Wollundry Rotary + RAWCS = Serving Humanity
“...it takes a while to get your head around the poverty, but the thing that strikes you is how happy the Cambodians are and their gratitude for the smallest assistance..." Rtn Travis Downie 2016.
Congratulations to the Rotarians of Wollundry Wagga Wagga for their work serving humanity in very poor localities of Cambodia. This project demonstrates how commitment + Dedication and Hard work x use of grants + RAWCS = improved facilities + housing + education. A Winning Formula.
Over the last 5 years the community of Wagga Wagga, led by members of Wagga-based charity, HELP Cambodia (a not for profit registered ACNC charity established in 2015 fundraising and supporting various poor communities in Cambodia), have funded the building of a number of schools, housing blocks and medical centres in impoverished communities of Cambodia.
One of those communities is in Steung Mean Chey village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh where the Development for Community Centre (DCC) has been established by the work of one man, Bophal Choun, following his dream of providing supplementary education and community support to families in his community. Bophal currently supports over 90 students at the DCC with a much greater number of children being turned away due to lack of space and resources.The current focus, managed by the Rotary Club of Wollundry Wagga Wagga through their sponsored RAWCS project is to build a new school/community centre, fund the running of the centre in the short term and ultimately help the DCC become self sustaining. Construction of the new centre commenced in early April. To donate to this RAWCS project click here.
Read More of the story about this great project...
HELP has been supporting the DCC since 2012 with small one-off donations and in 2016 established a child sponsorship program which funds the running costs of the centre.
In 2015 Wollundry Rotary Club and HELP secured a Rotary D9700 Matching Grant of $9,000 to provide 15 computers plus a year of internet access to the organisation. DCC classes include English and IT skills that are not included in the government school curriculum. The new computers will provide great benefit to both students and community.
HELP Cambodia takes a group to Cambodia for philanthropic work at least once annually. In 2016, Travis Downie (Wollundry Rotarian, member of the HELP Cambodia committee and Deputy Manager of the RAWCS project) participated for the first time and his comments summed up the sentiments of the group:
“...it takes a while to get your head around the poverty, but the thing that strikes you is how happy the Cambodians are and their gratitude for the smallest assistance. Aussie dollars go a long way here. It doesn’t take much to make a huge difference. I’m going home to spread the word, and I’ll be going back to Cambodia. RAWCS supporting the DCC will really help us achieve our goals in growing and supporting this desperately poor community. It’s an awesome example of Rotary doing great work both locally and internationally.”
We understand that Wollundry Rotary is keen to celebrate it and District 9700 being granted this RAWCS project; and are planning a dinner for early September 2017 to inform the Rotary community of the project, how they can contribute, to raise a few dollars and to enjoy some fellowship. Watch out for details.
For more information about the work being done by HELP Cambodia see www.helpcambodia.com.au.
To donate to this RAWCS project use this link: