T wenty orphans and street children look forward to new lives in a new orphanage
under the charity of a Korean Buddhist nun, Reverend Mother Superior Chung Soo
Park.
The "Orphan Center", in Kandal province, was opened on Mar 16 to
provide accommodation and education to children who would otherwise be homeless.
It was the result of an appeal to Rev Park-who has sponsored a host of
charitable activities around the world-to help Cambodia's youth.
Rev
Park said she received a phone call one night last year from Son Soubert, Second
Vice-President of Cambodia's National Assembly, while he was attending a
conference in Korea.
Surprised by the phone call, she was soon convinced
that Cambodia was a worthy cause for her.
She donated $13,000 to build
the wooden orphanage in Sre Ampil village, in Kandal's Kien Svay district, where
about 160 returnee families live.
The center includes bedrooms and a
classroom for the 20 children, and Rev Park has also donated $1000 toward
building a kindergarten for other youngsters.
Rev Park, who attended the
center's opening, said she hoped to continue her new connection with Cambodia.
Her next project would support mine removal efforts.
The 20 children
living at the orphanage were picked off the streets of provinces such as Takeo,
Battambang, Prey Veng and Kandal.
Rev Park, who was ordained a Won
Buddhist nun in 1956 and has a masters' degree in Buddhism studies, has helped
lepers, blind people and teenagers in Korea since 1979.
She has built a
school for children in the Himalayan mountains, supported Vietnamese refugees
and sent medical supplies to African nations such as Rwanda.
She funds
her projects through donations to her Seoul wat, the Won Buddhism Kangnam
Temple.
