Tuesday, 7 September 2010

Showing they care

http://www.devonporttimes.com.au/

via CAAI



BY JEMIMA STAGG
07 Sep, 2010

With Jerry Jensen's painting to be auctioned at the Care for Cambodia fundraiser are (back, from left) Joedy Mead, Evert de Schipper, Adam Banks (front, from left) Cymone de Schipper and Emma Banks.

CYMONE de Schipper believes everyone has a moral obligation to help people poorer than themselves.
So when Making a Difference in Cambodia organiser Louise Ellings invited her on a trip to Cambodia, Mrs de Schipper jumped at the chance and went with her 14-year-old son.

The trip was life changing for Mrs de Schipper and she returned home passionate to continue the work she had started, but admitted it took a while to decide to go back to the Asian country.

``It was very, very confronting and I took a while to work out whether I could cope with it again,'' she said.

She described feelings of guilt when she came home, opened her fridge and realised just how severe the differences were between her life and lives of people she had helped in Cambodia.

``It's not people that can't pay their hydro bill, it's people that can't buy food and they are dying of starvation,'' she said.

Mrs de Schipper will return to Cambodia in February under the name Care for Cambodia, but will work on the same projects and use the same contacts as Making a Difference in Cambodia.

``We will finish off projects that Louise started in January and maybe identify new ones,'' she said.

``Last time we found contaminated water in a village and went back the next day with water filters.''

``We visited an orphanage and gave out education supplies but found they really needed supplies in the kitchen so went to the market and got pots and pans.''

Mrs de Schipper said helping others wasn't a hand out, rather a hand up.

Care for Cambodia will host a fundraising dinner in October and some seats are still available.

All funds raised from the dinner go directly to communities in Cambodia as the venue, food and performers were donated for free and volunteers will cover their own expenses.


What: Care for Cambodia

fundraiser dinner.

For: Money raised will be donated to Cambodian communities.

When: 6.30pm, October 8.

Where: Devonport City Soccer Club, Lovett St.

Tickets: $50, contact Emma Banks on 0427878811. Leg 1

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