The HVTO Newsletter July, 2024

Summary:
If you have not been following my Facebook feed, you will be amazed at the progress that HVTO has made since our last newsletter was published in 2022 – https://www.hvto.org At that time the world was beginning to reopen from Covid and students who had lost their jobs and moved back with their parents were beginning return to Siem Reap to resume their studies. Tourism, which is the most critical factor to our local economy, has rebounded, but is not yet to pre-Covid levels.

Despite this, Cambodia as a country has continued to make tremendous progress. Cambodia-Statistics & Facts | Statista GDP, life expectancy, infant mortality, access to clean water, access to electricity, as well as a variety of other metrics have all continued to move in the right direction. Of note is a national birth rate that has dropped to only marginally above replacement. Much of this progress is in no small measure due to the programs of organizations like HVTO and our partner A Drop of Life (ADOL). However, relative to its neighbors, Cambodia still lags in educational results. PISA-D national report for Cambodia.pdf (oecd.org) As this newsletter will show, HVTO is directly addressing this issue, not only in the Siem Reap area, but throughout the country.
HVTO has programs that augment our signature education and clean water initiatives. These include composting toilets, Bio-Sand water filters, house construction, and food aid. While sponsorship numbers lagged during Covid and the accompanying loss of tourists, ADOL support has remained constant, and this has seen us make tremendous strides in clean water related projects. Through these, HVTO’s positive impact on the quality of life of our people continues to grow. The table below summarizes the status of the major HVTO programs.

Program	Inception	Projects	Beneficiaries
Education (Sponsorships)	Jan-08	493	493
Water Well	Jan-08	8938	42,759
Housing	Jan-16	38	152
Toilets	Oct-19	1025	5,029
Food Aid	Jun-20	952	4,552
Bio-Sand Filters	Nov-20	3315	20,983
Total		14,761	73,968

Summary of HVTO programs as of July, 2024

Organization and Facilities:
A landmark event occurred this year when Viking travelers, Frank and Donna Youdelman, visited HVTO and were moved to make a very generous donation. The donation itself came from the R. Walter Thibideau Trust, over which Frank has sole discretionary authority. Both Frank and Donna, who herself is a 30-year educator, are equal proponents of Walter Thibideau’s lifelong wish to foster the education of young people.

This donation has had a massive impact on HVTO, including the construction of our largest building on the primary HVTO Sreth Village campus, which will now be referred to as HVTO I. This structure has not only created a significant increase in enrollment here, but it has also financed the construction of a second campus 15 kilometers away in Rumdeng Village. This campus will now be referred to as HVTO II. The poorest village in the commune, this school reached maximum enrollment in two days, with 458 students signing to take English and computer classes. This single donation, with significant help from ADOL and other donors, has allowed us to increase total enrollment in the HVTO program (both campuses) to about 1,100 students.

A post-inauguration ceremony photo (above) of, from left to right: Frank and Donna Youdelman, Sim Piseth (myself), His Excellency Seang Nam, Member of the Cambodian National Assembly,and Her Excellency Manny Raingsey, Siem Reap Deputy Governor. The Youdelmans each received the Royal Order of Cambodia Grand Cross. In recognition of HVTO’s collective achievements I received the Cambodian Medal of The Grand Order of National Merit. The highest civilian award that the Royal Government of Cambodian can bestow.

The Youdelman donation, in addition to the large HVTO I building pictured below, bought 20 computers, and covered significant administration costs for this campus. In addition, this money also paid for the land, land clearance, road widening, library, fence and gate, furniture, computers, and landscaping at the new HVTO II campus in Rumdeng Village.

The Youdelman generosity has precipitated a cascade of contributions from other sources. At HVTO I, prior to building, Viking paid for the land on which the Youdelman building was built.

Ken Meyer and Amy Parker paid for the grading and land preparation for the new building, as well as renovations to the original Viking building to create our new computer lab, including an additional 20 computers. Bruce Weiner paid for the fence extension, a large toilet, trash burner, the flag stand and an upgrade to the landscaping and drainage. Importantly, Studiosus Foundation e.V. made significant donations towards our growing administrative costs. The Seng Kaing family and friends bought us a high-capacity printer, and Katty Entes and Ms. Janet Gladstein purchased a photocopier and 670 yellow outfits for HVTO I students. See photos below.

Frank and Donna Youdelman and students in front of the new HVTO I school building, the construction of which they made possible

Kathy Entes and Janet Gladstein in front of the renovated Viking Building with students dressed in their new outfits

At HVTO II ADOL financed the construction of the large classroom building opposite the gate, as well as the toilets and a high capacity well and bio-sand filter for the school. The Seng Kaing family and friends bought 368 yellow outfits for the initial tranche of students enrolled. See below.

The top of the gate at the entrance to the HVTO II (Rumdeng) Campus

The ADOL classroom building at HVTO II with students waiting to receive outfits donated by the Seng Kaing family

The Youdelman Library located on the HVTO II Campus

The cherry on the sundae – Frank and Donna Youdelman with their newly sponsored child from Rumdeng Village – Tou Joly, with her mother Hoeurm Heak.

In the end, facilities mean nothing without the students that use them. Since the construction and inauguration of the new HVTO I and II buildings, HVTO I enrollment has grown from 450 to 637 active students. With the addition of 458 students at HVTO II, the net effect of the construction activity described is the addition of 645 new students. Thus, with our total enrollment at almost 1,100 students, HVTO is now serving over double the number we had one year ago. Because we maintain meticulous records of who is in class each day, we know that the number of students attending on any given day varies with public school activities and family gatherings. However, at present our combined daily attendance ranges from 930 to 1,040.

Meet the HVTO Staff

Not surprisingly, our growth has required the hiring of several new staff and teachers. Many, but not all, are former HVTO students and graduates. The name(s) in parenthesis immediately after a student or teacher name below refers to their HVTO sponsor.

Administrative Staff

The administrative staff for HVTO (listed below from left to right)

Hout Bunhok is the President of the Administrative Council, a legislative position required by the government for all NGO’s. He is one of the founding members of HVTO.

Piseth Sim is a well-known tour guide in the Siem Reap Angkor Region and is the founder of HVTO.

Meng Seaknam (Friends From Oklahoma) has been the General Manager for HVTO for the last twelve years. He is responsible for representing HVTO at any event and does everything from hauling well and filter equipment, to chairing the monthly HVTO staff meeting.

Som Somphors (Jeff and Barbara Godfrey Roberts) is an accountant at the home office and oversees all the financial records as well as disbursing monthly stipends to students.

Sinh Song (Stan and Ellie Nice) is our sponsorship coordinator. He is responsible for the coordination of all communication between sponsors and pre-university aged students and helps track the progress of all HVTO students.

Deb Bokun (not in the photograph) is the Chairman of the Community Committee and oversees the maintenance of the primary HVTO Campus. Bokun has many connections with community authorities and is especially adept at communicating with common people.

Choan Serey (not in the photograph) is also an HVTO Community Coordinator and is a member of the Kontreang Commune Council where he is the HVTO liaison to governmental authorities.

Naem Rotthy (Brigid Mulloy) (not in photograph) is my assistant and will relieve me of an ever-growing list of time-consuming administrative tasks. Rotthy will organize and maintain the internal records for our many programs and allow me to spend more time liaising with our supporters. My wife is hoping his work will also allow me to have more family time.

HVTO I Primary Campus (Sreth)

The staff at the HVTO I Campus (listed below from left to right)

Dey Mey (Cokkonis Estate) is an English teacher and has been promoted to the position of Principal of our primary campus. He now reports to Ine Un. Mey has been an HVTO standout since his sponsorship 11 years ago. He began his teaching career at the age of 17, when he provided free classes to children in several villages near the original HVTO School. See the 2015 newsletter. HVTO Newsletters | Homestay Volunteer Teachers

Yen Vuthy (Portia Catania) is our primary computer teacher and has a degree in IT Technology from the University of SE Asia. He is a very popular teacher at our HVTO I campus.

Lok Serey was a student at HVTO, but was not sponsored. He has eight years of experience and is an excellent English teacher.

Moeung Kunthea (Merlin Miller) is an English teacher and has been a standout student from the beginning. Like Dey Mey (above) she held private classes in her home before graduating and starting work.

Sor Runrong (Karin and Heine Alsaker) has a degree in accounting. She teaches English and will soon become the assistant to the HVTO accountant, Som Somphors.

Lourn Phounam (Thomas Barkemeier) graduated with an English degree from Build Bright University in 2019. Married and with one child and another on the way, Phounam has been teaching at the main campus since 2021. She is designated to become our school librarian.

HVTO II Rumdeng Campus

The staff at the HVTO II Campus (listed below from left to right)

Ine Un (Simon and Ranjeeta Johnson) has been promoted to Superintendent of all HVTO’s educational activities. Having been the school headmaster since 2014, he is one of our student’s favorite English teachers has been instrumental in HVTO’s continued success. Un is now at the Rumdeng Campus so that he can be closer to his home and family.

Heab Hean is the Principal of our secondary campus in Rumdeng Village and reports to Un. He has a degree in English Literature from Cambodian University and also lives near the Rumdeng (HVTO II) Campus.  He had 10 years of experience teaching English prior to coming to HVTO.

Rien Ponlok is our primary computer teacher. He is not an HVTO student, but is proficient in all types of software and has taught computer skills for a variety of organizations since 2014. These include NGO’s, universities, and commercial firms in the Siem Reap area. He and his family live near the Rumdeng Campus.

Phal Lina is also an outside hire and has experience teaching at both NGO and private schools in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. She is one of our English teachers and lives with her family next door to the school.

Lem Yeat (Susan Spratt) received her English degree from USEA in 2020 and has been teaching English privately from her home for the last two years. Like the rest of our HVTO II staff, she lives with her family in the Rumdeng area.

Poeun Horn (not in the photograph) is the Chairman of the Community Committee and oversees the maintenance of the Rumdeng HVTO II Campus. Horn has many connections with community leaders and is an excellent representative of HVTO to common people.

HVTO is only able to educate roughly 1,100 students in two schools with only eleven full-time teaching staff because we have access to an enormous manpower pool in the form of student teachers. Taken from grades 11-12 and our university students in Siem Reap, we have 109 student teachers who, as a requirement of their free education, volunteer one 8-hour shift per month. The high-school volunteers take the beginning classes with the university students traveling to the village to teach the more advanced English classes. These students prove the adage that – ‘As you teach, so you learn’.

A student deserving mention in this regard is Ky Srey Noun (Friends From Oklahoma) who is from Rumdeng Village and was recently sponsored. While her English writing and comprehension skills are excellent, lacking practice, she struggles with spoken English. Recognizing this, and in a manner that is typical of our students, she has volunteered to teach every day at our somewhat understaffed HVTO II campus. Now enrolled at the University of SE Asia, because her classes are all in the evening, she will be giving her mornings to our Rumdeng students.

EDUCATION:

Since its inception in 2008 the HVTO Education Program has sponsored 493 students of which 259 are still active in the program (see below). In the last two years we have increased our number of graduates by nearly 50% to a total of 98 degreed students. Students that have withdrawn usually do so to support siblings and parents, or because of a desire to marry and start a family. For students that drop, the sponsor has several options, but most opt to allocate these unused funds to an unsponsored student of a similar age to aid them in completing their studies. For example, a common point for a student to drop from the HVTO system is at the end of high school. This opens a funded university education for another student that may be unable to attend university otherwise. The 15 students in the ‘Other’ category have either decided to become public school teachers, whose salaries were recently significantly increased, or received an outside sponsorship to study elsewhere.

With tourism increasing, over the last two years we have received an additional 132 sponsorships. Historically by far our largest student sponsor has been the Cokkonis Estate (LNR Trust Fund), who have on average have funded 10 students per year. Since 2013 the Cokkonis Estate has sponsored, both through direct and transferred sponsorships, coincidentally, 132 students. Accounting for over 1/4^th of our sponsorships, we are very grateful for their continuous support.

As every parent knows, boys and girls mature at different rates, with girls often being far more focused in the early grades than boys. This is manifested in HVTO’s experience, both at the HVTO I and II campuses, with girls accounting for roughly 2/3rds of the enrollment and sponsorships. It should be noted that Cambodia largely remains a traditional society in which boys are brought up to be breadwinners and girls homemakers. Thus, as the boys mature, they tend to become much more focused and drop out of school at a rate roughly half that of the girls. Of our 98 university graduates, over half are boys.

The mechanics of the HVTO system involves students above grade 6 writing a letter to their sponsor once a month.  Younger students, who need much more help, write less often. These letters are reviewed on Sunday, when there is no public school, and edited en masse by HVTO staff who make corrections before a final re-write is done. This is then scanned and sent to the sponsor. Immediately after this review the students line up in front of an adjoining building to receive their monthly stipend. See below. University students correspond with sponsors directly and receive their stipend through a direct bank transfer.

 

After queuing with their classmates for their monthly sponsor letter review, students receive their monthly stipend.

Computer lessons include learning to type (both English and Khmer), and proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite of programs, QuickBooks, and basic drawing software.

Student News

There are many former students that have officially ‘dropped’ from the program, but because of the head start given them by HVTO, they have been able to move ahead with careers and prosper. More than can be mentioned have donated services to HVTO, whether that is in designing a website, providing manpower in construction, or a myriad of other large and small acts of giving.

Chery Vannsey, who attended HVTO (unsponsored) from 2008-2010 as a Buddhist monk, is now an accredited construction engineer. He designed the HVTO I building, charging 1/4^th of the usual fee. He also donated most of his time while leading the construction team of this building, ultimately saving HVTO nearly 1/3^rd of the total costs. He designed and oversaw the construction of both buildings at HVTO II, saving us again about 1/4^th of the total cost. These combined savings allowed us to build the HVTO II library, a task that would otherwise have been impossible.

     

Chery Vannsey at the nearly completed HVTO I Youdelman Building (left). For his unselfish service to HVTO, Vannsey receiving (on the right) the Golden Medal for Nation Builder from His Excellency Seang Nam, Member of the Cambodian National Assembly representing the Royal Government of Cambodia.

While we focus on education and university degrees, the sponsorships provided by HVTO provide a financial foundation for both the students and their families. Na Srey Noy is only one example of this. She was left in the care of grandparents when her parents were forced to leave for Thailand to seek employment. Poor by even Cambodian standards, she was able to attend the HVTO educational program located nearby. While there, in 2014 she met Eunice and Katherine Shatz, who agreed to sponsor her. She is now attending the University of SE Asia, and is due to obtain her accounting degree next year. She works at the locally famous Red Crab Seafood BBQ Restaurant in Siem Reap.

Srey Noy in 2014 

Srey Noy in 2024

Soung Kong (Helen Forster, 2012-2017) is an excellent example of how even students that leave the HVTO program can have a critical edge in pursuing other opportunities. Kong was given a sponsorship in 2012 when she was in the 8^th grade, making her one of our first students. Despite being unable to pass the final high school exam, through the English and computer skills that she acquired through HVTO she was able to gain entrance to a hotel hospitality program in Siem Reap. Here she was able to obtain an internship in France, where she is now employed at the Novotel Valence Sud, France. Kong is now working to complete her diploma of Hospitality and Management at the École d’Hôtellerie et de Tourisme Paul Dubrule.

The photo on the right is a stark reminder of Cambodia’s past, showing Kong with her step-grandfather, who married her widowed grandmother, and her mother, and father.

Kong 2012

Kong 2023

Graduate News

Listed below is only a selected sample of HVTO university graduates that have obtained their degrees and entered the workforce in the last two years. As above, an early photo or the original sponsorship photo is shown on the left. The students highlighted represent only a fraction of those with success stories that we could relate. However, those listed demonstrate the variety of career paths that our HVTO graduates are taking. The Professional category here refers to degrees in the Legal, IT, Science, and Engineering fields. It must be mentioned here that the near addiction of Cambodians to Facebook has made the compilation of this list far easier.

Kong Kan (Friends From Oklahoma) has received his accreditation as a journalist with the Ministry of Information, and is now reporting for the Sanprum News, a large media outlet in Cambodia based in Phnom Penh.  Now a famous journalist, Kan is a consumer advocate who is seen as a friend of the common people. He is shown below at his parent’s ‘house’ in 2014 shortly after he was sponsored, and in the news studio today. Kan is now buying a more substantial house (with walls) in Siem Reap for his parents and extended family.

Kan 2014

Kan 2024

Sok Kakada (Simon and Ranjeeta Johnson 2014-2018, Ken Parker and Amy Meyer 2019-2024) graduated with a degree in Education from the University of SE Asia in 2022, completing the final year online due to Covid. She received her public school accreditation in 2023 in Phnom Penh. As one of the top students of her class she was chosen to receive her certificate directly from the Prime Minister of Cambodia (Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet) who posted this photograph on his Facebook page.

Kakada 2014

Kakada 2024

Loeurt Srey Mao (Cokkonis Estate) obtained her degree in Marketing from the University of SE Asia in 2023 and now works as a dental assistant for Dr. Khlaing Niran, a dentist at the Pyramid Dental Center in Siem Reap.

Srey Mao 2019

Srey Mao 2024

Chhay Nit: (Diane Linfors) was sponsored by HVTO in 2017, on a very rainy day. Sharing a small room with two other girls so that she could be close to our school, she now has a degree in Finance and Accounting from Build Bright University. Nit works in Battambang Province for the micro- finance company We Spa Investment Company Ltd.

Nit 2017

Nit 2024

Soeum Sen (Cokkonis Estate) who was working at the Crown Casino Resort in Poi Pet, secured a scholarship from the Bright Hope Institute to study agriculture in Israel. He has completed his first year there and has successfully extended his scholarship for an addition year. He is studying at the International Centre for Agriculture located in Moshav Arava, Israel.

Sen 2013

Sen 2024

Chea Orn (Bonnie Wright and Shauna Della) received her degree in Agricultural Production and Marketing from Build Bright University in 2023. She is now working for the East West Seed Cambodia Ltd in Bonteay Meanchey Province where she is being trained as a Crop Advisor.

Orn 2017

Orn 2024

Chhorvoan Savis (Denise and Ted DeLaFontaine) obtained his law degree in 2023 from the University of SE Asia. He is now the assistant to the Director of Angkor University, where he organizes the orientation of prospective new students. Savis has been invaluable to HVTO by providing us with legal assistance at no charge.

Savis 2015

Savis 2024

Nan Thavan (Roy and Gina Balcombe) obtained her degree in English Literature from the University of SE Asia in 2022. She now teaches English at the Sovannaphumi Kids English School in Siem Reap. She will be hired by HVTO as a teacher at the HVTO I campus where she will replace Loun Phounam, who is moving to the position of librarian.

Thavan 2016

Thavan 2024

Sin Danet (Cokkonis Estate) obtained her nursing degree from Angkor University in 2023. She is now working as a nurse at the Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital in Phnom Penh.

Danet 2014

Danet 2024

Pov Pich (Ken Meyer and Amy Parker) graduated with a degree in Agriculture from Build Bright University in Siem Reap in 2024. He recently passed his Civil Service examination and is now the Agriculture Officer for Trapeang Commune. In this position he identifies farming challenges in the Commune and advises subsistence farmers on techniques to improve crop yields.

2019

Pich 2024

Phann Makara (Jeff Winston) received her Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of SE Asia in 2024. She has become a very popular English teacher at the Eleven International School in Siem Reap.

Phann 2019

Phann 2024

Moeurn Heak: (Cokkonis Estate) last year received her Bachelor’s degree from Build Bright University in accounting and finance. She is now the Public Administrator under Dr. Vann Kimphy at the Sreysnom Health Clinic in Siem Reap.

Heak 2013

Heak 2024

In Memorium:

Despite helmet laws, large traffic volumes combined and a prevalence of motor bikes have made road accidents the single largest cause of death for young people in Cambodia.

It is with great sadness that we must report the death of one of our most treasured students, Yin Srey Mao, in a traffic accident late last year. Sponsored by Friends From Oklahoma and featured in the 2022 HVTO newsletter, she very generously gave up her sponsorship to another student, Pruon Voeurn, when she received a promotion and a pay increase in her job at the Cambodia Tourism Ministry. See the 2018 newsletter. HVTO Newsletters | Homestay Volunteer Teachers

An earlier fatality is Kon Ki (Deborah Hilliard), who also tragically died shortly after he received his sponsorship in 2013.

Yin Srey Mao

Kon Ki

CLEAN WATER PROJECT:

A Drop of Life (ADOL) carried out their annual visit to inspect various HVTO projects in May, 2024. In the photo below Debbie Lee (5^th from the left), the Operations Director of ADOL, brought 5 colleagues from Hong Kong to evaluate HVTO’s progress with hand and machine drilled water wells, toilets, and bio-sand water filters in the HVTO operational area. The group is standing in front of a toilet built for the family of Tith Bhob in Boh Village not far from the HVTO II campus.

A Drop of Life (ADOL) started working with HVTO in 2016, and has been our partner ever since. They support all our clean water projects, including wells, water filters, toilets, and even food aid and home building. Established in 1998, A Drop of Life is a Hong Kong registered NGO that strives to ensure the access to clean water and sanitation for the needy. ADOL funds clean water projects in Cambodia, mainland China, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, and Hong Kong. For more information on ADOL please visit their website at: https://adropoflife.org/

ADOL, through HVTO, was especially helpful during the Covid pandemic and the associated unemployment that this brought. Their continuous support provided jobs for dozens of workers in the HVTO area. Accounting for all the people and supply chains associated with the various projects in which HVTO is now engaged, it is safe to say that hundreds of families have benefited through HVTO and the generosity of ADOL.

Water Wells

Prior to the work of HVTO, much of the water consumed in our area of activity came from pits dug in the earth’s surface that collected rainwater runoff. With both human and animal waste also collecting at the surface this created a horrendous water quality issue, affecting everything from general health to infant mortality. A huge step in addressing this has come with the drilling of water wells, which uses the natural filtering system of the earth to remove the vast majority of pathogens.

HVTO has been able to quickly drill many wells, relatively cheaply because the area in which we work is largely underlain by unconsolidated sediments deposited by the ancient Tonle Sap River. This has allowed us to drill wells by pumping water through a simple nozzle on the end of a drill pipe that is hand-rotated using a T-bar. See the 2018 newsletter. HVTO Newsletters | Homestay Volunteer Teachers This river-deposited aquifer sand is an excellent source of fresh water and should have no trouble recharging, given an annual rainfall of 1–2-meters. As the area of HVTO water well drilling has expanded, we have found that actual bedrock (usually limestone) has made machine driven drilling a requirement, making these wells about six times more expensive.

HVTO, mostly through our partnership with ADOL, has seen the drilling of a staggering 8,938 wells since our inception. With the advent of this partnership our core area has expanded from the area immediately around the school to five large districts along the northern shore of Tonle Sap Lake. See below. These wells have now provided almost 43,000 people in rural Cambodia with clean water that would otherwise have little or no access. Special mention must be given to one of HVTO’s most stalwart supporters in the drilling of water wells – Rosemere High School in Quebec, Canada. Led by Deborah Adams and Wendy Haas and their predecessors, since 2013 they have funded the drilling of 93 wells.

HVTO annual water well drilling – Since 2017 ADOL has taken our effort to another level !

Map showing numbers of HVTO / ADOL water wells drilled by District

For our eagle-eyed readers, the numbers on the map do not precisely correspond with the summary on the first page because some of the last wells drilled have not yet had their GPS coordinates entered into our database.

For the last seven years ADOL has financed the drilling of between 800 and 1,600 wells per year. A slower economy and reduced donations from their members in Hong Kong will slow this pace. It expected that later this month a new contract for 2024 will be signed for an additional 600 wells. Although we cannot match the financial resources of ADOL, never forget that HVTO remains committed to drilling water wells for smaller sponsors as we always have in the past. So, if you would like to donate funds for the drilling of water wells, please do not let the magnitude of the ADOL project dissuade you.

Water Filtration – Bio Sand Filter (BSF)

See our previous (2022) newsletter to see a diagram of a Bio-Sand Water Filter; HVTO Newsletters | Homestay Volunteer Teachers

The Bio-Sand Filter, or BSF, uses microbes living in the top 2 cm of a column of sand to consume harmful pathogens. A side benefit is its ability to remove iron, which although not dangerous, is seen in high concentrations in many of the areas in which we drill. Thus far HVTO has installed more than 3,315 Bio Sand Filters, serving nearly 21,000 people. As with wells, the vast majority of these were made possible by A Drop of Life (ADOL).

This filter will serve Thea Phoeun and her family of four in Thnar Chhrounhh Village located approximately 85 km northeast of Siem Reap.

Sanitation – Toilet Project

See our previous (2022) newsletter to see a simplified diagram of a composting toilet: HVTO Newsletters | Homestay Volunteer Teachers

This project is seen as part of our overall water project because it is part of a long-term solution to the rampant surface water contamination that the country endures today. ADOL has funded nearly all the roughly 1,100 toilets constructed thus far. Yet another large organizational task for the HVTO Team, we are using a subcontractor to employ 15 men to perform this work, and since the beginning of 2023 they have installed 730 toilets. These serve 5,000 people and form the core of what ADOL calls the Open Defecation-Free (ODF) area that we are working to expand.

This toilet will serve Mr. and Mrs. Ee Ean and their family of five in Boh Village located roughly 35 km NE of Siem Reap.

Food Aid

The HVTO food aid program, which began with ADOL in June 2020, has since been joined by many HVTO donors and augments the government assistance package for the IDPoor-1 rated families in our area of activity.  To date this largely ADOL sponsored program has seen 952 food packages delivered to thousands of the local poor. The items included in a standard $65 food package are listed below.

1. 50kg jasmine rice
2. 1 small case of instant noodles
3. 1kg salt
4. 1kg garlic
5. 1kg MSG
6. 12 cans of fish
7. 6 bottles of fish sauce
8. 6 bottles of soy sauce
9. 4 cakes of soap
10. 10 facemasks
11. $2.50 in cash

Food distribution occurs monthly at a village home and is overseen by local police

Home Building

Since this program began in 2016 HVTO has secured funds for the building of 38 houses, 5 of these in the last year. Designated only for the homeless and the most poorly-housed families in the community, 152 people have benefitted from this program. Nearly half of these have been funded by the tremendous generosity of Kathrine J. Burns who began her donations in 2021.

The family of Chheat Lyta (Seng Kaing family) were always considered the poorest of poor. Her mother’s congenital spinal issue, which prevented her from working, aggravated the family’s financial issues. Today her father remains the sole breadwinner, but he now has a job working construction, in addition to his subsistence rice farming on the family plot. Lyta’s sponsorship, in addition to an ADOL-sponsored house, has made all the difference for the Chheat family. The photos below show the family in front of their homes in 2014 and today. Lyta’s brother Chhin was sponsored with her in 2014, but dropped from the HVTO program.

2014

2024

SUPPORT:

HVTO could not accomplish what it does without the support of many individuals and organizations that share a commitment to our core programs. Viking and Studiosus tour groups have historically been one of our main sources of support. In more recent years, our partnership with ADOL has pushed our non-educational programs to undreamed of levels. In the last year, the support we have received from Frank and Donna Youdelman has done the same for our educational programs. Thank you Studiosus, Viking, ADOL, and Frank and Donna for your support in maintaining the HVTO programs.

Living all over the world, with the aid of modern technology, former guests not only help financially, but also provide administrative assistance. All that is required is a computer and internet access. Tourists returning to take part in teaching at the HVTO School bring a perspective of the outside world that our students can get in no other way.

Patti Baker, a former Viking guest, is the President of Homestay Teachers Volunteer Organization, Inc. (HTVO), a 501c3 (charitable) organization incorporated in Florida to provide tax relief to US citizens that fund HVTO in Cambodia. This NGO simplifies money transfers and provides a vehicle for access to larger grants that can have a major impact on reaching goals. To learn more please visit the website at: http://www.hvto.org/about-us/hvto-contacts-in-usa.html or call Patti directly at 1-239-682-0067.

Frank Youdelman is now a Vice President for HTVO. He lives in Tucson, Arizona and can be reached at 1-520-465-7625 and youdel@aol.com. We also have ‘ambassadors’ living in various parts of the United States that you can call directly to get first-hand information about HVTO over the phone or by e-mail. For information on the ambassador nearest you, please contact Sim Piseth at sim2piseth@gmail.com.

Supporters and friends of HVTO have an opportunity to strengthen our mission and secure our financial future through gifts to our established endowment fund held in Cambodia and/or by establishing a personal endowment fund that supports our organization year after year. Your legacy and commitment to our students will endure by contributing to the HTVO endowment fund or creating your own named endowment fund. We encourage you to consult with your financial advisor when making these important decisions in ways to support HVTO. Consider a gift now, or as part of your legacy plan, to the HVTO Endowment Fund.

Thank you for reading about our continuing story and we hope that you share our sense of accomplishment in HVTO’s continued progress. The future appears very bright, indeed.

Sim Piseth

HVTO Founder

Tel: +855974506969

Email: sim@hvto.org | sim2piseth@gmail.com

Facebook Profile: https://web.facebook.com/sim.pisith