Flooding at the ELMA School

October 2009 update: The floodwaters receded, and all of the students and the books were OK. ~Leah

From: Vey Lav
Date: October 5, 2009 3:52:03 AM PDT
Subject: Flooding

Dear Sheree,

It gets flooded in Siem Reap, as well as Sambour and ELMA school. The terrace in front of the classrooms and library is also still overflooded that students' bike are not able to parked on and it affected the young students too.

Since ELMA school restarted this fall and the same time the bloody rain appeared and getting flooded, we do not get many students come to the classes once the family afraid of the kids getting drowned and it is hard to get through by bike.

It is still containing with almost 0.5 meter on some spot of the road to ELMA school.

You are right Siem Reap gets flooded almost everywhere as we never expected. We were so afraid that the books get wet but all are OK.

This is the horrible flood in Siem Reap as we have never had this for years before. I spoke to the Sambour School principal and Chair of Sambour Commune for Building new Water drainage in front of ELMA School and the house next door for offering the high flowing speed of the water out from our school.

In this case, I need help from local authority and commune as they have supported us in many cases like security and environmental issues up on the request. Don't worry. Water will disappear soon. We may need also higher elevation in front of ELMA classrooms next year just in case more flood in the future.

All very best wishes from ELMA School Cambodia,

Vey

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From: Sheree O'Donnell
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2009, 11:30 AM

Dear Vey,

How are you?

I'm not sure if you have received any of my previous messages and I can imagine that given the current flooding situation in Siem Reap that Internet connections are hard to find.

How are you coping with the weather? I've heard from friends that a lot of the town is under 3 meters of water! Old Market area, etc. How has it affected Sambour? How are the children and their families coping?

I am praying for sunshine for you!

Best Wishes,

Sheree

Summertime: Children in Their New Clothes

Vey Lav, one of the ELMA School's founders, sent this delightful photo of the younger students with some of their new clothes.

A million thanks to the Lyon family for their continued kindness and generosity.

Enormous Book Donation From Martine Jardel and Thierry Rosset

Dear Martine and Thierry,

Thank you so much for dropping off the amazing donation of 91 books and 31 pieces of children's clothing.

I am humbled by your generosity and am happy that we could all find an excellent use for the books and clothes.

The books, ranging from the wonderfully educational Eyewitness series to young adult books about teenage life are perfect for the children whose interests vary.

Your philanthropy will benefit the ELMA School and the Cambodian students for many years to come.

Love,

Leah

Thank you to the Lyon Family and Fran Navarro

Dearest Lyon family and Fran Navarro,

Thank you so much for your kind and generous donation of 22 pieces of children's clothing, and dozens of pencils, markers and notebooks to the Cambodian students.

The styles of clothing that you've been donating (and the sizes) have been a perfect fit for the students who love all things American!

Know that your thoughtfulness is being felt all the way across the Pacific.

Love,

Leah

A Successful Year! Students' Year-End Exam Results

The students had a very successful 2008-2009 school year!

Total number of students: 273

Students who took the year-end exam: 259

Students who passed: 220

Students who did not pass: 39

Students who missed the test due to work: 14

Amazing thanks to the teachers who make everything possible:

Yeann Doeurn

Thay Chan

Touch Chanthy

Morm Samuth

Por Sophean

Plok Soeurt

Special thanks to Vey Lav, ELMA School principal, for sharing these inspirational results!

Thank You to Katherine Wong and Yosh Haggerty

Dear Dayima and Yosh,

Thank you so much for your thoughtful book donations to the Cambodian students.

Dayima,

The brightly colored primary school picture books are perfect for the younger children. They'll love seeing all of the shapes and alphabet depictions.

Yosh,

The teenage students and teachers will love the gorgeous photo books of North America and mountain ranges. The younger students will love the storybooks.

Love,

Leah

The Ideals of Martin Luther King, Jr.

June 4, 2009

Dear Leah,

I received the new box of books, 10 calculators and school supplies last week from the Angkor Hospital for Children.

How amazed we are. We found other nice picture books, stories and history books in the note.

One book we think is very interesting. It is the book that tells the story of Martin Luther King, Jr. who had fought for equal rights, and fought racism in the United States.

Please say hi to donors. I will send the pictures of kids with their clothes soon.

All very best from Elma kids,

Vey