment or support during class. Also, there are 45 children in her daughter’s kindergarten class, and only the one teacher. 

At the “Lunch and Tutoring” program, the children come to the church Monday to Friday from 11am-1pm. First they eat a hot lunch and then have one hour of tutoring, all for free. They also have some time to play volleyball and other games. Lukas, Benjamin and I visited the project a few weeks ago and it was inspiring to see how much help a little bit of donor money can provide. I spoke with the tutor for the 1st-3rd grade children’s class, and she told me that nine out of ten children in her group cannot even read or write their letters. There are currently 35 eager children  attending the program.

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to Tinu and Silvia Stähli for helping spread the word and fundraise for the first six months of support for this amazing project. 

Last week Lukas made a maintenance visit to the Stoeng Keo Elementary School where we drilled a well and installed a tank and a filter system last year. The filter was still in good working order, but Lukas noticed some strange coloring on the pipes and filter, so now he’s in the process of testing the water to make sure it’s safe. 

Merry Christmas from the Grafs

We’re also preparing for a muli-day trip to Takeo Province to install filters in several schools and churches. Lukas is working on some training materials we can use to better teach Cambodians to instal and maintain water filters. Due to the low literacy rate in Cambodia, he’s trying to make the material as visual as possible. He’s using his computer animation skills to build some of the  graphics, and doing a beautiful job, I’ll post a few photos from the document when it’s finished.

Well that’s about it for us,

We wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a good start in the new year.  We’ll talk to you in January 2025! Be blessed!

Here’s the photo link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/GG23npE3ydJ9Rbb38