The most important project for COSO at the moment is the acquisition of our own land so that the children have somewhere to live once our current rental agreement ends. We have just over two years until this takes place, so we must act now to secure a piece of land on which we can build a new 'village' for the children.

COSO has deposited $20,000 USD and included $5,000 USD on 24th July from Huonville High School in Australia,  on a piece of land that is large enough to establish a basic version of the current orphanage (and on which, we still must pay $15,855 USD before the 24th of September and else the deposit is forfe, but because of the current economic climate in Cambodia (or rather, lack thereof) there are many, many families that cannot support their children. This has driven Samnang, President of COSO, to envision a larger village for the children, where up to 108 children can be housed in a sustainable village. This village will also provide free schooling for up to 250 needy children from the local area, and aims to train them in trades such as air-conditioning repairs, wood carving and sewing, as well as teaching them English, so that they might have a better chance of supporting themselves once they reach adulthood. To create such a village, extra land will need to be purchased, and there is a piece of adjoining land to the one already held with deposit that we may purchase. The cost of this second piece of land is approximately $37,585 USD. We would very much like your assistance in acquiring this land so that we may begin to build this village for the children. Once this land has been purchased, the plans for the village will be published on this website and we hope to find donors for each of the buildings, the water well, the electricity station or solar panelling, and the vegetable garden. Thank you in advance for any help you may give us !

Day-to-day costs are required still

At the time of writing this page, we are experiencing real hardship. The level of tourists’ donations is currently not enough to cover the cost of daily food for the children and their care-givers, let alone their government school fees and uniforms. We are really struggling from day to day. However, we are looking to the future and trusting that life will become a little easier and more secure. For that reason, we are keeping this project page open in the hope that, before very long we shall be in a happier position and will be able to begin to plan new projects for the children.As mentioned on the donations page, our main project for the future will be new buildings on freehold land, thus securing the future of every child in the care of COSO.

A van for transporting the children

We would like to purchase a simple van so we can transport the children to and from school (especially in the monsoon season), as well as to the different venues around Siem Reap when they perform their Apsara dance for tourists. We have found that a van would cost around US$7,500.00 and would be very grateful to receive any assistance that you may be able to offer for the purchase of this.

Please contact us if you wish to support for these projects