Improving the well-being of the orphans

"As a former chief officer in the French Air Force, I am quite familiar with Cambodia, where I performed a mission under UN auspices for more than eight months.The hospital in Prey Veng is located in an agricultural province, on the Vietnamese border.Before Alica got involved, it had very little equipment and very few doctors.Since 2005, the consultations and training of the care personnel have been expanded, an operating block and a gynecology ward have been installed.At the same time, the orphanage was also dealt with. These projects are absolutely essential for the well-being of the local population."

Joël Demezon

In 2004, the French created the association Alica (Amitiés Limousin Cambodge) after having gauged the scale of the needs in terms of access to care in the province of Prey Veng.They first focused on the hospital, and then decided to take charge of the orphanage: school uniforms, books, exercise books and bicycles are distributed to the students and courses are dispensed in French.The members of Alica are not merely content to collect equipment, they also travel to the site to invest personally in accordance with their means.

Preventing the exodus to the capital

In 2009, Alica wanted to enhance the reception and accommodation conditions of the orphanage and the hospital.Its ambitions included the creation of a room for games and studies, the refurbishing of the bedrooms and the kitchen, the purchase of additional equipment for the orphanage and the enlargement of the hospital maternity ward.These large scale operations, which aim to significantly improve the level of health and well‑being of the local population, can prevent an excessive migration to the large urban centers - where the quality of life, for those who lack sufficient resources, is far from satisfactory.

The aid granted by the Veolia Foundation will be specifically directed at the needs of the orphanage.