We are MaD – a Cambodian Charity/NGO working to make a difference for good in Siem Reap, Cambodia. MaD is registered as a charity in the USA (501c3), as an NGO in Cambodia, and we are registering as a charity in the UK.
Working in partnership with rural Cambodian communities, our aim is to empower individuals, families and villages with the knowledge and resources they need to build themselves a sustainable future free from poverty. Through our Rural Community Development and Children’s Welfare Programs, we offer Cambodian communities assistance in areas such as water, sanitation, housing, construction, sustainable agriculture, healthcare, childcare, orphan care and education.
MaD is a Cambodian charity/NGO – 100% non profit – set up to help the Cambodian people. If you are visiting Siem Reap, Cambodia and would like to learn more about our charity, or if you would like to learn more about volunteering or donating, then please do get in contact.
One of the first things that drew MaD to Reul Commune when we were collecting data in order to decide where to begin our new Rural Developement projects was the eagerness of the community members we contacted to help us. When we started contacting commune leaders in Puok District and mentioned that we were thinking of commencing projects in their communes, most took several days to give us the information we required. When we got in touch with Reul Commune, the commune leaders instantly became very excited about the prospect of having an NGO to help them and came back to us with all the information we needed within a couple of hours, stressing that if we needed anything else at all to please contact them at any time. It was quickly clear when we started going through the data that Reul Commune is a place that is in great need of help: it has one of the lowest water coverage rates in Siem Reap (which is well below the Cambodian average as it is), their agriculture (upon which the majority of the inhabitants rely) is suffering greatly and the poor sanitation situation in the commune has caused countless problems. 
The day I arrived to play games and teach the children in their village, is one to remember. They asked me all the questions they knew in English on a continuous basis just to have a conversation with me. " how are you? " " how old are you?" " where do you come from?" " what's your name? ". Being Shy and unsure of people they met, they slowly started to open up to me when I started coming to see them more often.
December 2009 was a hard and disheartening month for MaD. After the situation with APSARA reached exploding point, we finally came to realisation that we would not be able to carry out much of the work that we had promised to do in Bakong: no drilling and installing water pumps, no building improved sanitation units, no constructing new houses or refurbishing old ones. We weren’t even allowed to construct a chicken coop! If relationships were to deteriorate further, it appeared that we would also run the very real risk of having work that we had already done for the people of Bakong destroyed. Needless to say, the whole team were feeling somewhat dismayed, especially as so many of our Khmer team are from Bakong Commune and were now told that we would have to move locations away from their family and friends all because APSARA wouldn’t let us help their own people. 
