Lighthouse Orphanage - Phnom Penh - Cambodia

For those of you who do not know of the work done over the last five (5) years by long time District Court Associate Denyse Moxham and the Lighthouse Orhanage, we would like to draw your attention to this.

The Lighouese orphange house about 110 children from only a few years to children in their teens in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Cambodia is of course a very poor country, it's social fabric torn apart only a couple of decades ago by the  Khmer Rouge and now ravaged by AIDS.
Many children forage for a living on the garbage dumps of Phnom Penh.
Some have no parents, others have been abandoned by their parents because they cannot afford to feed them.
These children struggle to simply exists because they have little hope.

In 2005 Denyse Moxham who has been a Judges' Associate for many years went to Phnom Penh to the Lighthouse orphanage for one month as a voilunteer English Teancher, she was shocked and moved by what she saw there.

The Lighthouse sits on a block of ground of less than half an acre on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
In 2005 there were about 50 children of various ages who lived on frames on the bare ground underneath the then one building on the place.
There was a rotting asbestos ceiling above this area and flakes of dust and grime fell down into the children's eyes at night causing eye infections.

The children had nothing. If there was any money available they got some rice to eat and little else. Some days they went hungary.
Denyse noticed that although the children barely existed, they never complained. She decided to do whatever she could to help them.

Since 2005, Denyse has been using her annual holidays to go to Phnom Penh twice a year for about three (3) weeks at a time and also at her own expense, she discovered a Norwegian woman another grandmother like Denyse herself, who similarly moved by the plight of these children.

Using money raised from well wishers including family, friends and judges, associates and staff at the District Court, Denyse has been able to scrape up enough money each year to keep the orphanage functioning and to make some vital improvements. Amoungst other things, she has managed to:

• improve the standards of food, While still below basic by Australian standards, the children at least eat more than once per day. The meals are mainly rice and a few vegetables with tiny scraps of meat or fish to flavour the rice a bit. Some children still show signs of malnutrition.
• install a water tank to collect roof water (to save buying water)

with funds contributed by from Norway:

• to build one two room dormitory for the girls and another for the boys, together with some toilets and some classrooms.
• have electricity connected
• to buy some mattrasses for the children to sleep on and the need for mosquito netting in reducing malaria.
• to employ a local teacher of English and a computer teacher
• to ship to Cambodia and install a number of second hand computers donated by the University of New South Wales
• to have a basic medical check up for the children
• to buy a few clothes for the children including 2 sets of underware for each child
• arrange further education sponsorships at the school for some of the older children
• to further the very basic teaching available within the orphanage.

The lighthouse has various supporters, Apart from Denyse and Eli Thorsen from Norway, there is a school group from Townsville who did a number of days physical work in June this year as well as raising money and a French couple who supplied about $40.00 worth of meat each week.
In addition, backpackers who sometimes bring gifts of necessities such as rive.

This last source of help virtually ceases during the rainy season from May to Ausgust

Depsite all this, keeping the orphanage functioning eah year at even a basic level is an ongoing struggle.

Food prices have risen in Asia significantly over the last few years, apart from very small items, everything in Cambodia is US dollars.
For Denyse and the Lighthouse, situation of near parity between the US and Australian dollar has produced the happy result of offsetting rising costs a bit.
Nethertheless, there are always the numerous and recurring expenses to be met.

To keep going, Denyse would greatly appreciate any charitable assistance, donations in kind or finacncial support where possible to guarantee this orphanage sustainability.