India.

I will be going to India instead of Cambodia this December as there is a slight change of plans, that i will be going on a pilgrimage to India to meet a spiritual guru. Cambodia is scheduled for June 2010 after my wedding and we have decided to incorporate the trip into our honeymoon. 


However, a friend of mine is going to Cambodia in Dec with a group on a missionary and he has kindly offered to bring some items over for the kids.


Googling about India made me realized that India like Cambodia is also a very poor nation with many people living in slums. 

So i have decided to bring some items along to India for these kids as well.


Currently, i've collected quite an amount of stuff including clothes, school bags and stuffed toys.
Latest collection items donated by Lorraine, a friend from my french class a long time ago!
She was really helpful in the collection and even hooked me up with an auntie who donated even more stuff. I was really touched when this auntie hugged me suddenly and told me that she wanted to join me in helping these children when she retires. I didn't realize that one can have that kind of connection with a random stranger on the first meeting, and that really inspired me to go on helping these children and also to get people who are interested in this cause going.

i will continue to go around collecting stuff as soon as i dispatch some stuff off for Cambodia and India in Dec, if you have kindly offered to donate some stuff, i will get in touch with you in Dec for pick up.

Following are the items that we are still hoping to collect: 
1. 50 toothbrushes
2. 50 toothpastes
3. 50 bars of soap
4. 50 pairs of white school shoes (cloth type)
5. 30 boxes of crayons/colouring pencils
6. 30 colouring books/childrens' activity books/to learn ABC & numbers/or self made learning materials
7. Story books for children of any kind in English
8. 20 plastic water bottles
9. Pencils & erasers
10. Toys of any kind (e.g. jigsaws, dolls, soft toys, figurines etc.) preferably not too dirty or old, im sure the children would be happy to receive some of these.



Thanks everyone for your help and contribution! :)

Collection Updates!

A BIG THANK YOU to those of you who have donated stuff or have contacted me because you want to contribute something to these kids at the orphanage!...
From now till Dec, i will probably be arranging to collect the items from you so appreciate if you can hold the items until scheduled collection day.
So far, these were collected...
the kids will really be happy to receive these very clean and new stuffed toys...

And misc items for the girls :)
Thanks Pam for your contribution!
I appreciate it very much.
We have decided to just continue our collection as many items as possible as Dave has kindly volunteered to store the stuff in his warehouse until our trip.. 
So following are the items that you hope you still can contribute: 
1. 50 toothbrushes
2. 50 toothpastes
3. 50 bars of soap
4. Any t-shirts of Small/Medium size (preferably not too old & tattered) or children's clothings (aged 4-12 yrs)
5. 50 pairs of white school shoes (cloth type)
6. 30 boxes of crayons/colouring pencils
7. 30 colouring books/childrens' activity books/to learn ABC & numbers/or self made learning materials
8. Story books for children of any kind in English
9. 20 plastic water bottles
10. 50 pencils & erasers
11. Toys of any kind (e.g. jigsaws, dolls, soft toys, figurines etc.) preferably not too dirty or old, im sure the children would be happy to receive some of these.

Siem Reap Trip Quarter 1 of 2010

We will be making a trip up to Siem Reap to visit the Orphans in the first quarter of 2010, date yet to be confirmed.

For this trip, we aim to collect the following due to our weight restriction for now.

Items we hope you can contribute:-
1. 50 toothbrushes
2. 50 toothpastes
3. 50 bars of soap
4. Any t-shirts of Small/Medium size (preferably not too old & tattered) or children's clothings (aged 4-12 yrs)
5. 50 pairs of white school shoes (cloth type)
6. 30 boxes of crayons/colouring pencils
7. 30 colouring books/childrens' activity books/to learn ABC & numbers/or self made learning materials
8. Story books for children of any kind in English
9. 20 plastic water bottles
10. 50 pencils & erasers
11. Toys of any kind (e.g. jigsaws, dolls, soft toys, figurines etc.) preferably not too dirty or old, im sure the children would be happy to receive some of these.

Do let me know which items you will be interested to contribute. We hope to achieve more than what we have targeted so that we can bring more items and deliver them over to another orphanage in Siem Reap if hopefully some friends decide to join us on the trip! :) INTENT.

Thank You!
You are going to make a difference to the lives of these innocent young children.
Your kindness is very much appreciated! :-)

Do forward this to anyone of your friends and anyone who you think maybe interested to contribute in someway or another. Thank You!

Project ToothBrush- A New Beginning.

A holiday that turned into a purpose.

A reason for our existence.

These children need our help.

They need an opportunity a hope for a better future for themselves.

Poverty is not a choice for them under their circumstances.

What Project ToothBrush aims to do is to provide basic infrastructure for the children who are either orphans, disable, street kids, vagabonds, or children from indigent families to grow into people who can sustain themselves in the future through our little means like providing them with the basic necessities to get through everyday life. i.e. tooth brushes, toothpaste, soaps, stationary etc. etc.

Currently, we aim to make our contributions to the Assisting Cambodian Orphans and The disabled Organisation (ACODO) is a Cambodian non-governmental organization assisting the orphans, the disabled and indigent families through providing Life-and-Vocational Skills and Indigent Family Support. ACODO was registered as a charity in Phnom Penh on the 14 of July, 2008.

A little help a day can actually bring these children a long way...

Pictures from our trip in May 2009...

The Calling.


This was one of the most emotional moments for me, as it really tugged at my heartstrings, seeing the children live in such poverty, where eating meat is a luxury.

They were 9 & 10 but looked like 6, they were of skin and bones and undernourished. They were dirty and smelt.

When we asked them what they wanted, they only said rice.

It made me reflect upon the life that we have here, where the want for rice is already long forgotten.



It made me reflect on how much that 17USD could buy for these children that can make their lives better. 6 kgs of rice, biscuits, 6 toothbrushes and 12 toothpastes. And gave me insight on how my one handbag can help change the lives of these unfortunate children or even help them build a shelter costing only 3000USD.

Poverty is not a choice in their land.

They were really very thankful, with the children coming up to us with thank yous.

The word “Thank You”, I had never felt that kind of sincerity behind those 2 words until now.

I was teaching this little girl “ABC..” and through that I saw how much hunger they had to learn, and that kind of perseverance they had to learn as she wrote in the mud.

In such a place, the teachers themselves were finding it hard to survive and when we asked why weren’t the children in school, they told us that because the teacher isn’t free today, as the teachers there doubled up as tut tut drivers and guides as that gave them more income than being a teacher.

I wonder what goes on in the childrens’ minds… but it certainly isn’t too optimistic.

At such a young age when there should be joy & life, there were none in their eyes.

Their eyes have already long lost their light…



I broke down many times after the visit just thinking about the children and how dim their futures were...


and i just knew that this "incidental" visit to them happened for a reason and this is really my opportunity to make a difference to humanity and to truly feel what compassion for humanity is like. 


So what are you searching for in your life?

An Epiphany.

Epiphany
defined: a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

I had an epiphany on the 1st August 2009 when i was in a place where i picked up a new toothbrush provided by the hotel's service.

I felt a strong sense of desire to help these children in Cambodia build a better life for themselves.

That was when i decided to take responsibility and action.