Every child deserves the joy of books.  The children in the rural villages of Cambodia have very limited access to books.  Families with incomes of $3-$4 per day cannot afford to buy books.  With the opening of Mona’s Library, packed with brand new, colorful books, the children can choose a book and take it home to enjoy.

Mona’s Library, located in the new Syed Balkhi Center of Learning, is a gift from Mona’s Fund to the children of Stoeung Chak Village.  Mona was a little girl with a joyful and loving heart who left this world too soon.  Mona’s friends and family wanted to honor Mona by helping children in need.  With their donations, the Cambodian Village Fund built the library.

Mona’s Library is a bright, colorful and exciting place for children to learn.  Much thought and planning went into Mona’s Library to make it a place that Mona would have liked.  Because Mona’s favorite topics were animals, nature and science, the library includes many books on these topics.  Because Mona loved art projects, the library offers a variety of art supplies for the children to use.  Because Mona liked to watch videos, the library has a TV and a DVD player along with a computer. Because Mona liked games, puzzles, wooden building blocks and toys, the library has all these things plus plenty of space for children to play with them.

Mona’s Library can also be used after school hours as a community center for the village to hold special events, celebrations and movie nights.

Many people came together to make this library a reality.  The Cambodian Village Fund is grateful for those who donated to Mona’s Fund and especially grateful for Silke White and Darren Gabrielsen who made this project possible. 

The Cambodian Village Fund (CVF) is also grateful for the hard work from our Cambodian friends.   Venerable Sovechea, the CVF project manager, deserves much of the credit.  He oversaw the entire library project from beginning to end through all phases of development.  A big thanks also goes to the School Director and teachers from Stoeung Chak Primary School.  They, along with many others from the village, worked long hours putting Mona’s Library together. 

A special acknowledgement goes to two teachers: Bunsoeurn Yoeurn and Mourt Chanmony.  In the early phases, they worked directly with the team in the U.S. to plan the library, making a detailed list of books, art supplies and furniture. Next, they did all the legwork, making many trips to Battambang to shop for the items on the list.  It was wonderful working with both of them.

Thanks to everyone who made this library a reality for the children of Stoeung Chak Village.