Cambridge News, UK
A kind-hearted education
consultant will be travelling to South East Asia to present a children’s
orphanage with a bumper cheque.
Peter Harris
Peter Harris, from Ely, and four of his friends recently took on a
two-week challenge to help transform the lives of children in Cambodia.
They used their love of music and singing to turn a group of children
from the Centre for Children’s Happiness (CCH) into a choir to perform a
concert in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.
Before being taken on by the orphanage, the children were living on the disease-ridden rubbish dumps and streets of the capital.
The choir, named the Dumpster Chorale, recently performed the
concert, guests of whom included the American ambassador, and now a
video of the concert is on YouTube and is attracting a wider audience.
Mr Harris, who founded King’s International Study Centre in Ely, has
emailed friends around the world asking them to look at the video and
donate the price of two cups of coffee.
He said: “We wanted to share our love of singing and the joy of music
with the children, who have all been given a home and an education by
the CCH.
“It was also a chance for them to celebrate and take pride in their own cultural heritage.
“I travel all over the world and I am often in Asia, but nowhere has
touched my heart quite like CCH which houses, nurtures, feeds, clothes
and educates the ‘dumpsters’.
“The majority of them have been rescued from almost unimaginable
horrors of the Steung Meanchey garbage dump – they call it the ‘Smoking
Mountain’ in Phnom Penh – others are from the streets of Phnom Penh and
the provinces.”
Mr Harris has worked in international education for over 35 years.
He founded the first international schools in New Zealand and
Australia and for his services to education he was one of only 150
people awarded the New Zealand Commemoration Medal by the Queen in 1990.
Later this month, he will travel out to Phnom Penh to revisit the
orphanage and hopes to present it with a cheque for thousands of pounds.
To watch the video, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK0dZqdpwTA.
To make a donation, email him at pjhely@gmail.com.
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