The most exciting thing that happened the past 2 days was...

...nope, not another discovery of discount coupons! Thank God my life is not that shallow!!

but it's the email correspondence i started with Marie Ens. Marie started a shelter for children orphaned by parents who died of AIDS in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It's called Place of Rescue. www.placeofrescue.com They now also have some mothers who have HIV and grannies who are also 'orphaned'.

Two weeks back, some of my gals from 5th Coy Girls' Brigade and I started a project called "Fly your Love to Cambodia". So cute. They came up with the name.

The gals sent out flyers to fellow schoolmates and collected childrens' clothing, toys and stationary. We didn't really have a lot of time on our side before school closed for the hols. But the amount of good stuff we collected was decent enough to bring over. I will bring the donations to Place of Rescue myself when I visit Phnom Penh end of November. I'm really たこい(stoked) abt this! If there's something you wish to contribute to these children or women - clothing, toys, stationary, shoes, financial gifts (US$), let me know. Pls also note that they MUST BE IN GOOD CONDITION.

Dear Siew Kim:

I look forward to your visit. I hope your parents will come with you.Of course we always need things for the children - things like toothbrushes, soap and shampoo BUT they can probably be purchased here cheaper than in Singapore. So don't buy things there and have the hassle of bringing them on the plane unless somebody gives them to you for nothing.

It is simpler to purchase that kind of thing here or have Rescue staff purchase it here if you have a desire to donate it.We now have 112 children in both the AIDS Centre and orphanage.

We have 12 mothers who are HIV positive and we have 9 elderly women in Granny House. The "grannies" are my peer group so it is a special blessing to help take care of them as they age. Their stories are so sad. They are all widows and some have had many children but have lost them all, usually during the terrible Pol Pot years. My heart goes out to them.

See you soon.
Marie