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 6th 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 6th 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