Recent Posts

There is nothing like the Christmas season. It seems that, across the world, it is a time when caring and kindness are much more in evidence. The 470 children at the Spitler School have certainly been the beneficiaries of kindness and caring by a number of generous people in the past few weeks.

 

Our good friend Karsten, who helped us build the new 6^th grade classroom last spring, provided another generous donation, giving us the resources to purchase a large supply of rice which we have been distributing to the most needy families in the village surrounding the school. Working with the local village leaders, Sarin has identified those students and families who were in desperate need of food supplements and made sure they received bags of rice. We were also able to pass out a large supply of mosquito nets to the families in the village. When the flood receded it left standing water in unsanitary conditions and breeding grounds for the mosquitoes carrying malaria and dengue fever. The children are very susceptible to dengue fever, especially if they are malnourished to begin with. Sleeping under mosquito netting increases their odds of avoiding this epidemic.

 

 

Villagers arrive for rice and netting distribution

 

Sarin and village leaders distribute rice

Sarin’s wife Mary hands out mosquito nets

 

Through the generosity of our donors we have been able to supply funds to continue to provide rice for the neediest families over the past several weeks as the village families attempt to recover from the flooding, which caused damage to the rice crops and stopped people from getting to jobs or bringing food to the village.

 

With all the emphasis on providing food and raising funds to repair the flood damaged road it has been a while since we used funds for new uniforms, but in late November funds were donated for school uniforms, and over 100 of our students received new uniforms in early December.

 

 

 

After our last newsletter informing all of you about the flooding in Siem Reap and the destruction of the roads, crops, and homes around the school, we received several offers of financial assistance including an extremely generous donation from a new friend who wishes to remain anonymous. This donation was sufficient for us to commit to the village leaders that the Spitler Foundation would help fund the road repairs, but we wanted them to get a commitment from the government for some of the funding. It appears that this will happen, and we are excited about starting the project in January, as soon as the conditions are dry enough to begin. We plan to hire many of the local village families to work on the road in exchange for rice bags and perhaps some money. It is our hope that the villagers will feel a real sense of community and pride working together to build a road into the village that will hold up during the rainy seasons.

 

Sarin
and the village leaders take measurements and make plans for a new road

 

Good reason for a new road

 

 

The benefits of the new road will be many. Tourist groups will be able to get to the school without their buses getting stuck in the mud. It will be much safer and easier for our teachers and students to travel between their homes and the school. It should help the economy of the village as it will be easier for the villagers to travel into town for their jobs, and for supplies to be delivered to the village. We also hope that the road will enable our 6^th grade graduates to attend a middle school on the bicycles that we hope to give them after they graduate next year.

 

We appreciate recent visitors to the school, Buddy and Brenda Gitlin of Boston. They sent 400 toothbrushes to the school prior to their visit, but when they arrived they went on a shopping spree and brought notebooks and mosquito nets to the school. We were also happy that our good friends from Florida, Les and Shirley Hoffman, arrived for a visit during their recent trip through Asia. Les and Shirley have traveled with Pam and me on several other adventures and have been regular donors to the school.

 

We hope these photos, in Khmer and in English, express our thankfulness and our very best wishes for a joyous holiday season and very happy and prosperous New Year.

 

 

 

 

We want to send a very special THANK YOU to those who have provided financial support to the Spitler School over the past two months since our last newsletter.

 

Thank You PV – you made the new road a reality

Karsten Schroeder – thanks for helping to feed the village

Dick and Maureen Wright – thanks for all the new uniforms

Terry Lyman – thanks for your continuing generosity

Buddy and Brenda Gitlin – thanks for enduring the mud and helping out

Elva and Terry Schoenrock – in memory of Carol Jean

Irvin Spitler

Kay Spitler

The Boulton Family

Bob & Betty Rosas

Les & Shirley Hoffman

The Sugerman Family

The DeFrain Family

 

 

Danny & Pam Spitler, Directors
Spitler School Foundation
P.O. Box 730
Peoria, AZ 85380
“Resource Providers for Cambodian School Children”
http://dannypam.smugmug.com/gallery/2466201_eEC9c

IRS EIN # 20-8085411

I have been looking forward to sharing plenty of good news in this newsletter as the Spitler School began its fifth year of operation serving the primary educational needs of the children living in and around the village of Ang Chagn Chass near Siem Reap.

 

Unfortunately, just as school was scheduled to begin all of Southeast Asia was struck by a devastating typhoon. On September 30 Typhoon Ketsana roared into Cambodia causing rivers to overflow their banks damaging roads and dams, thousands of acres of rice fields, and hundreds of houses. Among the victims of the horrible flooding was our special family. Sarin and Mary, along with 7-year-old Vita and 11-month old Vitee, had to flee their house as the roads and buildings of Siem Reap filled with water after the city’s river overflowed its banks. Their modest home, where Sarin and Mary have hosted us with their warm hospitality, filled with a meter of flood water, and after ten days they are still waiting for the last of the water to drain away from their home.

 

7-year-old Vita in front of her flooded home

Flooded road that leads into the school

 

We are still awaiting new reports, but it appears that the school survived the storm with little or no damage. We are now very grateful for our decisions to replace the wood and thatch buildings with our new, strongly constructed classrooms, as the older buildings might not have survived this storm, which is being called the worst storm to hit Cambodia in the past 50 years.

 

While the school seems to have survived in good shape we remain concerned for the families of our students, and we hope to learn soon how much damage was sustained by the homes around the school. We are concerned that the immense damage to Cambodia’s rice fields might lead to food shortages, and we know that our students will be exposed to disease from the polluted waters. Sarin reports that at least 20 of our students have been taken to the Angkor Children’s Hospital for treatment.

 

Damaged roads are making it difficult for villagers to get to their jobs in the city, and of course the flooding has resulted in the cancellation of tour groups, which adds more damage to the local economy. Another casualty of the storm was the day of medical exams scheduled for our students. Several months ago Sarin arranged to have a medical team from the Angkor Children’s Hospital visit the school and give our students medical exams, following up on exams performed almost two years ago in January 2008.

Unfortunately, the road conditions prevented the team from getting to the school, and with the large number of children entering the hospital with storm related health issues the medical team has not been able to reschedule their visit.

 

We will continue to look forward to Sarin’s reports as our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this horrific storm.

 

NOW ON TO HAPPIER NEWS

 

During the summer break Sarin, along with our sixth grade teacher Mr. Dy Samnang, visited the homes of almost all of the sixth grade students. It is our intent, during the school year, to learn what we can about each of our sixth grade students so that we can do our best to make sure they have the opportunity to continue their education next year at one of the government middle schools.

 

6^th Grade teacher Dy Samnang visits with the family of his student

Mary Muy. Mary introduces her teacher to her mother, sister, and brothers.

 

Just prior to the opening of the school year Sarin suggested that we add some more beauty and protection to the school by putting up four large palm trees which could serve as a wind break. With the ferocity of Typhoon Ketsana this may have been a very good decision. While one of these trees would cost several hundred dollars in Arizona, Sarin secured four of the trees including delivery and planting for $165.

 

 

Two days after the storm had struck Sarin and the village commune leader celebrated the grand opening of the fifth school year at Spitler School. The school welcomed 458 students to start the new school year. There will be 60 new kindergarten students in Ms. Vagn Sokhien’s class, which will occupy the new Rae & Kay Spitler Kindergarten Classroom. Other classrooms will be filled with the following numbers: First Grade-120, Second Grade-104, Third Grade-54, Fourth Grade-49, Fifth Grade-42, and our new Sixth Grade will have 29 students who will make up the first graduating class and occupying the new Karsten Schroeder 6^th grade classroom.

 

 

 

 

Pam and I wish to take this opportunity to honor my cousin, Carol Jean Schoenrock, who recently lost her long battle to cancer. We received five donations in memory of Carol’s extraordinary life, which was dedicated to helping others and healing broken lives.

We would also like to take this opportunity to again honor Sarin on the completion of his bachelor’s degree from Siem Reap University. Many of you have had the opportunity to meet Sarin on your travels to Cambodia, and you know first hand that he is a special young man with a good heart, an amazing work ethic, and extraordinary abilities. I am sure that all who have met him, or have learned about him and his family in our newsletters, will join us in congratulating him on this achievement.

 

 

On behalf of Sarin and his family, the teachers and children of Spitler School, and of course Pam and I and the Spitler family, we wish to thank and acknowledge those who have provided financial support for the children of Spitler School since our last newsletter in July. Your friendship and financial support are sincerely appreciated.

 

Joel Armstong, Joan Gilbert & Jake Stern

Kay Spitler

Rae Spitler

Les & Shirley Hoffman

Jerry & Barbara Shapiro

Robert Haushey

Lisa Hoffmeyer

Lou & Claudine Hopper

 

The following families and individuals donated in memory of Carol Jean Schoenrock

Darin Box & Family

La Shay Ellis & Family

Pat Grappe

Lorine Lippard

Rae Spitler

 

 

Danny & Pam Spitler, Directors
Spitler School Foundation
P.O. Box 730
Peoria, AZ 85380-0730
http://dannypam.smugmug.com/gallery/2466201

The two months leading up to the end of the 2008-2009 school year have been very busy and exciting. Sarin had a successful tourist season leading a lot of tours, but as the tourist season wound down he was even busier supervising the projects at the Spitler School.

 

In our last newsletter we told you of the completion of the new 6^th grade classroom named for our donor, Karsten Schroeder, who generously donated funds for the construction. We were very excited and grateful when one of our travel friends stepped forward to purchase the 20 new desks that we needed for the new classroom.

 

 

As soon as the construction was completed on the 6^th grade classroom our construction crew turned their attention to the kindergarten building which was in need of reconstruction. This required removing most of the building down to the foundation and rebuilding it with heavier steel framework, brick and mortar walls, a tile floor, and metal roof. The kindergarten room is the largest classroom housing the most students, and it is used for larger community meetings. While it was our most expensive building project we believe that it will be the last major construction project that will be needed for the foreseeable future.

 

Before

After

 

Pam and I are pleased to name this building for my mother, Rae Spitler, and my sister, Kay Spitler. Both Mom and Kay have been wonderful supporters of the school from the beginning of the project. Both have been teachers, and Kay has taught kindergarten and first grade classes during most of her 38-year teaching career. We could think of no better way to honor them both than by dedicating this new building in their names.

 

 

We would like to send out a “thank you” to some new friends from Singapore who visited the school in July bringing several boxes of school supplies and other treats for the children. Thiagarajan and Shantini also took the time to send us a comprehensive report about their visit to the school and their observations. Here is a short quote from their report that we were so pleased to read.

 

“The children were delightful and were very disciplined.  We handed out sweets to them and none of them rushed forward and all were beautifully behaved. They were little angels. Teachers were well dressed and groomed.  We had the chance to speak to them and they seemed dedicated and sincere in carrying out their duties.”

 

 

On July 30 the 2008-2009 school year came to a successful close with a ceremony honoring our top three students from each of the highest grades. Following a tradition that we established last year we awarded a brand new bicycle to the top student in each of grades three, four and five.

 

Sarin arranged a very nice awards ceremony, inviting the students’ parents and the local village officials. The ceremony ended with a meal for the teachers and honored guests and a small party for the students. All three of the young ladies receiving bicycles had at least one parent who attended. The parents were honored for supporting their daughters’ achievements, along with each of their three teachers.

 

 

 

We wish to welcome the Hess family as new friends of the Spitler School. After visiting the school earlier this year they offered to get involved and decided to sponsor the incoming 6^th grade class, which will be our first graduating class in July 2010. This allowed us to do something special for this class along with all of our teachers.

 

On August 1 Sarin arranged for a large bus to pick up our teachers and our new 6^th grade students and take them for a field trip to Tonle Sap Lake, the largest lake in Southeast Asia. Pam and I have visited the lake twice on our trips to Cambodia, and it is a very interesting place where hundreds of families live in floating homes. Although it is not far from Siem Reap none of our students have had the opportunity to visit. It was a great day for the teachers and the children. The cost for creating this opportunity for the children was $210 which included hiring the bus, hiring the boat at the lake, and providing a meal to the group.

 

We continue to look for inexpensive but meaningful ways that we can enhance the quality life for our students and teachers as well as providing a basic education. Enjoy a few photos of this special day.

 

 

 

 

For the next six weeks our teachers will take a break, our students will take their summer holiday, and hopefully Sarin will have some time to relax and enjoy some time with his family and especially his new little daughter. In mid-September we will launch our fifth year of the Spitler School, and we are looking forward to a great year as we complete our goal of having a full primary school with grades kindergarten through 6^th grade.

 

On behalf of all the children of Spitler School, Pam and I send our heartfelt thanks to many friends, some of whom we have never met personally, who have stepped in to help us grow this project and to keep it healthy and viable. We would like to send a special “thank you” to the following people who have made contributions to the Spitler School Foundation since our last newsletter in May.

 

The Hess Family

Rick, Carol Ann, Becca and Anna

(sponsoring 6^th grade)

Pam D. (desks for 6^th grade)

Peter & Sally Preston (bicycle)

Kay Spitler

Bob & Betty Shellenbarger

Mike & Sharon Daggett

Paul & Barbara Barnes

Jim & Mary Wiggens

Audrey Tsuruda

Judy Horowitz

Sharon Lund

Lynn Marr

Dennis Campbell

 

On a final note, the Spitler School Foundation ended its fiscal year on June 30. We have filed our yearly 990EZ form with the IRS, and a copy is available to any of our donors upon request.

 

 

Daniel & Pam Spitler, Directors
Spitler School Foundation
P.O. Box 730
Peoria, AZ 85380
“Resource Providers for Cambodian School Children”
http://dannypam.smugmug.com/gallery/2466201_eEC9c

IRS EIN # 20-8085411