Roteang Orphanage nannies and babies.

The Cambodian government had announced that only Government orphanages would be permitted to place children, pending an application and inspection process. On Thursday, April 5, 2001, H.E. Ith Sam Heng, Minister of Social Action in Cambodia arrived in uniform at Roteang Orphanage with about 5 bodyguards, for an inspection set up by Veasna Dr Ly conducted the tour and it was a smash hit. Ith Sam Heng inspected the entire orphanage. The nannies were all in their new Roteang t-shirts. All the toys were out, the kids all well dressed, and the place was spotless. He was very impressed with the facility and the quality of care. Dr Ly was terrific explaining what goes on. The newest addition to the orphanage several bulletin boards with pictures of all the nannies and staff, dos and don'ts from Dr. Ly's hygiene classes, and many photos of Om Kim Sir's farming project. We have photos of all the families who are involved , with their kids, 76 in all. Ith Sam Heng was very interested in seeing the farm outreach, and we walked out in the fields where we now have 24 families employed, with vegetables sprouting everywhere.

After the tour of the farm, we returned to the Orphanage. Ith Sam Heng said that he was extremely satisfied, and all we needed to do was to send a list of our children, and send updates monthly, thru Veasna. We were approved to be a placement Orphanage, ON THE SPOT!! We can now put Roteang Orphanage on the children's documents. Roteang Orphanage is now the first certified NGO orphanage. Ith Sam Heng said that he wants us to be identified as Roteang Orphanage / Sharing Foundation, so the year plus that has gone into planning and building and equipping and organizing, and the last few months of getting systems into place have paid off!!

To bring you right up to the minute, we have 48 children in residence at Roteang Orphanage. including a number of
children who are not adoptable because of medical conditions and the rest healthy children. So we are very much looking forward to having our first residents discharged to homes all over the USA very soon.

We have just launched a major new initiative in Roteang, home of the foundation's new orphanage and the village of about 600 families about 45 minutes from Phnom Penh. The project is a cooperative farming project.

We are also looking at developing a skills training and health education program for teen-age girls in the community. That effort will to involve teaching sewing, cooking, child care, first aid and family planning. Industrious students will leave the program with their own sewing machine and enough supplies to help them make a start in their own home business. That project's future will be dependent on securing funding. There are many opportunities to help the children of Cambodia, and with your continued support, we are slowly making a difference.