 The bags of rice AVEC Since several days, AVEC volunteers in Cambodia prepare school survival kits for a year (notebooks, pens, school uniform etc) as well as the first food rations (10 kg rice bag, 24 packages of rice noodles, 2 kg of salt and 10 bottles of Soya sauce). The AVEC team works according to lists of the children who are going to start school and of those who are already going there (often, the children have several first names, one in school and one at home).  The setting in bags of rice The AVEC team tries to cut costs wherever it is possible. Hence, we went directly to a rice factory, where we could buy rice at a very advantageous price. We have been able to buy a ton (1000 kg) of good quality rice for $300, and then we put more than 700 kg of rice into 10 kg bags ourselves, for the first distributions. The families have already started to send their children to school. Because we work in close collaboration with the schools and the teachers in Dâksoso, we achieve good results. We provide incentives for the pupils to start attending school.  preparation of the school material For the moment, we are quite successful among the poorest in the region as far as basic education for children is concerned. The mere fact that we work for free has something to do with it. AVEC is starting to earn a reputation as non-corrupted, also vis-à-vis the local authorities. We are uncompromising when we discuss price, and we even gain support for our actions at the shopkeeper’s, where we might, in some cases, even receive some more food than we paid for. In less than ten days, we’ll be ready to support 182 kids, as well as 42 families in need.  the material for the schools We work 7 days out of 7, out of urgency, facing a field situation which is beyond understanding. The misery that we encounter in the villages seems impossible to get past. We need to get around it, somehow, getting back again and again, teasing, sometimes biting, until the guardians of each child give in to our determination (up to seven visits may be required in certain cases).  The bags of rice AVEC We use a lot of smiling, persuading words, and of course, the food gifts help us to build pacts for the of the kids’ futures, because promises are only air to people who are hungry.  A volunteer We have patience and time to listen, but for the money, it is different. We don’t have much of it. AVEC is a state of mind, people working for free in the field, but also in Europe. They are all looking for effective solutions. With these two coordinated activities, we try to save children from falling into the traps that are awaiting them. Our reward in that work is the children who recognize us when we come by. They ask us questions in the rice fields, and they are no longer afraid of the Swiss “giant”, who, covered in dust, leads his team up and down the strolls of the children’s lives. We feel the wind of change starting to blow softly, and we see people carrying their heads high, and certain women who watch, for the first time, their children go to school.
Our work is made up of meetings, dialoguing and of the hope to finally push back the misery that has invaded these homes.
To us, it is the most beautiful profession in the world.
Patrik Alain Roux
Voluntary Help to Cambodian Children
Note: photos copyright: www.info-avec.org Text corrected and translated by: Charlotta Friedner
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Popular usage of the term "paedophilia" classifies all persons engaging in sex with a child as a paedophile. Paedophilia, a sexual preference for prepubescent children, is not a crime in itself. It is the act of sex with a child that is a crime. Put simply, a paedophile is a person with a sexual love for children. However, a person who exploits or abuses a child sexually is not necessarily a paedophile, and a paedophile may not necessarily act out his fantasies by engaging in sexual activities with a child.