Everyone is a winner here at Cambodian Children's Fund

By Scott Neeson, 

Director of Cambodian Children's Fund's photo.

Through Cambodian Children's Fund's association with World Housing, for every house that they sell in North America, we build and gift a house here. Our houses are pretty special and for most families, it's the first time they have had security, community support or even a bathroom. That's them in the bottom right image. Impressive, no?

We also add some personal effects, like bedding, their children's CCF awards and family photos.

But it's the stories behind the families that make these homes so special.

We received these two frightened and under-nourished girls (bottom left) into our shelter in 2013. Along with their mother, they were essentially homeless, vulnerable to abuse and without sufficient food. The mother brought them to us for safety and proper care, and left to her homeland.

The girls grew strong, quickly reclaimed their childhood, and the mother visited whenever she could.

Last Monday we opened our new housing community. The mother, the girls and the grandmother were all united, together under one roof for the first time. The mother couldn't quite believe it was all real and was in tears. Seeing the girls climb the stairs into their new home, with their mother and grandmother ready to pounce and hug them, you just know that there is so much good in the world and so within reach.

The cost of bringing the family together was not significant. The joy and the long-term welfare of the girls is invaluable. You just have to take that first step, out of apathy and into action, to bring about change.

Everyone is a winner here - almost.

I went to our shelter, forgetting the girls had been reintegrated. There were no runs, jumps and hugs. I'm used to dealing with the abandonment issues faced by many of our kids face and here was I, having my own.

So I went to visit them at their new home ("just to check they were OK", I told myself). They were all smiles when they saw me and here's the photo below, with mum, taken a few hours ago.

They both stayed perched on the doorstep, like they were afraid if they set foot outside maybe it would all vanish - mother, granny, the house - like waking up from a wonderful dream.

Me, I went home alone and wrote this.