A GENEROUS local who has been supporting nine children in Cambodia is calling on the Noosa community to help her fight against child abuse.
Trish Simpson is the secretary of the Australian Happy Hub Kampot committee and is running a raffle to help raise funds to build 10 wells in a Cambodian village.
“Currently there are three wells for 200 people and they have to walk for miles to get water. They do not have toilets and are living on the bare essentials,” Trish said.
“We also would like to be able to buy a large car to help with transport of the nine children that we are housing.”
Happy Hub grew from a run-in with a Cambodian orphanage scammer and Trish now works alongside a tight team to provide a home and positive outcomes for young Cambodian children.
Trish visited a sham orphanage in Siem Reap and was shocked to see how badly the children were treated, living without proper food or health care.
Along with now managing director Alecia Damico, Trish confronted the manager and asked how the funds were spent and learnt the children have parents but they have either alcohol or abuse issues and can’t provide care.
“It all got a bit dangerous so Alecia had to get out in the middle of the night without her belongings,” Trish said.
“She went to Kampot, where we now rent a property and she has managed to get guardianship over five of the children from that orphanage.
“We now have eight children who live in the Happy Hub house, we don’t call it an orphanage because it is a home for the children.”
As well as supporting children, Happy Hub has also started a project to help farmers start farming again and have started installing wells for the village, but so far Alecia and Trish have funded most of the children’s care costs.
“Alecia Damico lives in the house with the children that she has guardianship over and to date her and I have been paying for everything, which is becoming increasingly difficult,” she said.
“We have rescued the children from sham orphanages, where they were being very badly mistreated. Some of the children have ongoing issues, such as partial deafness from being beaten and many emotional issues.
“Alecia has now given up her life in America to raise the children and is doing an amazing job.”
To help gather support and funds for the children and charity, Trish is running a raffle with the grand prize either $10,000 cash or a trip for two to Cambodia worth $10,000 to see the work of Happy Hub Kampot.
Tickets are only $50 each and there are just 800 available.
To find out more about the charity or to purchase a ticket in the raffle visit www.happyhubkampot.org or phone 0411 644 822.
