Life at Save Children in Asia (SCAO) is slowly evolving. The children are enjoying many activities that the center now offers thanks to your generous donations. We now have a computer room a soccer team and official school uniforms. Our new location conveniently located next to the, Khmer Culture Center.

We are still looking for volunteers to participate in the program and reside on campus and assist us with the many tasks that are needed at the center. Please feel free to contact us anytime or you can follow us on Facebook or Twitter for more news on the SCAO

Photos by Alice McGuckian

The SCAO cookbook will feature pictures of the kids along with images of daily life at SCAO. The cookbook will be available for purchase with 100% the profits going directly towards the NGO organization. Don’t miss out on getting this amazing cookbook! It will bring back a lot of great memories of SCAO!

Follow us on Facebook or on twitter for more information on SCAO activities.

Ecoteer is a unique volunteer agency offering a directory of cheap volunteer work opportunities, jobs abroad and working holidays. Volunteer opportunities are very reasonable. Ecoteer is leading the way in a new type of volunteer work abroad benefiting the volunteer project.

When traveling abroad, most people go to relax, explore new places, or learn about new cultures. However, these stereotypes have been expanding and a lot more people are going abroad to volunteer. It’s a great way to gain valuable experience, and for many, it can be a life changing experience.

Travel website, “Ecoteer,” provides travelers with information about affordable volunteer work abroad. Recently, SCAO has made its debut on the website, which gives it increased visibility for volunteers interested in visiting Cambodia. If you know anyone that may want to volunteer near the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, it’s a terrific opportunity that will be life changing and rewarding.

About SCAO

Save Children in Asia is a not-for-profit home and learning center for Cambodian children. Our organization is comprised of three projects. We have a center which is home to 18 Cambodian kids from disadvantaged backgrounds and two schools, at which teach English to around 550 students a day.

Our schools and center are located 7km and 22km outside Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

The center is run by a local family – the father and director was orphaned during the Khmer Rouge and simply wants the lives of poor children to be different to what he experienced when he was growing up. This passion drove him to open the centre, providing the children that live and learn there the opportunity to escape poverty and isolation and to be cared for and educated for a self sustainable future. Since its creation our organization has developed into a wonderful home environment where children and volunteers live as one big family. We welcome volunteers to live with us at both the centre and the school.

Our two free English schools are for children living in the local areas surrounding the schools. We run classes four times a day (generally two classes at a time) at each school and cater for students with a range of abilities and of all ages.

The classes are taught by Cambodian teachers (who are older kids living at the center) and volunteers from all around the world.

The children are eager to learn from and play with volunteers and each other. Whether it be reading books from our small library, playing a tune on the guitar or folding some origami. We welcome you to be part of a brighter future for Cambodian children and a part of our family. Like a home away from home.

Payment covers living costs, including three meals a day, electricity, water, internet connection and bicycles.

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We are happy to inform you that the SCAO football team is now dressed for success with new uniforms! Volunteer Alice McGuckian’s father made a kind donation that helped us make uniforms for the boys, as well as t-shirts to sell (which will help raise money for the center). You can see pictures of the boys practicing in their uniforms for their first games (which they won) by visiting the SCAO Facebook Page. Way to go, boys!

SCAO volunteers are extremely important for our organization and non-profit organizations not just in Cambodia, but around the globe. They work day-in and day-out to give our kids a better future through education and by being outstanding role models. We are extremely thankful for all of their hard work.

Students who want to volunteer abroad, or are specifically looking for volunteer opportunities in Cambodia, especially during their gap year, have a wonderful opportunity to make a difference by coming to Phnom Penh and working with SCAO. For more information on how to be a SCAO volunteer, visit the Volunteers page of our website. If you cannot come to Phnom Penh as a volunteer, we kindly remind you that we accept monetary donations. Every donation is very much appreciated and will be used to provide SCAO children with access to education materials, food, and shelter. Thank you for all of your support! Take care!

We have a new addition to the family, a puppy called Kin. The rainy season is starting and it’s a refreshing change to the heat. Today we had a great time playing in the rain. But our biggest news is that we have been very busy since October building a second school and it’s almost finished!

The school will give the children of many families access to free English, drama and art classes and provide community education by working with families to improve their living standards. We expect this to have a large, lasting impact on the futures of around 350 children and their families.

On Sunday May 22nd, SCAO invited 127 families from the local area to an opening party for the new school with some of our volunteers.  Accompanied by community leaders from the surrounding villages, we were introduced to the families in the area, when we visited their homes and invited them to the party. The families shared with us their living circumstances, which for many of them are very difficult.

In July we will open the school with a party. At the party SCAO will give these families a bag of rice, some soy sauce and fish sauce to show them the spirit of SCAO. We will also talk to the families about the intentions of SCAO and invite them to join us to learn at the center. We believe that the families in the countryside will talk to each other, encouraging more and more children and families to attend our new school.

So far the school is almost finished and excitement is building. As you can see from the photos, it’s looking fantastic and will be a great learning atmosphere. Before we can open the school we need to finish building it. This means we need funding for some more desks, a gate, some doors, some more tiles for the floor inside and outside the school, another water tank, some fans and whiteboards and other furnishings. If you are able to help us make this happen it will make a huge difference to the future of the many children that SCAO will be able to reach. You can make donations through the website by clicking the donations tab.

We have also recently put new photos on our facebook community page, so be sure have a look at those as well. Sending out lots of good thoughts to all of you. Hope you are all going very well. Keep in touch and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued support. SCAO would couldn’t carry on without it!

On Sunday May 22nd, SCAO invited families from the local area to an opening party for the new school with some of our volunteers.  Accompanied by community leaders from the surrounding villages, we were introduced to the families in the area, when we visited their homes and invited them to the party. The families shared with us their living circumstances, which for many of them are very difficult.

One mother has an incurable disease in her stomach and many children who she cannot afford to send to school. A father with one leg has 7 children to support, so his children sell vegetables picked from the lake at the market during the day. There are many similar stories which remind us why this school will be so important for changing the future prospects of these children.

In July we will open the school with a party. At the party SCAO will give these families a bag of rice, some soy sauce and fish sauce to show the families the spirit of SCAO. We will also talk to the families about the intentions of SCAO and invite them to join us to learn at the centre. We believe that the families in the countryside will talk to each other about the good intentions SCAO has for the community, encouraging more and more children and families to attend our new school.

So far the school is almost finished and excitement is building. As you can see from the photos, it’s looking fantastic and will be a great learning atmosphere. Before we can open the school we need to finish building it. This means we need funding for some more desks, a gate, some doors, some more tiles for the floor inside and outside the school, another water tank, some fans and whiteboards and other furnishings. If you are able to help us make this happen it will make a huge difference to the future of the many children that SCAO will be able to reach. You can make donations through the website by clicking the donations tab.

Thank you for your continued support.

Below is a short video from SCOOP showing the construction of the school and our kids. You may have seen the video a few months ago, but we’re showing it to you again so you can see the progress we have made. Visit the SCOOP Foundation website to learn how you can get involved. They are coming here in July and are welcoming volunteers to join them!

Thank you again for your support! We will be in touch with you again soon!

Visit our Facebook Community Page to view some more photos of recent times at SCAO. We took a trip to Odong mountain and to the national museum. We also celebrated Chon Long and Britta’s (a volunteer) birthdays with lots of singing and dancing.

View our photo gallery on Facebook

There are also some photos of the new school we are currently building to provide education to even more Cambodian children. We are hoping the school will be finished in about a month and a half depending if we have enough funding.

We want to thank you for all the support you have given us this year and to all the volunteers.

We have had a great year at SCAO, thank you for everything.

Please stay in contact and don’t forget to look at our website and Facebook page to keep up with SCAO.

Happy Khmer New Year from everyone at SCAO!

And as you can see in the photo below, the younger students love their computers too.

Educating our children is of the utmost importance. We are extremely thankful for our volunteers who donate books and work as teachers. Check out our students reading and learning about body parts!

We recently updated the S.C.A.O. donations page to make it easier for you to support these wonderful children. Donations are the lifeblood of S.C.A.O. and we appreciate your generosity. Donations made for the “Bricks for S.C.A.O.” initiative will help us build our new school. A $25 dollar donation will buy 5 bricks. All other donations will go directly to the children and will be used to house, feed, and educate them.

Visit the S.C.A.O. Donations page if you would like to make a donation or go to the S.C.A.O. Volunteer page to learn about volunteer opportunities.

Thank you so much for your support! Come back often to learn about the new and exciting projects we are working on!

Our organization is growing and improving day-by-day because of you! We are building a new school at the moment, thanks to a generous donor. We are hoping to finish it by next March, providing we have sufficient funds. And hopefully with the NEW school we can support even more children. There will be 2 classrooms and 6 bedrooms.

We are looking for more volunteers to help finishing the project. So please spread the word. Volunteers and donors are the lifeblood of S.C.A.O. Without the generosity of everyone concerned our amazing progress would not have happened. We have big plans for 2011 and will keep you informed of our progress.

Again, thanking you on behalf of all our children!

Sincerely,

Samith Sith
Director S.C.A.O.