Heartprint in Siem Reap | Non-profit organisation

Heartprint

Locality: Siem Reap

Address: Heartprint Lane Siem Reap, Cambodia

Website: http://www.heartprint.org.au

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25.01.2022 A beautiful new home and double toilet for the Ork Ren family. You may ask why no stairs and concrete slab like our other homes? You will notice we have prepared a slab base for them. The family wanted to raise their home higher than our budget allowed, we put in 2.5 metre posts (higher than our usual 2 metres) to allow space for them to fill underneath. They have agreed to organise fill and complete the slab themselves. The stairs are unable to be built until the fill has b...een put in so these will be built at a later date. The family are so excited, they have already moved in and started living in the house regardless of concrete slab or stairs. Thank you McPhail Real Estate for providing the family this great new start in life. Why a double toilet? On this block there are 3 houses, not one single one has a toilet. A total of 21 people (with another on the way) that will benefit from this toilet block. Thank you to The Reece Grant for once again not only providing another toilet but a clean space to bath.

25.01.2022 Another happy family thanks to The Reece Grant. As you can see the Way Savet family are very happy with their new toilet. Trachoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness, is carried by a fly that breeds exclusively on human excrement. So by gifting a toilet it is actually preventing blindness. Dave McNulty we can't thank you enough for helping obtain this grant.

24.01.2022 Another successful rice relief collection today thanks to Heidi Knodle. Two emergency families added in today. Luckily we always keep a little extra in stock. Still no end in sight to when tourism might return and things are definitely not getting any easier for families. Thankfully we can keep spreading our Heartprints thanks to our amazing supporters.

24.01.2022 A combination of our "Importance of Education" workshop and that fact that this family is awaiting on a new house being built by Heartprint, have all come together to get Chea Jam to school. As you will most likely know family's must sign a contract when they receive a new home saying all school age children living in the house will attend school. Jam's parents had been slow on getting the necessary paperwork to get him enrolled in school however after our latest workshop, t...hey spoke to Pheap and said they weren't able to enrol him, as they needed help obtaining the necessary paperwork and a school uniform. The workshop opened the door for the family to be comfortable to ask for help even though we had told them many times before. After seeing other families in the same situation they were brave enough to speak up and ask for the much needed help. See more

23.01.2022 HUMANS OF HEARTPRINT A showcase of the individuals who support us. Erin West from Mountain Green, Utah, USA... I started supporting Heartprint because, from the beginning, Wendy and Garry and Heartprint have been in service to the Cambodian people - they ask what is needed and listen to the answers. Heartprint is a conduit through which the people they serve are empowered to learn, grow and improve their lives. Additionally, Heartprint is leading and training the amazing Cambodians who work for and with them to take over the operation in the future - truly sustainable. I have supported Heartprint through volunteer trips to build houses, general fundraising and toilet fundraising and creating awareness of their good work! It’s tough to pick my favourite thing about Heartprint! Wendy and Garry, Pheap and Thann...all of the folks at Heartprint! Everyone expects me to say iced coffee with sweet milk is what I love about Cambodia. But I love so much the Cambodian people I am privileged to call my friends. Oh! And vegetable curry...and the beach and Angkor Temples and Tomb Raiders and reading the Khmer Times in the morning and Phnom Penh and the Pavilion Hotel... I tell my friends about Heartprint almost daily. I try anyway! I've told people at the top of a mountain! And I can't wait to see you all again! Please stay safe.

23.01.2022 Another toilet going in thanks to The Reece Grant. As Garry mentions in this short introduction without the Reece grant the Heartprint boys would have been looking at reduced hours and reduced pay. The boys usual salary sponsor is struggling just like a lot of other businesses at this time and although they are doing all they can for us and will continue to do so into the future, reality is without this grant our boys would be in the same position a lot of the families we are helping are. Thank you Dave McNulty and The Reece Grant for not only providing families with sanitation but also providing the Heartprint boys with a much needed income.

23.01.2022 This week’s follow-up visit was at the Som Vutar and Jan Sina family home. This house was built in January 2019. Heartprint built these two houses together to maximise the space of the land. This was our State of Origin build, which saw Queensland take on NSW in a build-off.... Jan Sina was working at Hard Rock Cafe in town, his brother, Som Vutar was a Tuk Tuk driver working at the famous Pub St but with the complete loss of tourism both men no longer have a job and supporting their families has become hard. The families have a chicken farm and are currently working hard to produce eggs to sell at the local markets. They will continue to work hard to be able to send their kids to school and support their families. With the stress and the increase in chickens, they are farming, the house was not as clean as usual but Thann has spoken to them about the importance of hygiene, especially during these trying times and they have promised they will take better care. *Disclaimer: This house visit was before the current situation in Siem Reap. We are just catching up on a few we’re behind on.

23.01.2022 Have you always wanted to know something? Do you have unanswered questions? Why Heartprint? Why Cambodia? Why, why why? For 24 hours we're doing a Q & A session. Ask us anything you want. Ask about Heartprint, ask about Cambodia, ask our whys, our wheres, and our whats. Ask and you shall know. Leave your question here or head over to our stories we'll be posting questions and answers there.

23.01.2022 Providing a clean area to wash your hands is sometimes more important than anything else we can give. Even though Cambodia's Covid 19 numbers are still very low it is important that children are taught regular handwashing techniques as well as have access to a clean place to wash themselves.

22.01.2022 Soursday Chnam Thmey Happy New Year With the new year about to commence in Cambodia, we'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year.... A very spiritual time in Cambodia, the new year is often celebrated by visits to the temples, traditional games, and purification ceremonies. A time spent with family, younger members of the community will often wash and give thanks to elder members. Houses are spring-cleaned and decorated with offerings to the sky deities all in the hope for a better, more prosperous year to come. Sadly this year, things will be a lot more subdued; no water fights, no powder, and no parties. With a curfew set in place, social distancing measures, and no large gatherings, this year will be very different to others but you can be sure every Cambodian will be lighting their incense and saying prayers for better times as they welcome in the year of the Ox.

22.01.2022 It was bring your kid to work day today. Nana joined us for a drive along to spread some Heartprints. Of course everyone was happy to see him and there were smiles all round as usual. A little wet underfoot once again today but the girls sorted it, making sure no family missed out on their delivery. I of course stayed in the tuk truck nice and dry; someone had to babysit Nana. A very big thank you to Heidi Knodle for once again supplying another week's rice and food staples.

21.01.2022 We managed to just beat the rain today, still a little wet and muddy under foot but at least most of the water has cleared up. This week's 100 rice relief parcels thanks to Craig Goodman and his cheese board fundraiser and Raw Squeeze & MooFree Burgers North Lakes from their in store fundraiser. Just goes to show with a little effort we can help others. Anyone can!

21.01.2022 Week 9 of dance, it's all coming together and the kids are ready for next week's performance where on their final night we will reveal to the world just what they have learnt. We can say whether they have learnt a lot or not they have most defitnely had fun along the way. Thank you James Wright for sponsoring this 10 week program. You can rest assured your donation has made a massive change in these children's lives.

21.01.2022 A very special thing happened today in our Youth program today. Part of The Duke of Ed International award, is learning a new skill. When we asked the girls what they would like that to be, it was unanimous that they would like to learn to play the guitar. Paul, a local musician as well as one of our neighbours and customers of our cafe, volunteered not only to teach the girls every week but also helped us purchase the guitars for a very good price. Paul introduced us to Ekk... Wiboll a local Khmer that owns a music shop. Wanting to help, Wibol passed on an amazing discount to help the girls pursue their dreams. Thank you Penny James for your very generous donation, because of this we were able to purchase every single girl their own individual guitar to learn on. Even Pheap and Garry have decided to learn. Stay tuned for the Heartprint Jams album coming out in a few months time.

20.01.2022 HUMANS OF HEARTPRINT A showcase of the individuals who support us. Christine De La Torre from Wollongong, NSW. Australia... I was introduced to Heartprint through my daughter Riannan, she is one of the founders and does a lot of voluntary work with them. I decided to join the Heart of Gold club to help fund the work the volunteers are doing for the families and their children - eg. building houses, supplying children with bicycles so they can attend school, as well as giving gift packs at Christmas. My favourite part about being involved in the club is seeing the happy faces of the children. I was lucky enough to visit Cambodia in the past and see the amazing temples. Unfortunately, I haven’t been on a Heartprint volunteer trip but it is definitely in my future plans. I tell my friends about Heartprint and the wonderful things my daughter and her colleagues are achieving all the time. Chrissy Del

20.01.2022 HUMANS OF HEARTPRINT A showcase of the individuals who support us. Tanna Prince from Las Vegas, Nevada US... I was introduced to Heartprint through a business associate and started providing support through a sincere interest in the cause and for the opportunity to get my own hands involved in helping people who sincerely need and deserve assistance. I love the idea of the house build. I have supported Heartprint as a volunteer at a house build, by purchasing toilets, as an ongoing supporter of the Heart of Gold club, and through ad hoc contributions as I can for rice delivery or whatever HP needs. It’s difficult to pinpoint my favourite thing about Heartprint there are so many things. Wendy and Garry and their absolute dedication, the commitment of the organization to supporting the most basic core needs of food and shelter to as many as they can, the evolution of the non-profit whereby when they see a need, they seek to fill it. They continue to grow in so many ways from homes to toilets to dental supplies to school supplies, clothes, baby supplies, the new centre and café. I am amazed at how Wendy and Garry continue to expand their outreach to giving the people of Cambodia a hand up. Where to start about what I love about Cambodia: first the people. So many who live in poverty and very difficult circumstances are kind, warm, giving and calm. The culture and the way history is honoured and revered. The resilience of the people who have suffered so much historically and yet still, they seem to persevere without complaint or bitterness. The country itself is beautiful. Did I mention the incredible food and the oh so wonderful inexpensive massages:-) I talk about Heartprint and Cambodia whenever I have the opportunity to the extent that I hear yes, you told me often. I cannot wait to come back for another house build with my son!

19.01.2022 We had a very special surprise for Panet Lyna after dance on Tuesday night. Thanks to Gordon and Christine Ryder, Lyna received a new bike. She had previously told Pheap that if she had a bike she would ride her and her sister to school. We couldn't argue with that. Gordon and Christine donated the bike as a birthday gift in memory of their granddaughter. Every year they honour their granddaughter this way. Gordon and Christine, thank you for your constant support to the Heartprint community.

17.01.2022 Srey Mao has been a busy little bee. She's sewing bags for our hygiene packs that will be part of this year's Christmas gift packs. Each pack will hold a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and other hygiene items. It's an essential part of their gift that not only helps the kids remember the importance of hygiene but also keeps all their things clean from the unhygienic conditions a lot of these families are sadly living in. The bonus is every individual in the family will have their own unique bag, no more cross contamination.

17.01.2022 It's what you've all been waiting for. The countdown has begun. The cookbooks are at the printers and will be on our doorstep any day now. Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks to see how you can purchase your very own hardcopy.

17.01.2022 The Story of Heartpint captured by Britt and Francesco of Light Reader Content.

16.01.2022 The concrete pits have arrived for the San Sok Phear family toilet. With access still available to their village we wanted to get the pits to them before Khmer New Year so they could dig them in. Hopefully, after the holiday the crew will be able to get out and build the toilet. We request that every family dig in their pits for their toilet, it's part of helping yourself. A hand-up, not a handout.

16.01.2022 A busy day at the office today. Collection of 72 rice relief packs (100 total for the week), signed four more students up to our English school sponsorship program and a chat with a family needing assistance with our All Minds Matter program. All before 11am. If anyone has some suggestions on cloning Srey Pheap, please send them our way. At one stage she had three families waiting for information and was trying to give out rice at the same time (all with a smile on her face o...f course). Luckily she has some great helpers on hand to step up when she needs it. Thank you once again to Craig Goodman and his amazing cheeseboard fundraiser and Raw Squeeze & MooFree Burgers North Lakes for organising their in store fundraiser, that combined, paid for this week's rice relief.

16.01.2022 Happy Pchum Benh Pchum Benh is a time when Cambodians pay respects to their deceased relatives. Families gather together, cook food and present food and offerings of drinks, incense and other delicacies to the monks at the local pagoda. Although the period of Pchum Benh is for 15 days the main three days started today. This is an extremely important time in the Buddhist religion of which it is estimated that 95% of all Cambodians are of the Buddhist faith. To allow Heartprint staff time with their families to partake in their religious beliefs Heartprint will be closed until Saturday.

15.01.2022 Toilet number 8 of The Reece Grant went to the Chan Soch family. As always the family were heavily involved in this build and because the family were able to help so much, on this occasion we could once again build a full brick toilet. Did you know improper disposal of human waste can cause devastating illness? When people don't have toilets they defecate in the open, often near living areas. By building toilets we are keeping people healthy.... Thank you once again Dave McNulty for securing this very important grant.

15.01.2022 It's been 6 months since we were forced to make adaptions to our usual day to day business due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Whilst at first we thought this would be a temporary change, it soon become apparent this change would soon be the new normal. Having families reliant on Heartprint was the last thing we ever wanted. Our whole mission statement is helping people to help themselves. How is giving out bags of rice and food staples helping people to help themselves? It's not. ... This dilemma combined with the knowledge that giving out this amount of rice is not sustainable to any charity, let alone a small charity like Heartprint, it's time we make some changes. This week will now be the last week of handing out rice on a weekly basis. We are realistic about change and we know we can't just put everyone into the same box, things that work for one family might not work for another but we do know that families need to be part of the change and have to help themselves if their lives are going to improve. We have now broken our families up into three groups. The first group, are families that are in a desperate position, without help they would most likely not survive. Amongst them are grandparents with no income, taking care of abandoned children, people taking care of the sick or elderly, etc. They will receive their rice fortnightly. These food relief packs will now be covered by our Heartprint Heart of Gold Club. The second group, we believe are families that would benefit from regular educational workshops that will include health and hygiene, positive parenting, addiction and breaking the cycle, plus more. We will be in regular contact with them guiding them through ways to start improving their lives, offering them training opportunities and supporting them to find work in different fields to what they were relying on before. Any donations already made to rice relief (we have one and a half weeks of remaining donations after this week) will be transferred to this group. The third group, are now on the road to going it alone. Of course we will be there to support and encourage and they will never be alone. They can always come and ask for help. Our aim of course is to get all of our families to the third group. Thank you to the Grab a meal, Give a meal, Leave a Heartprint group for this week's food relief packs. Thank you Janine Hill, Denise Hough, Joyce Wall, Bibi Campal, Karen Leigh, Kerrie Garay, Karen Wibberley, Tracey Shingles, Kevin Moran, Betsy-Ann Herron Harris, Paula Branson, Sandra Joan Branson

13.01.2022 With Mother's Day just around the corner we've got a special offer for you. Show your mum you not only care about her but that you care about the world. From now until Mother's Day (May 9th) we are offering free shipping Australia wide on our shop products when you spend over US$50. Simply enter the Free Shipping code FREE4MUM.... Visit our website https://heartprint.org.au/shop Happy Shopping!!

11.01.2022 This week’s follow-up visit was at the Brum Phally family home. This house was built in April 2019. Brum Phally made money from catching birds in snares and selling them for release at a temple. Sadly as we all know life is tough and he has turned to drinking more and more and fighting with his wife. He has now left the family and is no longer living in the family home.... Mum, is determined to work hard and has picked up some labouring work, Although the pay is low and it’s not regular work she is determined to make it work and keep her kids in school. She’s worked that hard that she’s even started bricking in the bottom of her house to make another room. Khmer women are tough and proud. The house is also spotless. We will continue to keep an eye on the family and see to any needs they may have. *Disclaimer: This house visit was before the current situation in Siem Reap. We are just catching up on a few we’re behind on.

11.01.2022 Remember yesterday when I said we'd had a lot of rain, it was definitely not an exaggeration. Today's rice delivery may look like fun but I can assure you walking through water to get to houses with who knows what is in it is not what i call fun. The Heartprint crew didn't complain, not even when a fish touched their leg or they saw leeches swimming through the water, they made sure everyone got their rice. Some families came to us and for those that couldn't we braved it an...d took it to them. For some hilarious out takes from the day make sure you check out our stories. The saddest part for me today was the realisation that everyone thought this was ok, they thought it was normal to walk through infested water to get to their houses, they know no different. If we in the Western world have a burst water pipe spouting, clean water I might add, we are straight on the phone to the authorities to have it fixed. We won't walk in the rain, we park our cars as close as we can to the shop door. Next time it rains, spare a thought for those doing it tough over here. This should not be accepted as normal. This week's rice drop was thanks to the De La Torre family. Thank you Riannan De La Torre and your family for continuing to be part of leaving Heartprints. We also gave out some school supplies thanks to our amazing Heartprint Heart of Gold Club

10.01.2022 Smiles all around today. The rain has stopped the rice is tasty and as it was free space the kids could play. We even had a visit from the baby we sponsor with formula today. He is growing very big and strong and such a happy little boy. Thank you once again to the De La Torre family for sponsoring this week's rice and staples.

10.01.2022 Purchase a Christmas pack and help the local economy here in Cambodia. It's been a hard year for many; tourist numbers are down which means sales are down, the community is struggling. Help spread cheer this Christmas by gifting a child a Christmas gift as well supporting a local. To purchase your pack visit: ... https://donorbox.org/heartprint-christmas-giving-campaign See more

07.01.2022 A day out for the Bong Srey girls today. Hired some bicycles to visit the temples. Can you believe four out of five of the girls had never been inside Angkor Wat? It's that famous it's the National symbol on the country's flag. The girls have lived in Siem Reap their whole life but have never had the chance to visit. We enjoyed a day of sightseeing, bike riding and finished off with some lunch before the long trip back home. A wonderful day had by all.

06.01.2022 Just because our Bong Srey program has finished doesn't mean the girls stop attending. They're program has now just evolved into youth group. Now instead of us setting the program the girl's choose how they would like the program structured, on our guidelines of course. This week we built an obstacle course and then came up with the ways we will spend the next few weeks. There were suggestions of bike rides, swimming, making movies, playing instruments and so much more. I th...ink Pheap and I are going to be exhausted. Eventually the girls will partake in the Duke of Edinburgh program; an international award set up to allow young people to document all of the activities they do outside of their formal education. It values these experiences and illustrates just how important they are to developing youth into well rounded individuals. We will also start Bong Pros, our boy's 10 week mentor program in the near future and once they have completed their ten weeks they will join the girls on their journey.

04.01.2022 Week 10 of Dance with Tola and that's a wrap for this series of the program. This is a live version of the dance. Now, when you go live you never know what might happen and that's exactly what did happen. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themsleves. The parents attended and witnessed what their kids have been learning and were very impressed. We finished off with a little party. We are so proud of our first group of dance students. These kids have never had any type of formal le...arning like this other than at school. Extra cirricular activities are just not a thing in Cambodia, so to see how far they have all come has been amazing. Thank you James Wright for sponsoring this very important program.

02.01.2022 Following up from our R U OK post last week we are pleased to say the young man from the post has already started counselling sessions with Penhjet Counselling Services and will keep receiving regular help. We will also be starting a new program, "All Minds Matter" in the aim to provide regular individual counselling sessions to those that need it as well as group sessions and workshops. This will also include a parent group for parents of children with intellectual disabili...ties. With no group sessions of this kind here in Siem Reap (that we know of) to help parents through these challenging times we believe it will be a great resource to share stories and realise you are not alone. Thank you to the following people for donating to this new program ensuring that indeed, all minds do matter! Samm O'Brien, Dave McNulty, Bibi Campal and Riannan De La Torre and Christine De La Torre's face mask fundraiser.

01.01.2022 It's sometimes hard to describe how much kids in Cambodia love to learn. Today was a perfect example that I just have to share. We have had non stop torrential rain (see the last photo for an example) in Cambodia for the past three days and today was computer class. Expecting not one single student to turn up I was pleasantly surprised to see everyone here, focused and ready to learn. There is nothing stopping these kids, all they need is an opportunity.