By Tammy Durand | Founder
Hi friends,
It has been a big few months at ABCs and Rice. Some really beautiful progress, some hard realities, and as always, a whole lot of love holding it all together.
What’s happening at the border
I want to start with the serious stuff. Just a few hundred kilometers from us, things have gotten bad. Violence along the Thailand and Cambodia border has already taken lives and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
We’re safe here in Siem Reap, but it’s close enough to feel heavy. And while the fighting hasn’t reached us, the people have. Families are crossing into our area with nothing. Just fear, exhaustion, and the clothes on their backs.
We’ve teamed up with nearby pagodas and are doing what we can. Offering food, clothes, a safe place for the kids to play or learn, medical checks and wound care if needed. Anything to make things a little less awful. We don’t know how many more will come, but we’ll keep showing up. That’s what we do.
Big news: we’re building a free daycare
This might be the thing I’m most excited to share. We’ve officially broken ground on Patti’s, our new free daycare for single parents.
It’s more than childcare. Patti’s will include job readiness support, work clothes, parenting classes, and daily care for the tiniest members of our ABCs community who are not quite old enough for school.
It’s joyful. It’s empowering. And it’s something we’ve dreamed of for a long time.
We’re hoping to open before October, and I can’t wait to show you more as it comes together.
What else we’ve been up to
All but one classroom floor is finally fixed. No more saggy vinyl pretending to be strong. The kids are loving the fresh, solid spaces.
Matt is back. He’s overseeing some of the daycare construction as well as repairs at the clinic, and we also had an amazing crew of French medical volunteers and our lovely Nurse Nina running health checks and hygiene classes.
Sharon, Leith, Camille and Lindsey also returned, helping with food distribution, teacher training and the library, and just bringing their usual light and energy back into the place.
We also had two very generous families visit from Australia, arms full of donated goods. Clothes, computers, lights, you name it. Their kindness just kept going.
They sponsored a field trip for two of our classes, who first learned about Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake and created presentations to share what they discovered. Then came the big day.
We had a pagoda tour, a boat ride, a visit to the floating village, lunch and ice cream, snake holding, crocodile feeding, and peaceful time at a lotus farm. So many firsts for these children who have rarely if ever left their village. It was an incredible day.
To top it all off, they even helped expand our raised vegetable garden with more beds and new plants.
A little Canadian love
I also got the chance to go back to Canada for some much needed family time. It was grounding and humbling. Our board and the Sudbury community, you know who you are, showed up big time with support and encouragement. I can’t tell you how much that meant.
We’ve still got a long road ahead, but I really believe in what we’re building here. And I know we couldn’t do any of it without you. Thank you, truly, for standing with us.
With love,
Tammy
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