An historic event will be taking place in Cambodia at the end of November. From the 24th through the 2nd of December the first ever team sport World Cup will be held in the country.

Appropriately enough, the sport is volleyball for the disabled, and the venue is Phnom Penh's Olympic Stadium.

The Phnom Penh World Cup will be the biggest ever World Organization of Volleyball for the Disabled (WOVD) competition in the history of the organization with... more

We were looking at good news from Cambodia, and although there's a bit more of that, this good-and-not-so-good news strikes me this morning as being so typical of how the world works.

Seems that Cambodia has been doing so well at achieving "satisfactory" progess on the HIV/AIDS front that three international donors have decided to cut back on the amount of help they give the country.

The... more

Starting off this week's Cambodian news update on the upbeat, an announcement for people who will be in the NYC/Long Island area from the 29th of November to the 1st of December ... a simple online registration process can have 25% of what you pay for any purchases made at either the Americana Manhasset or Wheatly Plaza shopping centers be donated to The Sharing Foundation, a great organization that's been taking care of kids in Cambodia for almost 10 years.

For more information,... more

A 'major human trafficking ring' has been busted by Cambodian police, according to reports.

Run by Sri Lankan and Pakistani ex-pats working in Cambodia ... ringleaders Mariam Pillai Lerins Ranni, the Sri Lankan owner of the Raani Curry Leaf Restaurant in Phnom Penh, Lipton Lerins, the husband of Ranni, and Mohammed Nadim, the Pakistani owner of the Taj Mahal Restaurant in Siem Reap ... the ring planned to shuffle over 200 people through the country to various destinations... more

Elizabeth Mallory of NCLO has announced via e-mail to web groups and individuals that her organization is stopping all operations in Cambodia as of the 26th of this month.

According to the message I've seen posted, one main reason for the shutdown has to do with the children in the NCLO Children's Home being invited into "one of the best facilities in all of Cambodia".

Here, they will attend a top rate school that offers them far more than we could ever imagine offering them.... more

Mental health is an ongoing issue in modern Cambodia, as the ghosts of the past still walk beside a huge percentage of the people and life is hard.

With only 26 private psychiatrists caring for the ever-increasing numbers of people losing their ability to cope with the horrors of their pasts, there are reasonable fears of what the future holds, especially if the Khmer Rouge trials begin and more ghosts arise. Government health professionals are overwhelmed, and there is a... more

An indicator of optimism, an arrogant ploy or a greedy stretch, Cambodia's plan to start up a national airline is making news.

The costly failure of Royal Air Cambodge in 2001 may have indicated simple bad timing, and now that close to 2 million tourists are pouring in the venture could make sense.

In advance of next year's general election scheduled for July, election watchdog NGOs have determined that 11.2 percent of eligible Cambodian voters aren't... more

Life is unimaginably tough for many Cambodian children, as illustrated in this report that says some 1.5 million Cambodians under the age of 14 are forced to work, foregoing schooling, and often toiling long and hard under hazardous conditions.

According to the World Bank, somewhere around a quarter of a million Cambodian kids work in recognized areas of danger like the dumps, mines and on the streets as beggars. (No mention of prostitutes in this report.)

The Cambodian human rights NGO... more

A story of innovation and determination caught my eye earlier this week, and I'm please to be able to pass along information about this new orphanage in Battambang, set up through the efforts of a young Australian woman who refused to walk away from other peoples' misery.

Tara Winkler came face-to-face with the reality of Cambodian orphanhood and the dire and despicable circumstances that often come with, took a minute to re-think her life; then dedicated herself... more

Missing an arm and a leg might make some people weigh in a bit light, but the UK's Chris Moon has more than enough heart to tip any scales in his direction with admirable force.

He lost his arm and leg while clearing landmines in Mozambique ... that would be the hard way, I'm thinking ... and is now riding a bike from Thailand's border with Cambodia to Sihanoukville, raising money for The Cambodia Trust... more