6月5日：HAP的由来和4位小朋友的渊缘

在孤儿院里生活最久的就是照片中右边第二位的小男孩，当时
的院长还是位寺庙里的和尚。
前排右起：第一位女孩出世后7天被送入孤儿院，第二位1个月
第三位3个月，第四位6个月。

以下是HAP孤儿院的由来简介：

HAP is the orphan’s association located in Phrey Chum Village Yutsamaky Commune Udong District and Kampong Speu Province. HAP’s orphanage was set up by Mr. NOV SARATH, Cambodian when he was a monk at a poor pagoda in Phrey Chum Village in 2004.

He aims to help the Cambodian children because their parents were died by HIV and some of them are very poor families in the community.

After that he allowed the nuns who served the food for all monks in the pagoda to feed them. Then he got many orphans whose parents abandoned. When there were many kids in the pagoda, he cannot save them by himself. So he is looking for somebody and asked for helping from the kindly people whom he has known while he was a monk to support him to set up the orphanage near the pagoda. Most children have been left with the orphanage as their parents died (usually of HIV), are ill or too poor and therefore unable to support the family. At least all kids have been fortunate so far. There is only one child that was diagnosed of HIV.

History:

2003 - As a monk, Mr. Sarath felt responsible to take care of a 7 days old child who has been placed in front of the doors of his Pagoda. The child's mother had died during giving birth and the father was unable to take care of the child. With the time he was also entrusted with a one month and a 3 months old baby. In order to ensure the well being of the children, he asked two nuns to help him. Gradually, more and more homeless children came to the Pagoda in order to beg for food. With the time most of the believers were complaining about the noise of the children in and around the house of prayer. Therefore, Mr. Sarath finally decided to build a few huts on a derelict piece of land next to the Pagoda, where he wanted to raise the kids.

Mr. Sarath finally founded the organization "Hopeful Association of the Poor" (HAP) in order to be able to financially support the orphanage through donations in addition to his work as a monk. Until 2010 he was living with about 12-20 children, one of the nuns, and two other helpers in two small wooden huts.