Church helps poor Cambodians

KATINA CURTIS

A GROUP of parishioners from St George's Gerringong is travelling to Cambodia at the end of the month to help build houses in a rural village near Phnom Penh.

The church has been raising money since the start of the year for the Tabitha Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that helps poor people in Cambodia.

They raised enough to build eight houses and the 21 people on the trip will help to complete the construction of these.

Simon Godden, the tour leader this year, said each house would be a home to an extended family of about 10 people.

One important thing about the new houses would be that they were built on concrete pillars.

"Cambodia is a flooded country for about half the year, so it's a significant improvement for the villages to get them up out of the water," he said.

"The houses that they would have otherwise, which these will be replacing, would be on the ground with palm-thatch roofs."

He said the idea behind actually going to Cambodia to help with the building was to give the families hope, not just shelter.

"The Cambodians understand well enough that sending money is relatively easy," he said. "Making the effort to come and actually construct the house says much more about the love we have for them than just sending money."

The group's members range in age from 11 to 70 and they all are paying their own way on the trip.

All the money raised through donations, chocolate drives, head shaving and the church's rummage sales has been put towards the charity.

This is the second year St George's has been involved in the program and about a third of this year's travellers also went last year.

They will meet with a group of Year 11 students from Nowra Anglican College who have been doing their own fundraising for the Tabitha Foundation.