Clothes Drive for Boeung Kak 2 Village Fire Victims
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We are looking for donations of clothing for the people who lost everything in Monday nights fire in Tuol Kork District's Boeung Kak 2 Commune. 178 homes and 31 dormitory rooms have been destroyed, leaving hundreds of people homeless. Food and tents are currently being distributed by local authorities and the Cambodian Red Cross. Most of the victims only have the clothes they were wearing when the fire began.
If you have any clothes that you no longer need, please deliver them to either the Lazy Gecko Cafe at 23b Street 93 (Lakeside) or the Lazy Gecko Cafe at 1D Street 258 (near OK Guesthouse). We will be arranging distribution of the clothes as soon as we have a reasonable amount. If you would like to volunteer to assist please let us know.
WE DO NOT WANT CASH DONATIONS.
Please pass this invitation on to anyone you know who resides in Phnom Penh. Childrens clothes especially required. If you are a business owner and can be an additional drop off point, please post your information also.
worthy of a "sticky" - Its at the top of the list for a while
sent you a private message - looking forward to your reply!
Link to more photographs added soon.
Nick - your photos are incredible...
Incredible, cant tell the difference between there and Detroit
Thanks to everyone who has donated clothes so far. We delivered more than 350kg of clothes yesterday. It filled an entire jeep. After speaking to the people, they have requested school uniforms for the kids so they can go back to school. Apparently they can't go if they aren't in uniform. After a few enquiries, we have discovered that we can buy 100 secondhand uniforms for $125. We currently have one person willing to donate 50% of this amount. I know we said we do not want cash donations but I believe we can make an exception. By the way - 257 families have lost everything. No-one can tell us exactly how many children this includes however the average amount of kids per family seems to be 4. That's about 1000 kids give or take. Happy to provide receipts and photos of purchased clothes. If anyone else wants to help out please let us know. Still need more clothes & shoes - especially mens cotton shirts. Anything at this point is appreciated. Toys and underwear also required. But so is everything so anything you have lying around the house would be awesome:) Exercise books, pencils, pens, toothbrushes, soap etc etc etc...
But once again - thanks to everyone who has already been so generous.
Barb
Is the collecting going on? Collecting point Lazy Gecko? How about the money for uniforms: to whom can i give? i can help out with handing over this weekend - let me know about any meeting (point), please. thanks for the spontaneous grat work you have done! Eva
hey barb! been trying to reach you!....tried facebook, and getting your number off other people but havent had any response! one of my dear friends and family lost EVERYTHING in the fire. i told them about the clothes drive and shes been asking how to reach you....i told her to go to the gecko, but i think she wants to call and speak to you first if thats ok...please email a number where she can find out more about getting some clothes for her and her family! thanks a million [dot] [dot] [dot] hoefinger [at] hotmail [dot] com
cheers,
heidi
Good News Barb - and a big pat on the back to you and Ash and the crew at the Lazy Gecko for kicking this off.
Nick - great shots mate but deleted a few so people can get to the message that's important - clothes and basic necessities for those affected by the fire.
Barb
any support from the NGO community in Cambodia. Surely there must be one organisation that can help out with "emergency funds / basic necessities?
Also - Tooth paste etc - Proctor & Gamble - they must be able to throw some toiletries at the needy?
anyone with contacts at P&G?
Not going to ask what the national / local govt is doing to help...
I just read this. Still in need of clothes etc. Anything specific that has come up since the last post?
thanks
how did the clothes drive go - feedback would be great
I'd like to thank everyone for their support. We have delivered well over five hundred kgs of clothes over the last few weeks. (That's an overloaded jeep and four tuk-tuks packed to the rafters.) They were first sorted into sizes and then delivered to the pagoda where the village chief in conjunction with the Red Cross arranged the distribution. Distribution was done via the list of 257 families and working out how many people were in each family. They haven't gotten to the bottom of the list yet however most people have already received something. We still have donations trickling in and they will keep working their way down the list. The clothes drive was mentioned on a local radio station which resulted in extra donations. A special mention that should be made is the students from the University of Cambodia who got together and organised donations from their classmates as well as themselves. Their donation filled a tuk-tuk! Students from Home of English also donated much needed smaller sized clothing. Two lovely Phnom Penh expats pooled together and bought $200 worth of second-hand uniforms which got more than 150 kids back to school. Thanks everyone for your support. As long as they keep coming in, we'll keep delivering the clothes.
Barb:)
Heidi - you should direct your friend to the village chief. We are not handing out clothes from the Lazy Gecko.
Stop giving them clothes and give them luggage, so they can move. Obviously this slum is in the way of some other rich Bongs development. They will just get burnt out at a later date for progress.. There are a thousand and one stories in the naked city and this is just one of them.
Thanks for your generosity Warhorse. It's greatly appreciated. i'm sure the luggage will come in handy to pack the ashes of their former lives.
You better wake up and get off the all high and mighty perch you are on in whatever NGO you work for. They didn't have a life and don't have one now. As long as people like you support the corruption of this country, by not being able to account for where all your doner's money is going because some Cambodian is in charge of it and you have to get rid of to justify your high rent apartment and Landcruiser. Get back on the plane and go back to whatever western do gooder country you came from. And if you are an American, you should be ashamed of yourself for not doing something for your own countrymen first. Obviously doesn't pay well enough in your home country. Bring UNTAC back and the troops, that is the only thing they understand "superior firepower".
contemplating a sin bin modification to the forums -
just to give some people a little more time to think about things.
fyi warhose this is not ngo driven - it was simply some people getting together to help out other human beings who had lost everything including the shirts off their backs
supporting corruption ? helping other human beings? i think you are a little confused sir
I dont care if it is or is not NGO driven. These people better wake up and smell the coffee in this place as it is not far from imploding into a real problem. You can give them anything you want and all it is seen as a weakness on the westerners part and then they put their hands out every time they want something. Westerners are nothing more than walking ATM machines in most of these countries in this part of the world, and I have done all the dirty work for these do gooders in a lot of them when it goes pear shaped and they are all trying to get to the airport and get out with clothes on their backs. Then where were the people they helped? They were the same ones chasing them to the airport. The big questions they should ask is where were their fellow Khmer's? And as far as confused, you better step back and smell the coffee yourself son.
Warhorse, just what sort of a sad bastard are you?. Whatever chips you have on your shoulder about NGO's , cars or whatever matters not in this situation; these kind people throughout this thread gave unsolicited assistance to those in need.
And that is that.
If you want to help, by all means do so. If you dont , then dont but please leave those who are trying to help in peace.
(note this is a highly modified post)