Hi everyone, 
 
Well, it’s the end of day one and we have had an amazing day. I am not sure if you realized but the connection that we have to this program is actually through Vivienne. She was here last year just after we re-opened the Singapore store and was so touched by the kids she met, that she wanted to find out more and see how she could personally help. It was a natural fit for our Stitch in Time program and so we got onto Nick who set up and runs the Cambodia Orphans Fund (COF) and here we are.
 
We started off very early, leaving Singapore and landing in the 32 degree heat (with about 100% humidity) of Siem Reap in Cambodia. We were met by Nick and his team from the COF and went straight to his offices to meet the team and learn more about his amazing work in rescuing and raising over 65 kids in the 2 centres that he runs, as well as the great work with the Family Support Program hat helps 18 families in the surrounding communities.                      .
 
From there we went to their Vocational training centre and were united with our Brother sewing machines and over-lockers. It was so exciting to see the training centre all set up and ready to work. The COF team have done an incredible job building the room and setting everything up ready for our first training session tomorrow. We hung up the amazing quilt that Gale made us (thanks Gale – it looks fantastic and we are all going to sign it with the kids and the students tomorrow!) and everyone is ready to get those machines sewing and making the foundation some much needed income.
 
After setting up the room we went with Nick to visit with the kids in both the Lana Centre and Osborne House - these are the 2 orphanages that COF runs. We were so overwhelmed by the greeting and welcome that we received from the most beautiful kids you have ever met. They are sweet and very well mannered and made us feel so at home with them. The orphans are very proud of Osborne House, taking time to show us their classrooms, sleeping quarters and recreation room. We played games and sat down with them – but the hit of the day was the balloon app on Dahlia’s iPhone, all the kids thought it was the best thing ever!
 
We are really excited to start the training tomorrow morning with the women from the Family Support program which assist women and families in the surrounding communities to the COF locations. Our aim with these sessions is to teach as many people as we possibly can, maximising the opportunity for the participants and the community while we are here. It is amazing and humbling to see just how much these machines are able to do to help these amazing kids and their community and we are all very honored to be here supporting the Stitch in Time program.

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