The Cambodian Children's Book Project Begins!

July 26, 2008

Dear Leah,

I am doing fine and you? I hope you are good. I have been busy for few days a Elma and at work. Kids are doing fine too, they have so happy at Elma school. They have left handwritten letters of thanks to school, teachers, donors and materials.

The young kids who have outdoor pictures taken wanted to see their pictures.

Your picture books sent to Elma have not arrived yet, I will let you know when they reach my friend, Rithy's mail box at the Angkor Hospital for Children. Anyway thank you so much for your donation and kindness to our people.

All very best from Elma Cambodia,

Vey


July 21, 2008

Hi, Vey!

How are you? I miss the children a lot and think about them all of the time. I would like to get back to visit someday when I can save the money. Angkor was so beautiful and the visit with the children so meaningful. Meeting them was a highlight of my trip.

Many of the photos that I took outside turned out beautifully because we had enough sunlight. I'm working on making digital scans of the film so that I can get it ready to send in a Web page to you. I will keep you posted on that progress. The photos that I took of the younger girls outside are so precious. They are so beautiful and joyful. Those photos are really special. (August 25, 2008 update: www.leahlau.com/cambodianchildren.)

I mailed the first box of books last week to your friend Rithy Yam at the Angkor Hospital for Children. I hope they arrive alright. Could you please let me know when you receive them?

This first box of books is mostly from my personal collection. I love children's books and used to work at a bookstore so I learned about a lot of children's books then, in addition to ones I knew about from when I was a child. I hope that the students like them.

All my best,

Leah


July 18, 2008

Dear Leah,

It is so nice to get your kind message, I am always glad to hear from you too. It is true, sending materials from US is costly, every thing is charged in US dollars and they follow US policy system. Please do not rush, if you find a shipping company that costs much lower please take it. I do not mind if it is taking long time.

The kids are happy to hear from you, they said thanks you so much for spending time with them. The small kids were so excited when they spoke with you and had pictures taken. Finally they wished you good luck but they missed speaking with you and look forward to seeing you back.

Thank you once again for helping with my web page and gathering books for our library.

All very best,

Vey


July 13, 2008

Hi, Vey!

How are you?

I think about the students all of the time. Please tell them "hi" from me. I spent all last week getting a box of books to send to them and went to the post office to mail it last Friday.

The cost for international shipping has gone up recently and I was shocked at the high quotes that I got. I went to a few different shipping places to find out different price quotes ranging from $112 to $521! They all turned out to be very expensive because of how remote Siem Reap is but I'll return next week and mail the books from the least expensive place.

I'm sorry that, because of how expensive the shipping turned out to be, that it is taking me so long to ship books, but I'll have them headed your way. I've asked people here in the United States to donate books and told them that I will be responsible for paying for the shipping to Cambodia so book donations will come in to me at different times, including into the future.

All my best,

Leah