The Surprising Similarities Between Two World of Children Honorees
Editor’s Note: World of Children founders are on a humanitarian trip to Southeast Asia. This reflection was written by Co-Founder Harry Leibowitz from Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Over the past 2 days, we visited the programs of Honorees Benoît Duchâteau-Arminjon (Benito) and Kenro Izo in Cambodia.
While Benito’s programs (Krousar Thmey) deal primarily with blind children, deaf children, and street children, Kenro has built a pediatric teaching hospital in Siem Reap (the Angkor Hospital for Children).
There, the differences end. The similarities are actually much more telling:
First
Both Honoree’s programs are far more expansive and impactful than we could have imagined, even though we had carefully researched them both.
Second
Both Honorees’ commitment to their work is totally selfless and involves their doing all their work for no financial remuneration. In fact, both Honorees put their own resources into their programs.
Third
Both have made it a major practice to use foreign personnel sparingly and, rather, to build capacity on the ground in Cambodia with Cambodians.
Fourth
The number of children being served and families being saved is almost unbelievable for a small country like Cambodia. Benito’s team services hundreds of children every day in some 60 projects nationwide and Kenro’s one hospital in Siem Reap sees at least 500 children a day in a facility that is not even half the size of a standard US Hospital.
Finally…
The children all come into their programs challenged or ill, disenfranchised or injured, hopeless or frightened, but they all exit the programs smiling, with a great hope for the future and a full life ahead of them.
And You Can Help
Now, you have the opportunity to provide life-saving medical care to the children of Laos by supporting Kenro’s second pediatric hospital, which opened in February.