Kitchen of Hope Siem Reap Cambodia

The Kitchen of Hope.

"Once you choose hope, anything is possible"

I came to Siem Reap for just four days, that was four months ago. It often happens like that here, some people say it's the energy from the temples, like a magnet it keeps us from leaving. Some say it's the people, they all have the brightest smiles the instant you smile at them. A smile that shines in their eyes.

The Kitchen of Hope project is a combination of two passions that I been involved with here. Touch A Life, started by Mavis 6 years ago from her home, feeding hungry children has developed into creating over 1200 vegetarian meals a week. Volunteering for Mavis has touched me in a way that nothing else comes close too. This is a common story from volunteers that have the priviledge of working with this amazing woman. The soup kitchen is open for lunch Monday, Wednesday, Friday and on Saturday we start at 7am chopping vegetables and making omelettes for 700 meals. These are then delivered to villages and orphanages. There is nothing more heart breaking than still having 70 children waiting patiently in line and finding that we do not have enough meals to go around.

When I'm not at TAL then I'm helping Moh and his team creating community gardens for the villages. The most recent is at the Cambodian War Remnant Museum just inside Angkor Wat. Planting seeds and watching them grow and they grow fast here with the heat and it being the rainy season. It's the perfect combination.

So began the idea of feeding these children from this area, a lot of the children walk or ride on bikes that are too big for them into Touch A Life for lunch. That is five kms away. In this heat, they navigate the mayhem which is Cambodian traffic. As a mother and grandmother I cannot imagine how a child would do that in our country but for the need of food.

Cambodian War Remnant Museum was the brainchild of Soun, Thom, Silong and later Sosary. In 9 months they have transform an overgrown disused military site, once a killing field, once divided by the Pol Pot Era. Now this site has been transformed into an area of hope for the future. Their Mission: "The War Remnant Museum is more than a museum. It is also a center that provides education/training and support for dozens of at risk people and landmine survivors, many whom are part of families suffering overwhelming hardships. The War Remnant Museum was created so that it might serve as a place of healing for bodies, hearts and minds and an important role in the development of society. We believe that love, support, education and teaching new skills will help secure better opportunities in life."

The passion they have for their people, their courage and their dignity have bought me close to tears. Soun, Thom and Sosary are all amputees. Like my nephew Liam Malone, paralympic champion, they all have limbs missing, they have all lost loved ones at a young age, they are who they are now because they did not give up, they had the courage to change their life course and in changing their course they enable others to follow. I am in awe of these people.

The Kitchen of Hope is being built because I and others believe we can make a huge impact on the lives of these beautiful people. By creating a community kitchen, we create jobs and hope, we not only nourish their bodies but we feed their minds and souls. It is already happening here with Moh and his Community Garden, singing and art classes, mentoring programmes. Watch them grow like the seedlings that we are planting here. Watch them reach for the sky.

This is military land and this would not happen if I did not have the support of the military. I am honored to be the first social enterprise that they have backed and supported with this community kitchen project. After all, these are their people, ex military, ex child soldiers, and their families and all they want is what everyone wants, a chance to live a good life.

This is not just a kitchen, it's hope for a better life.

Your donations will go towards ongoing costs of food, wages and a tuktuk so we can transport the children safely and to collect food from the markets.

"Having Hope will give you Courage"