Tek Hoat
The Tek Hoat Church Orphan Home is located in the Kompong Chhnang Province.
The Cambodian Mines Action Committee (CMAC), which is the primary mine removal agency in Cambodia, has been working in the province for eight years. It was established the fall of 2004 and is built along the main road to the border of Thailand. Because of its strategic location, this route was heavily land-mined by the Khmer Rouge during the 1970s Much of the province has been cleared of mines but a number of children in the home are there due to death of one or both parents from mine explosions.
Death due to childbirth, landmines, violence, and diseases such as malaria, dysentery, dengue fever, and AIDS are the main contributors to an overwhelming orphan population. With the highest HIV infection rate in Asia, death due to A.I.D.S is becoming the number one cause of orphaned children in Cambodia.
A typical day begins as the children awake. Before eating breakfast, the orphans participate in devotions. The school age children either attend classes in the morning or in the late afternoon. After lunch, most of the orphans take naps, play, study, and take classes in the home. Later, they eat dinner, take care of the homes’ garden and plants, and attend an English class in the home. The orphans finish each day gathering for church devotions, before setting up their mosquito nets and going to sleep.
