New Hope for Cambodian Children

The Preschool class sings us a song of welcome! Some of the kids are seven or eight years old, but developmentally behind because of their HIV status -- however, thanks to the Tuckers' care, they are growing quickly!

UNAIDS estimates that 4000 to 5000 children in Cambodia were living with the HIV/AIDS virus in 2007. The virus can be transmitted to children from their mothers in vitro, during labor, or from breast-feeding post-delivery. Now prevention treatment, antiretrovirals taken during pregnancy and a single dose of nevirapine taken during labor, is more readily available in Cambodia. However, as little as ten years ago, Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) therapies were widely unavailable here, and at a 15 - 30 percent risk of transmission for every pregnancy, and 5 - 20% additional risk from breast feeding, many babies were acquiring the virus from mothers who would soon be too weak to care for their babies' challenging health needs.

John and Kathy Tucker started a project to begin caring for HIV positive orphans in 2004. Since then, their work has become the New Hope for Cambodian Children, a eco-friendly village with family-style orphan care. I visited the village on Friday night. John and Kathy, Catholic Missionaries from the U.S. have created a model of sustainable, eco-friendly, child-centered care that's inspired private and public donors' commitment. Former President Clinton visited in 2006. When he held little Basil, an HIV-positive baby abandoned on the Thai border, who had been driven 12 hours to the Tuckers for care, he pledged the Clinton Foundation's support pediatric AIDS causes in Cambodia.

Stereotypical Catholic Missionaries, the Tuckers are not. Theirs is a faith inspired by the New Testament messages of love and service but devoid of proselytizing. Their 176 children in the village are Buddhists, they say, and staying that way. However, in terms of sheer love and commitment to every child they serve, the Tuckers embody all the best and most difficult tenets of loving and caring for thy neighbor.

The village is remarkable for its sustainable approach. The goal is to make 40% of its operational costs by 2010. To do this, they raise pigs, chickens, grow many of their own vegetables, and use donated cooking oil from area restaurants for methane gas. They have solar panels, a clean water generator, and plans to develop wind energy. Almost every story John shared with me on the farm's eco-friendly approach came with an example of someone who visited, became inspired by the Tuckers' project, and offered their technical assistance to the nitty gritty details of using green technology to stretch resources and allow the village to generate its own, sustainable income. Pretty remarkable.

The Chickens!

I loved my visit to the village and my time with the HIV positive babies cared for at Happy Home, part of the Tucker's day care project for HIV-positive women employed at their quilt-making site. However, I know I couldn't do what the Tuckers do every day -- attend to the needs of 176 children, offering them everything from a once-a-year beach trip, to after school tutoring, to three meals, love, and support, in the village's family setting. Instead, I've signed up to support a child in the NHCC village. Of all the activities I saw, it was the Friday night dance party, where kids who had at one point been too weak to even walk were grooving to MC Hammer during their beginning of the weekend celebration that clinched my long term commitment. The Tuckers are giving kids a space for joy and play in addition to the nuts of bolts of survival and caring for them holistically the same way you'd care for your own children. It's a mission I'm happy to support.

John and Kathy Tucker