Results of the 2009 Fundraiser

Our fundraiser was held Oct. 28th at the M&S Grill here in Kansas City. Shawn Duke the GM, let us use an area of the restaurant for a silent auction and raffle. He donated the appetizers, wine and the raffle tickets along with providing Brock, one of their best servers to help. He also gave us several M&S Grill gift certificates to use in the raffle. We really would like to thank Shawn and all the employees at the Grill that have helped so much all year long.

Boulevard Brewing Company donated some of their famous Smokestack series of beer and also provided a new Ale that won't be released for three weeks to be used in the auction. Beauty Brands, Function Junction and Shang Tea Company donated gift certificates for the raffle. Chip's chocolate factory donated three pounds of fudge. Margie Garner donated 2 bottles of the now 3 buck Chuck along with a great wine carrier. JoAnn Banks (my daughter) donated hand crafted granite coasters and a large trivet for the silent auction. Hallmark cards donated boxed Christmas cards. Both my daughters helped with the auction and raffle and keep things moving smoothly. One generous donor gave us $1000 to help two families not only get a well but to start a business that will be self-sustaining. Our total for this year is now at $2400 and I hope to sell a few more photos before we leave if I can find the right venue.

We hope to return to Cambodia by late January or early February 2010. It would be great to tour the new wells and meet the families that will benefit from this fundraiser and everyone's generosity.

M&S Grill fundraiser

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted. We are still in contact with Tin and exchange emails a couple times a month. He has not been getting bookings since the economy is down and there was that earlier trouble at the Bangkok airport. Nancy and I have been able to help him out a little so he could keep his daughters in school. It does seem things are starting to turn around, he has a few bookings for Jan/Feb 2010 Now for some news about the wells. Thanks to the great people at M&S Grill here in Kansas City, we are going to be able to hold our fundraiser at their location on the plaza. The GM has offered to let us use an area of the restaurant for a silent auction and he will help us raffle off tickets for various gift certificates, some of which he is donating. I’m going to have to get busy and get a good slate of photos ready for the auction.

It will be held Oct. 28th at 5:00. There will be appetizers and wine available during the event and other drinks may be purchased at the bar. Plus it will be during happy hour so that always helps. We are still working out the details and an invite will be forthcoming to those that are able to attend.
The employees at M&S have helped so much in the past and Nancy and I cannot tell enough people how great they are. And it’s a really outstanding restaurant, our favorite in town. I really have high hopes for this auction. Nancy and I are working on a plan to return to Cambodia Jan/Feb. 2010 and it would be great to be able to tour some new wells and met some new families.

Paung Oeum's New Business

I received pictures from Cambodia last month of the equipment that the Paung family were able to buy. Tin has told me that he is doing quite well and getting more business all the time. I would have posted this much sooner but things have been very hectic lately.



The air compressor cost $289 by itself and to me it is amazing that he could get the other items with the little money he had left.
Here is a note from Tin after his first visit with Paung.

Yes, last three days I was with 2australians tourist. We stopped at Paung Oeum's house. I chatted with about his business about 15mns. He told me that his business is on the way. He said he can make $3 to $5 dollars a day. He told me that all spare parties were used all and he went to market to get another spare parties for three time already since we bought the first spare parties for him. He said that last harvest month his family got a few hundreds kg of rice to feed 16members so this amount of rice is not enough. So, he said, he has to use the profit money from repairing the bikes to buy some more rice for his family. He said, however he will try to save some money to some more spare parties. As the result, I could see his happy face. He showed me a big smile when I got there while he was repairing two bikes. This is his first hand improvement. I will follow up again when I drive pass there.

It is such a great thing that we can put a family in business for a relatively small amount of money.

I will have my next fundraiser in late June. Some of my friends have come up with some very interesting ideas that I hope will be a big success.

Conrad

Wind machine for landmine victim.

In one of the families that recieved a well"from our friends in Kansas City" is a man that wants to start a repair business. Tin believes that he has the qualities to make a go of it. Here is the note that Tin sent me.

Dear Conrad

One of these two wells is being used by the victim of land mine during last civil strife. The Paung Oeum family with 16 members. Well sign said on 22/Dec/08. This family which I want to help help his family with a small business if we could in future. He was victim of land mine from the last civil strife. All his children, some married and some not married are staying with him. His famiy is very poor. As you can see all his members in the photograph. The other picture are his grand children playing in his home.

I hope all these pictures could help you to raise more money for deduction our poverty. His family is very poor. He said to me that he needs some capital in order to make business. He said he wanted to open a repair shop at his home. He told me that he got enough ability to repair broken motor-bikes, bikes and flat tire or refill wind into car's tube. This business will need a set of crew drivers, a set of wind comressor and some spare part.
I think this business perhaps cost round $400

After reading this, I decided that I would like to help this family. I was getting ready to write this story when I received another email from Tin this morning which is as follows.

Dear Conrad,
Yesterday I was with three Australai tourists. We went to Boeng Mealea temple which located 60km northeast of Siemreap. On the way back we drove pass Paung Oeum's house. We stopped for about 20mns there. I made a request to my clients to help him. The three Australians decided to give him $300 for buying a set of wind compressor, a set of crew drivers, some bike and motor-bike spare parts. The wind compressor is the most expensive. It will be costed $290.
I will bring him to Siemreap to buy those things on 16th/Jan/09.
Paung Oeum was very happy.
So $300 will enough only for the Wind compressor only.
I think he will need another $100 for the spare parts.

Thanks for your participation to help his family.

We are safe and well here.

Best wishes,
Tin

What great news. I also received $50 from one of the fine bartenders at the M & S Grill a couple of days ago. Nancy and I will add another $75 and send it Western Union on Monday and we can get this guy in business. Did you notice the tires hanging in the house.

One additional comments for our friends in Kansas City. If you haven't been to the M & S Grill on the plaza, you are missing one of the better dining experiences in KC. The only thing that is better than the food are the people that work there. If you get the opportunity, sit at the bar, have a meal or enjoy the happy hour there and I promise you won't be disappointed.

December 2008 installations

We were able to get 9 wells installed in December. I was really pleased that Tin was able to get the well for the family in Boston finished in time for their parents Christmas present. You could see the joy in that family that they received a well. Shown below are three more wells that the fundraiser was able to install along with the well for Elmer and Rebecca of Boston. I will try and post the remaining pictures later this month.

I have the receipt posted. The translation for the receipt is as follows.
DAI DEK WELL COMPANY
( Preas Dak village, Preas Dak commune, Banteay srey district and Siem Reap Province)
1: 5 plastic pipes x $3.5 = $17.5
2: Pump head 1 x $46.5= $46.5
3: cement 2 sacks x $6.25= $12.5
4: glue 1can x $ 0.5= $0.5
5: Brick 100 pieces x 400r= $10
6: Crepin (filter) 1 x $4.5 = $4.5
7: metal connection 1 x $1.5= $1.5
8: Sand half cubic m x 20000r = $5
9:Rock half cubic m x $10.5 = $10.5
10: Workers 4 x $12.5 = $50
11: Pickup car & driver = $60
12: Petrol used for 2 pumping machines= $6
13: Well's sign = $25
Grand total = $249.5

I was a little discouraged to see that the signs cost $25 but that is the best incentive that Tin has been able to come up with. I guess it is all a part of doing business. The signs do last quite a while, a year or more. I’ll post more pictures soon. Thanks again for everyone’s effort in making all this possible.

We will have a total of 9 new wells in December

Lauri, Jeannine, Tin, Nancy and myself from our last trip, February 2008

I sent Tin $2250 on Nov.26th. He hopes to have all the wells in by the end of December. After I paid the fees on my end, he had to pay $15 to get the money and the banks along the way took another $35. So he received a total of $2200.00. Earlier a couple of British tourist gave Tin $150 so I added the remaining $100 plus I donated a little extra to get the total to nine wells from the six I thought we could do before. This includes money that a past acquaintance of my daughter that lives in the Boston area also donated. She and her sisters sent me $250 for a well that they donated in their parents name for Christmas. This is a great gift that will last and last. Tin is having a little trouble getting tourist groups in because of the unrest in Thailand since demonstrators have blocked both main airports in Bangkok. He had three groups cancel in November. I think the airports are opening this weekend so I hope other groups have not cancelled as well. Tourism is a major source of income for not only Tin, but the rest of Siem Reap. I had told Tin that since he had lost so many clients that he could use the extra $100 I sent for expenses and wait until some other tourist donated money to go along with the British donation. This is his answer to me.

Thank so much for your kindness. I will not use this money for myself because I have contracted with local well company last few days that I would supply 9wells to 9 families which were already selected. I have to use this money for those 9 families which I have promised with them last few ago. I can't break my promises. Once those families are very poor.Now is winter.At night time is 14degree C and in the day is 25degree C. These people do not have properly clothes and blanket. you know when the temperature varies from 14 to 25degree C means it is chilly here. I am wearing thick cloth every day especially at night time. We donot know how long winter is going to last.Tourism is getting very slow. However thai airport is being ready to open again tourists are still afraid of coming via thailand. We'll see what is going to happen next.

I hope to have plenty of pictures to share after the New Years. It always makes me very happy to see the families and children in the photos and to know that we have made such a big difference in people’s lives.

Updated info

I was reminded that I have not posted my address in quite a while. I’m hope there are tons of people out there wanting to donate and don’t know where to send the money. Please make the check to me and send it to:

Conrad Knab
2525 Main St. #410
Kansas City, MO. 64108

I will make sure Tin gets the money and keep track of when and where your well is built. If you would like to send a smaller donation that’s great or if you can get a group of people to donate a total of $250, we can place the name of a town or group of people on the sign. This would really be a great gift to the people of Cambodia. Wouldn’t you like a picture of a family that you have provided clean water for and a sign showing “Merry Christmas from the Wilson Family”? Or anything other caption you would like posted. This is such a positive thing that we can do for a small amount in the big scheme of things.

As always, if you want to be removed from my email list, just let me know.

Thanks for all your help.

Fundraiser results

Our fundraiser was a success. We were able to rise a little over $1500 from both outright donations and through the auction. My daughter made some coasters and a large trivet that were sold and really helped the cause. And I was able to auction off a few of my photographs. People were really generous, and some of these are the same people that I hit up last year and they are still willing to give both their money and time. It is truly amazing. I want to give an extra thank you to Rhonda for making it all possible. It was only through her hard work and the willingness of the staff at Milano to let us use the space that made it a reality. I’m not sure where we could have had the success we did if not for their efforts.


Since the event, I have been in touch with Tin and he has picked out where the new wells will go. It is in the Kulen mountain area, about 50 kilometers northeast of Siem Reap.

The mountains are behind us in this photo when we went last February to the Kulen area and saw the Reclining Buddha that was built at the top of one of the mountains.

We will be able to add six wells and the signs will read "From your friends in Kansas City". Tin should be able to install all the wells in December. I can’t wait to get the pictures and see the families and children we have helped.

This is a picture of the first well that Nancy and I were able to provide for a family in Cambodia. Since then with the help of our friends we have been able to provide 7 more family wells and one large village well. These wells provide fresh water for over 35 families. We invite you to help us in this endeavor.

Clean water for Cambodia.
Where : Milano
When: Wednesday Oct. 29th 5:00 till 6:00
Light appetizers provided
Silent auction of a collection of pictures

I’m collecting money for the people of Cambodia to have fresh water. My friend Theap Bunthin in Cambodia was our tour guide in Jan. 2007 when we first meet him. We were able to see his program while touring the magnificent temples from the 10th century. He showed us the wells already built by tourist that had visited in the past few years. Cambodia has only been open to tourism since 1999. The civil wars before that stretching from the Pol Pot regime that started in 1975; thru the Vietnamese invasion of 1980 and up until the last cease-fire was signed. The government now is a puppet government that the Vietnamese support. The leader is Hun Sen, a former Pol Pot official that left Cambodia in the late 70’s and helped Vietnam in its invasion. For a reward he has been re-elected each time and funnels what little money the Cambodians can make back to Vietnam. One thing I feel we can do is provide clean drinking water for the families and children there. The wells are about 180 feet deep and the table water is clean since there is no industry there to pollute it. A local company drills the wells for $250. Tin keeps nothing for himself. This is his way of helping his country. I’ll have his profile here for you to see. His story is very interesting and moving. As it is families have to walk up to 2 miles each way to get dirty water from the river. They let it sit in large earthen jars for the sediment to settle, but there is still bacteria left. Almost all of the children in the countryside have intestinal disease of some kind. For $250 a family can have clean water virtually forever. Most gifts I have brought lately don’t last very long. As you can see in the photo if you sponsor a well your family name or whatever you like will be added to the sign. These signs last a year or more and can encourage others to give. But remember the money can be in any amount. Every time I reach the $250 mark, another family gets a well. For a combined donation I’ll add a sign reflective of Kansas City or the Midwest. All the money tonight from the donations and silent auction items will be used to provide as much clean water as possible.

July 2008 wells

August 28th 2008
I was able to have two wells built in July. I hadn’t collected any money lately so I just sent Tin the money for two wells. They were for two families that we had met there on our last trip and you could really see the need from the two mothers as they almost begged for their family to be next. My wife Nancy wrote about these families in her blog. Here is the link to her story Touring Cambodia. http://crowncenter.blogspot.com/2008/03/touring-cambodia.html
Tin sent these pictures along with one that another past tourist paid for. Once again it cost $46 dollars to send the $600.00. It was $20 on my end from Commerce bank to send it and $26 for him to pick it up. I looked into PayPal to see if I could send money less expensive, but it seems they do not operate in Cambodia. I did send a little extra money for these families to help them out with food since rice has almost doubled per kilo. It is just so hard for the people over there. I’m going to try and have enough money by the end of September for 4 more families. I’ve been out of town on a couple of small trips lately and lost focus on raising more money. And before that I was thinking about how to raise large sums of funds and getting a tax free or NGO status. That kind of got me in a funk since I was not getting anywhere with it. So, in September I’m going to try and get enough funds for as many families as possible, after that I’ll look into fundraisers, etc. Maybe I can get so kind of Christmas tie-in going. People can get each other a well for a needy family instead of giving things that sometimes neither one of them really needs or wants. That would make gift giving simple.

This well is being used by two families which live in Kravan village. This is the Khe Nounn family. There are 8 children in this family.

This is the Pech Say Family. They have 6 children

Here is the picture of a well that a past visitor from 2007 sent. She has also been very active in supporting Tin.

I'll keep in touch and if anyone wants to contact me, my email address is cknab1@yahoo.com

Village well completed

I’m very happy to report that the Village well has been completed and is serving 23 families. The well is being used by Phum O' village community which is located about 45km east of Siemreap. Bunthin has told me that this poor community was facing very bad sanitation for very long time. There are many children getting sick and most of them have gotten dengue fever and dysentery. This well will go a long ways toward improving their everyday health. Bunthin is in the back row with his ever present ball cap. You should be able to click on the picture for a better look.

The next village we would like to target is Kampong Thom province, Krayear village, east of Siemreap about 200km away, Bunthin said that no tourists go there at all so they don’t even get the opportunity for the small family wells. They also are facing very bad sanitation and sickness with the children of the village.

In the next couple of weeks I’m going to develop a plan for raising money for the next well. Bunthin having his bank account has helped a lot. The cost of transferring the money was $20 here and his bank charged $26. I hate to lose that much money but it is much better then Western Union which was charging me $17 every $200 I sent over.

I have contacted 3 different organizations that do wells in other countries to see if they would add Cambodia to their list of countries they help but I have not been getting any responses yet. I’ll keep trying but my hopes are not very high right now. I think I will develop a list of companies that I may be able to interest in helping. Any large company that has a foundation that helps worthy causes. If anyone can think of a company to add to my list that would be a great help.

If anyone on my distribution list would rather not receive these emails please let me know and I will remove your name. Otherwise I hope that with your help we can continue to provide fresh water to more and more families that are in such great need. Your generosity has already given many families a gift that benefits them each and everyday.

April report

Well, it is now April and we have been back for over 6 weeks now. Just re adjusting and getting caught up on everything takes a lot of time. We did visit many of the families with the new wells and I was able to take pictures and send them to the donors. If I have missed anyone please email me at cknab1@yahoo.com. Tin has opened a banking account so now I will not have to pay the large charges that Western Union adds. It is $17.00 per hundred, that adds up quick. My wife Nancy wrote a story of our trip and if you like you can read it at her blog. http://www.crowncenter.blogspot.com/ Just go to the right side, click on March, then click on the link Cambodia. She did a great job and I hope you will find it interesting. The inflation rate in Cambodia is now approaching 60%. I really feel for the people as it was hard enough for them to survive before prices started to rise. Rice was .50 /Kilo and is now 1.25 /Kilo. I hope the government there will try and help but we all know that will not happen. Tin was hopping to build the village well in his hometown, but with the price increase it would be over $1800.00 So we have decided to add the village well in a town about 45 Kilometers east of Siem Reap. There are over 20 families that will benefit from this well. He is going to get started after they celebrate the Cambodian New Year which you can read more about here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_New_Year
Also the single family wells have gone from $200 to $250. Once we get the village well built, I am going to have some other fundraisers to help more families. I will probably look into starting an NGO (non-governmental Organization) so that people can get a tax deduction when they contribute. I’m not sure what that will involve but if I want to continue this endeavor, that would be the way to go. Tin had wanted to start one there but the cost was over $3500.00. He said he could use an international NGO if I got one started. For him, it is more for his personal safety then anything else. He does have to try and keep a low profile and not be noticed. I will post pictures of the village well as soon as I can.

Milano and The Wild Bunch Wells

The two wells are finished and here are the pictures. The two wells are being used by three families which live at Rauveang village.
The Milano well is being used by Kauy Noch family(widow) with 9 children, 4 boys and 5 girls. The other family is Thai Tha and Seng Phally family with 6 members.

The Wild Bunch well is being used by a family is Long Vuth and Sao Proun with 4 members.

I was able to make copies of the pictures and give everyone that contributed a folder with the pictures and a bio of Theap Bunthin, our tour guide that we are working thru. An Englishman that toured Cambodia last November wrote it for Bunthin and also had a well built for a family. Here is a copy.

Theap Bunthin is a freelance tour guide in Siem Reap, Cambodia. He explains to his customers that because he has had the good fortune to obtain some schooling and learned English which has enabled him to earn a comparatively good living, he wishes to help others – particularly poor children - to have a chance to live a life. He believes that this starts with the gift of clean water. So many children in this rural area surrounding Siem Reap never reach a healthy maturity because of the endemic risk of dengue fever, malaria and dysentery through drinking untreated water from the lakes and watercourses.

This is his story:-

My name is Theap Bunthin. I was born on 12th February 1970. I have two brothers and one sister. My two brothers work for CAMAC (Cambodia Action Mine Centre) de-mining and clearing mines. (This was the work which Princess Diana did much to bring to the attention of the outside world, and is a legacy of the warring factions of recent history). My sister is a farmer, and I am an English Speaking Tour Guide.

From 1975 to 1979 we lived through a genocide regime, until the Vietnamese Military came to rid us of them. They were very dreadful and horrific days. I was so skinny then, but I swelled up through malnutrition. My stomach was full of worms, but we had no medicine and the only way to treat them was to burn the skin. My body is still covered in burn scars. Many, many people had nothing to eat and the Khmer Rouge killed innocent people every day – especially intellectuals. My mother, Chhit Sarrang was a teacher. She was executed. My father was Soth Thom was a soldier who had fought against the North Vietnamese and had helped the American Army in the 1960’s. He was also executed by a Khmer Rouge soldier. I was six years old.

Somehow, we four children survived the Pol Pot regime, and in 1979 after the genocide had stopped, we went to live with our uncle who presently lives at Banteay Mean Chey Province. At this time there were four factions.

It was very confusing. We did not know which faction we should follow. The Government was the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) which was established by the Vietnamese, and they started to conscript for their army. The alternative was to flee to one of the other factions and become a guerrilla. I decided to join Camp Site B which was run by Norodom Sihanouk called the National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC). This camp was located in the north-west on the Thai – Cambodia border. At the age of 12, I joined FUNCINPEC’s army as a guerrilla and fought with them for two and a half years until 1985. During this time my brothers and sister were still living with my uncle in the country.

In 1985, I left the army and Camp Site B and went to Camp Site II which was run by Sen San – another faction called the Non-Communist Khmer People’s National Liberation Front, which was located on the north-west Thai – Khmer border. I left because Camp Site B was not very democratic and was much smaller than Camp Site II. When I arrived there I was taken to a big orphanage with 200 other orphans. The accommodation, clothes and food was supported by the United Nation Border Relieve Operation (UNBRO). Here I went to the Catholic Church for my part-time schooling hours and it was there that I gained knowledge of English. I was so lucky to have this opportunity. In 1990 I got my high school degree. That same year, I married my wife Thi Nai Kan who also lived in this camp.

I stayed at Camp Site II until the peace agreement was made by the UN, and the four factions finally signed a peace treaty on 23rd October 1991, establishing a temporary coalition government under the supervision of a UN peacekeeping force. Sihanouk returned to Cambodia as President, and the UN started to repatriating all refugees to their homeland. I had no home so I decided to go with my wife to her homeland in Kompong Thom Province, and we found temporary refuge at her uncle’s house. I had no job, and found nothing to do. Many refugees were jobless.

I decided to go to Phnom Penh to look for work in February 1992, and finally I got a job as an Interpreter for the UN Peacekeepers. I was allowed to choose one of 24 locations to work, and was lucky to choose Kompong Thom province where my wife lived with her uncle. I worked for the UN for one and a half years.

In May 1993, Cambodia’s first multi-party elections were held, although they were boycotted by the Khmer Rouge. The UN peace-keepers were withdrawn after the election and by July 1993 I was again without a job! In 1994 I became a Storeman for MSF, which lasted one and a half years. In 1996, I came to live in Siem Reap, where I bought a second-hand motorbike and set up as a motorbike taxi driver! In 1997, I worked as a Waiter at the Grand Hotel d’Anghor. This lasted two years.

During these years, the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot were continuing their insurgency against the Government, but with a declining power base. In 1996, the Khmer Rouge began to split. In 1998, Pol Pot died, and the Khmer Rouge were finally captured by the Cambodian armed forces.

In 2000, I became a Tourist Guide. Nowadays, I live with my family in Siem Reap town with my wife and our two daughters, Socheat (14) and Ramy (12), who are now at secondary school.

Bunthin now explains why he wants to undertake his well–drilling project in this area. He believes that at this time, no-one else is engaged in doing similar work IN THIS LOCALITY. He is aware that similar efforts are being made further north in Cambodia.

“Siem Reap was amongst the worst areas affected by decades of war in Cambodia. Prolonged conflict has had a widespread impact on the region with destruction and damage to infrastructure, (water, roads, schools & hospitals), and extensive landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO), leaving many victims of war in this area (amputees, orphans and widows).”

“The poorest households lack education/literacy and even a basic understanding of agricultural practices, so suffer loss of crops through pests, lack of access to, and knowledge of, basic hygiene and health services because of lack of road access to isolated villages.”

“The majority of people in the project target area, are dependant on surface water from natural or man-made ponds, streams or hand dug wells. These sources are reliable in terms of quantity only during the rainy season, but the quality of all these sources fails to meet even the minimum national and international standards for quality. This has led to a high prevalence of waterborne diseases – particularly of childhood diarrhoea.”

“Water sources are often quite some distance from villages, and this increases the time and labour necessary to collect water, (especially women and children), which would otherwise be spent creating food and sustenance.”

“The Well Drilling Project aims to improve the health of families living in the poorest areas – particularly children. Experience so far, has shown that the families whom we have been able to provide with a well, are able to prosper (by better utilisation of their time, better health, and a little irrigation on their plot,) producing a surplus of food to sell and so providing a little income which can be used to provide some schooling for their children.”

“I really do appreciate the generous help that some of my customers have given to my Well Drilling Project. I erect a sign at the side of the well with the name and country of my sponsors, and send a photograph to the donor, to prove that the well has been constructed. In some small way, I gain a great deal of pleasure to see these children prosper. I lost my childhood, but was lucky to survive and to eventually have some schooling. I want to give some luck to children who so far, have had none.”

Theap Bunthin

December Update

Since the tourist season has started, Tin will not be able to get the village well built until March or April. It takes 7 to 8 days of his time to accomplish that and he needs to work as much as he can. With the sale of the football tickets, I was able to have enough money to build two additional family wells. Even better then I thought. So I am sending money over for that and will keep the Village well money until early spring. Perhaps I can earn a little interest on it. The two family wells are going to be dedicated to the donation efforts of Milano in Kansas City and The Wild Bunch. The Wild Bunch is a group of people that Nancy and I hang out with after work. The Village well is going to be dedicated as being “From the Heartland of America”. The money for that came from so many different parts of the Midwest I did not want to just mention Kansas City.

We did it!!

With a couple of donations in the past week I was able to get very close to my goal. And thanks to the MU/KU football game, I was able to more than complete the money required for the well. When the Chiefs offered season ticket holders an early chance to buy the tickets last spring, Nancy and I purchased a pair. Little did we know how big of a game it was going to be. So I took the tickets to a ticket outlet and received almost 5 times what I paid for them. Now, I even have enough money left for an additional family well. I have emailed Tin with the news and soon will send the money over by Western Union.
In looking back at this experience, I can just say that I am amazed by the generosity of people. That fact that we could raise this much money in a relative short period of time just speaks volumes about the goodness of people. Starting in September and finishing in November when everyone has numerous expenses, yet still donated is really heart warming.
Although Tin will send some pictures, I promise to take plenty of pictures when Nancy and I return in February 2008.

I have received $300.00 in the last week. What a great week. This brings the total to $815.00, only $585 to go. I’m feeling very confident that we can have the well built before Nancy and I return in February. The village that will receive the well is located west of Siem reap about 90km away. It is called Preah netr preah district, Cheung wat village.
Our contact in Cambodia says the road is in very bad condition and it will take about 2 hours to get there. I’m sure it will be a worthwhile trip. Hopefully the 2 wells Nancy and I had done earlier will be in the same general direction. I have found this vilage on a map, but it doesn't seem to transfer very well. When I find a better map I will post it.

Now What Exactly are we doing?

At this point in the Fundraiser, I would just like to recap what we are doing. In Cambodia, a well for a single family cost $220.00. The water table in this part of the country is 30 to 40 feet deep. The well can be built in about 2 days. This water is very clean since there is no industry in the area. Otherwise the families have to walk long distances, sometimes well over a mile to get water from the river which is very polluted.
The well we are raising money for is for a village, about 30 families. It needs to be dug between 60 and 80 feet to reach an adequate supple of water. This well takes about 6 days to build.
The efforts in Cambodia are lead by tour guides that have banded together to help the local population. The country has been though so much hardship that people there really need to rely on each other. The tour guides show the tourist what can be done, collect the money and 100% of it goes to the well effort. The pictures show that the British, Spanish, Canadians and other countries have helped in this cause.

Once again, if you feel like helping and don’t see me on a regular basis feel free to send a check in any amount to,

Conrad Knab
2525 Main St. #410
Kansas City, MO. 64108

October Update

I’ve heard that when people do these things, it always surprises them that they get such a positive reaction from people they have never met. This has happened to me. I copied a friend in Omaha about my effort to get this well dug. Not only did she send a check, she also told a group of friends. The group is called the 12 women of Lincoln. Each month they join in a Random Act of Kindness and after a couple of phone calls decided to make the Cambodian village well their cause for this month. The $240 they sent will go a long way toward the completion of this well. They even thanked me for doing something good for the people in Cambodia, when in fact they are the ones helping to make this possible. We are at $515 working toward our goal of $1400. We are now over a third of the way to our goal.

Update

I thought it was time for an update on the efforts for the village well. It has been a slow start, but I do have $125.00 from two contributors so far. That's almost 9% in a week. So maybe in 10 weeks we will be there. Many people are on vacation or otherwise out of town. I still have full confidence that we will be able to get this done. At some point I may try to have a fundraiser if I can find a business to help me out. Otherwise we'll keep trudging along. I’ll keep you posted.

Fundraiser effort

I think I have about 8 to 10 people that showed an interest in helping with the well. So any amount of money will help a lot. For now I will BCC everyone to keep your email address private. However if you don’t mind or would want to contact others on the list let me know and I will place you on the regular “to” list. One problem I haven’t figured out for sure is what to put on the sign. I’m thinking of just putting Kansas City, USA although there are a couple of people not from KC, so if there are some other ideas I’m very open to hearing them. I will keep a running total of the money raised on this blog so everyone will know where we stand. Those of you that are in regular contact with me can just give me the money when you see me. Others that don’t see me very often can mail me a check at:
Conrad Knab
2525 Main St. #410
Kansas City MO. 64108
When we have enough I will get to Western Union and wire it over. I’ll find out in advance how long it will take to complete the well. When Nancy and I return to Cambodia in Feb. 08 we will get a chance to go to the village and take plenty of pictures to send back.
We were lucky enough to have our little story posted on the Friendly Planet website. Here is the link to that. http://www.friendlyplanet.com/traveler-quotes.asp.
We also have the same story at the bottom of the Treasures of Thailand Tour page.
http://www.friendlyplanet.com/thailand.html
After we saw that Friendly Planet had helped dig a couple of wells, we contacted them and told them what we were doing. So they added us to their website. It really is a great company to travel with.