This morning one of our little 7 year old boys Sophearot from our kindy class died after eating a poisonous toad, which he thought was a frog. He is the youngest child in the attached photo.
It rained here last night, so the starving go out and catch frogs, crickets, vermin whatever they can to eat. Approximately 7 children ate toads and 3 are still seriously ill in hospital. One of them is his older brother, but they are expecting all to pull through. Sophearot died early morning, the youngest of four beautiful but skinny boys.
This small fragile boy is laid out on a mat half covered with an old towell, looking like he is sleeping, while his mother and brothers sit beside him silently crying. His father is a soldier, and has returned to Siem reap only for the Khmer New Year and was about to return to the border patrol. His father earns $25 per month to provide for his family.
They cannot afford the funeral for their youngest child, and the buddhism religion believe it is imperative to have 2 days of the monks, family and friends praying over the child to get rid of evil spirits before he enters his next life. They also believe that if he isn't given a full funeral, and the body is just burnt, it will bring more bad fortune to the family.
Unfortunately, desperately poor families normally do not have the luxury of a funeral costing approximately US$250.
However, we will not let this beautiful boy leave this world without helping his family fulfill their spiritual beliefs.
If any supporters of our work here feel they would like to contribute a few dollars to help this cause, please donate through our webpage and Justgiving donations page. Feel free to add a comment.
Sincerely,
Kerry and Kemsour.
Sometimes I just don't know.
