On January 23 a fire swept through a tight cluster of thatch houses located just a few kilometers from Angkor Wat and in a matter of minutes 36 homes were burned to the ground leaving hundreds of people with no shelter and only the clothes they wore. The following morning with embers still glowing and smoke still rising, children and parents picked their way through the ash looking for anything of value. The boys and girls, covered in soot, put small metal scraps in plastic bags while the adults collected the larger pieces of remaining metal. Later that day it would all be sold as scrap so they could have enough money to eat for a few days.

Having heard of the fire the night before, Brandon and Jesse arrived early to survey the extent of the damage and determine if JWOC could be of any help. With no social services for the people to fall back on, no bank accounts stocked with savings and no insurance to cover the cost of their losses, the mothers and fathers truly had no where to turn. Many of the families lost hundreds of dollars which represented their life savings. Realizing that JWOC was the only organization which would or could respond to this tragedy, the decision was made to provide a way for these people to rebuild their homes and lives as quickly as possible.

See a Problem, Solve a Problem . . .

The villagers were told to come to JWOC that afternoon to discuss a plan to rebuild. They arrived early sensing this was the only opportunity they might have. After discussing the costs of rebuilding and how much each person could afford to repay on a monthly basis, a plan was developed which all parties agreed upon. The following day each person came to JWOC, signed a contract, and was given the amount of money they needed to buy construction supplies and begin rebuilding. Only 48 hours had passed since the fire and already these parents had the cash in hand to begin anew. You could see from the smiles and laughter that their stress had melted away and was replaced by energy and hope.

The speed with which JWOC was able to respond and take action can be credited to our supporters who have given us the ability to act in times of immediate need. By having enough unrestricted funding available we were able to find a solution before anyone else had even arrived on the scene.

Within 2 weeks of an email being sent to our donors, informing them of the situation, we received over $20,000. It was an incredible show of dedication and support from our JWOC donor base.

Here are photos of the damage and reconstruction...