In the mid-1970s, millions of Cambodians died under the brutal Pol Pot regime, either from being executed or from starvation and forced labor. Thirty years later, the country struggles to meet the basic educational, health and economic needs of its people.
Children are especially at risk, growing up in poverty and under an unstable national infrastructure, raised by family members continuing to grapple with severe emotional trauma and stress. As a result, many of these young people—just under half of Cambodia’s total population—lack education, proper health care and nutrition and, most of all, love and care from their parents. It’s no surprise, then, that so many of them also don’t know about Christ’s hope and unconditional love.
TWR-Cambodia is seeking to change that by airing its weekly 15-minute program Happy Children’s Garden (HCG). The broadcasts not only teach Bible stories with specific applications, but also include biblical traditions, religions, culture and geography of the Holy Land. In some programs, TWR staff invite listeners to write in and answer questions at the end of the story. Often, they will receive in return small gifts, such as coloring pages, HCG calendars, crayons or stickers. TWR-Cambodia follows up with these children through letters and personal visits.
HCG is currently aired via KTWR, TWR’s shortwave station on Guam, and over seven local Cambodian stations. TWR-Cambodia desires to expand the local airings to as many provinces as possible, since radio is popular and readily available.
Periodically, HCG staff travel to different villages in Cambodia to visit with children and receive feedback about the program. They also will often distribute food or small gifts like paper and pencils, simple things that are sometimes hard to come by in these poverty-stricken areas. In one village, children waited for four hours for the team to arrive because they were so excited to meet the staff and listen to the HCG program.
Testimony from a local Cambodian woman:
“I’m working with the MAG (Mine Advisory Group) in Mine Clearance and also in the Education Department for the illiterate children of MAG. I like the HCG program because it helps me to teach the Bible to the children. I work as the Mine Clearance in the daytime and in the evening, I teach the alphabet to the illiterate children in the village where we’re clearing mines. Most of the children only have mothers because their fathers were soldiers who died in the war. On Thursday, we don’t learn the alphabet—we take that time to study the Bible by listening to the HCG program together. The children enjoy listening to the song and the story so much. The MAG project in one village takes only from two to three months, so the time for me to teach them is very short. Only the radio programs can help the children and the people there to continue to hear God’s Word.”
The annual cost to produce and air Happy Children’s Garden programs is $25,238.
Help keep these vital Happy Children’s Garden programs on the air!