What a wonder day of celebration at the SCAO center. We welcomed the Khmer New Year with food, song, friendship and sharing. The children played games, enjoyed the meals prepared by the volunteers, and invited guests and parents joined in the festivities.

As you can see by the posted photos, fun was the order of the day.

For those interested in knowing more about our Cambodian culture, here is a cultural history of our New Year celebration.

What is Cambodian New Year ?

Khmer New Year is the greatest traditional festival and national holiday. Khmer New Year begins on April 13th or 14th, depending on the ancient horoscope, “MohaSangkran”. The majority of the Khmer populations are farmers. Farmers reap and harvest their crops from the rice fields all year long, except during April. In April, there is no rain and it is very hot. Therefore, the farmers rest from working in the rice fields and celebrate the New Year.

The first day of New Year is called “Moha Sangkran,” meaning “welcoming their new angels.” This year is the year of the Rooster (Mon), and Moha Sangkran of the New Year will begin on April 13th. The leader of Angels is named KimiteaTevi. Khmer people clean and decorate their homes and prepare fruits and drinks to welcome their New Angels. They believe that any angel who comes to their homes will stay with them and take care of their family for that whole year.

The second day of New Year is called “Wanabot,” meaning “to offer gifts to the parents, grandparents and elders.” The third day is called “Leung Sakk;” that means “the year starts to be counted up from this day.” The last ceremony is called “Pithi Srang Preah”, when elders, parents or grandparents to apologize for any mistake they have done. Khmer New Year is not just a great traditional festival. It is also a generation passing on traditions.

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It’s always good when we have something to celebrate and share with our supporters.

The expanded building project has been completed and we now have more room to house, educate and care for the children. This is indeed a great celebration, particularly after the recent floods that forced us to evacuate our facilities. But with the sun and dry weather, SCAO has rebounded thanks to the generosity of our contributors and the hard work of our community.

The Children of SCAO

SCAO linked this inaugural ceremony with a combined celebration and information session, inviting relatives of our children, the poor families in the neighborhood and our cherished volunteers. It was a warm-hearted event in which the SCAO philosophy of the well-being and education of disadvantaged children was a main focus. Additionally, families and parents got to directly experience the purposes and functioning of SCAO, its mission and its vision.

The pictures posted of this event show the energy and excitement on the children’s faces and the pure joy of being part of the SCAO community. All adults — parents, relatives, local community and volunteers — participated in making the inauguration a great success. Sharing food, exchanging stories, and the overall camaraderie and friendship reinforces to our reputation as a caring and loving organization.

The Men and Volunteers of SCAO

SCAO is always looking and finding ways to improve the lives of our children under our care. It is equally important for our contributors to see their donations at work to house, educate, care and help the children become productive members of our community. It is our hope and prayer that our children grow up and give back to other Cambodians in need. Brick by brick, book by book, this is the way we will help rebuild our country and its spirit.

A Big Hug to Our Generous Donors

Because donations directly benefit all the children, we want to thank our recent group of generous donors. A special thanks goes to a group of kind people who randomly found our website. They were so impressed by the work we were doing and the quality of our wonderful site, they made a generous donation. Another donor from Toronto, Canada who has taken us under his wing has just made his second bighearted donation.

The Women of SCAO

Thanks to donations from people like you, we have been able to expand SCAO. For example, we recently started offering sewing classes for disadvantaged children from the community.

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There’s a lot of great news coming from  SCAO, and we wanted to share a few of the positive and promising updates we’ve received. In addition to building new dormitories and enhancing some of the educational opportunities, SCAO has been busy at work growing their own vegetable garden and helping their new volunteers adapt.

We are proud of our progress since the floods have receded. The children have returned to the Center and we are rebuilding, growing and furthering our children’s welfare and education. Here are just a few exciting current developments at the Center:

• New Dormitory Addition: Construction to enlarge the dormitory has started under the direction of contractor Mr. Sorn (brother-in-law of Mr. Samith), who came to lend his skills and support from the northern remote Preah Vihear province.
• Vocational Training Sponsored by SCAO: Sey Ha has done something no adult or technician could do. He repaired my motorbike with a few adjustments to the engine that he learned from his vocational training sponsored by SCAO.
• Sewing Project Selling Goods: Our sewing project continues to be productive and rewarding. Items created and sown by the students can be purchased at the Center, such as wallets, bags and shirts.
• Computer Learning Project: Ngorl is taking SCAO sponsored daily computer classes. We have plans of starting a computer learning project at the Center that he will coordinate and help run.
• Maori/Kiwi Culture Meets Khmer Culture: Amy and Summer are two volunteers from New Zealand who lived at the center for 2 months — teaching, supporting, and caring for all the kids with heart, mind and soul!!!! Thank you!!!!

• Garden Fresh: A small vegetable garden including Lemongrass was planted and is now cared for by the children.
• Generous Donor Aids Education: Thanks to a generous donor’s contribution, a motorbike can now be purchased and mainly used by our students, Hom and Srey Lad, to attend their daily University and the English intensive training courses, respectively.

We need your help:

SCAO is constantly working hard to improve the lives of the children under our care so they can realize a better life. Your donations a big part of our Center’s success and are not only very welcomed and needed, but much appreciated by the children and the Samith family. Please visit our donations page for more info on how you can help.

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