(Newswire.net — April 25, 2014) Sydney, NSW — Friends International has been singled out as one of the top Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Cambodia and featured in the book ‘UNSUNG HEROES CAMBODIA: People and Projects Making a Difference’.
It comes as no surprise to anyone who has been to Cambodia and interested in volunteering why Friends International was selected out of over 3,000 NGOs for doing such important work.
“Choosing between the many, many great projects was extremely difficult,” admits co-author Shawna Hartley. “But Friends was one of our first choices simply because Sebastien Marot has such an interesting, and important, story to tell.”
Like so many people who visited Cambodia shortly after the borders first opening to visitors in the early 1990s, Sebastein was so surprised by what he saw and so moved with compassion that he quickly abandoned his plans to move to Japan.
In 1994, Cambodia was the wild west of Asia. Chaos reigned as a result of the civil war. Locals carried weapons quite openly and gunshots were part of the street sounds, electricity was limited to a few hours a day and running water was a rarity. Landmines were everywhere and war continued in the jungle.
Children slept in the streets of Phnom Penh under cardboard – often next to where an European luxury car was parked. Such extreme contrast between rich and poor … which is still the case today.
Sebastien started by feeding some of the street children. He and 2 friends made several mistakes that are all too commonly heard today about well meaning volunteers in so many countries. The story in UNSUNG HEROES CAMBODIA goes on to tell some hard truths about NGOs; where, how and why they went wrong, and how to get it right.
It is a fascinating story of not only compassion and inspiration, but is instructional for any volunteer or volunteer organisation.
Today Friends International has a diversity of training and educational programs for marginalised Cambodian youth with far reaching influence. Their programs have diversified and grown to provide excellent examples of what a Top NGO can be.
They raise 44% of their financial needs in Cambodia from a series of business ventures and aim to be self-funding by 2020. They have been awarded the Best Practice Award for NGO Good Practice along with many other international awards.
Today Friends is an international organisation sharing its skills with other NGOs and working in 5 countries.
The very inspirational and educational full-length feature can be found in ‘UNSUNG HEREOS CAMBODIA: People and Projects Making a Difference’ by Lee Anderson, Kerryan Griffin and Shawna Hartley.
It’s a non-for-profit book that raises awareness and funds for exceptionally deserving NGOs such as Friends International. Please support the project and help spread the word by Liking us on facebook as well as purchasing a copy of the book from either Amazon or www.unsungheroes.net.au.
You too can be a hero.
For more information please contact Shawna Hartley
Shawna@unsungheroes.net.au
Unsung Heroes
Sydney, Australia
“No One Can Do Everything, But Everyone Can Do Something”