I have learned many hard lessons in my life and seen cruelty beyond words. But a positive aspect of this experience is my understanding of how people should be helped. Help starts from love. It’s as simple as that
During the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge – the rebel group that took over Cambodia in the 1970s - Phalla’s entire family was executed and she was imprisoned and tortured.
She survived her ordeal with one dream – to raise a family of her own. Today, Phalla has five children and fosters eight others orphaned by AIDS - and she also works for Maryknoll, a CAFOD partner offering help to those affected by HIV.
Maryknoll gives Phalla an allowance to buy the things that her foster children need, such as food, clothes and school books - easing the financial burden of looking after so many.
Please support Lent Fast Day - and stand in solidarity with the poor
 | Diary organiser for Lent Fast Day 2009 (48.00 kB) Checklist to help priests and parish contacts prepare for Fast Day, including guidance on how to use all the resources provided |
 | Telling the story of Phalla’s family in Cambodia, who feature in the Fast Day poster and leaflet |
| Newsletter announcements & prayers (46.00 kB)
Short texts to use in promoting Fast Day and to thank those who donated to it afterwards, plus the Fast Day prayer, and prayer of intercession |
![Ean Poise, 39yrs, and her daughter Uk Raksa, 7yrs, eat lunch. The family is supported by Banteay Srei [CAFOD]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/where-we-work/cambodia/images/mother-and-daughter-having-a-meal/987708-1-eng-GB/mother-and-daughter-having-a-meal_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) | Children’s Liturgy of the Word (173.07 kB) Based on the gospel reading for Sunday, March 8 – the Transfiguration (Mark 9: 2-10). We are all God’s children. God loves all of us, and we can be transformed by God’s love if we respond to His call. |
![Woman riding a bicycle in rural Cambodia [CAFOD]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/where-we-work/cambodia/images/woman-on-bicycle/987612-1-eng-GB/woman-on-bicycle_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) | For Sunday March 1 (Mark 1:12-15), and Sunday, March 8 (Mark 9:2-10) |
![Sau Sae is a volunteer at a Reforestation Nursery run by Buddist monks [Jim Holmes]](/var/storage/images/media_folder/cafod/images/international_images/asia/cambodia/sau_sae_tends_seedlings/287814-1-eng-GB/sau_sae_tends_seedlings_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) | Cambodia information (49.50 kB) Background information on Cambodia and our partners, plus an interview with Phalla and a feature about her and Leaph |
 |
Teachers & youth leaders: Download games, videos, music, and recipes showcasing the lives of young people in Recife, Brazil - all to help you fundraise for CAFOD at Lent Fast Day |
![Orthodox priest, Mekelle, Ethiopia [Annie Bungeroth]](/var/storage/images/images/worship/ethiopian-cross/823526-1-eng-GB/ethiopian-cross_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) |
Prayers and spirituality resources and materials for the season, including those to help celebrate Lent Fast Day, 6 March 2009 |
![Phalla is a field worker for CAFOD partner Maryknoll in Cambodia and a foster parent to eight children [Annie Bungeroth]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/what-we-do/hiv-and-aids/cambodia/phalla/982712-1-eng-GB/phalla_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) | Cambodia: Help starts from love Meet Phalla and her family, whose committment to helping children with no family and no home is helping to pioneer the way for others – with the support of CAFOD partner Maryknoll |
