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Mad Monkey CSR Updates
Partnership: ChildSafe Movement & Mad Monkey
ChildSafe is a global movement protecting children and youth around the world. Unfortunately, as many as one billion children in the world today are living in the margins of society, without basic rights and at risk of abuse. The tourism industry often contributes to situations that put children at risk, like orphanage tourism.
ChildSafe addresses these issues in many ways. They run behaviour change campaigns to educate travelers – check out one called “Children Are Not Tourist Attractions.” They also work with businesses and organizations to spread knowledge and perspective about how we can all help to keep children safe.
Mad Monkey Hostels officially became a ChildSafe Supporter business in March 2017. We’re very excited about this new partnership. We think it will be a great opportunity to enrich our guests’ experience in our hostels and pass on valuable new training to our staff teams, all with the ultimate goal of keeping children safe in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
You can learn more about ChildSafe at thinkchildsafe.org or friends-international.org.
Seeking: Mad Monkey CSR Partners in the Philippines
As Mad Monkey expands our operations in the Philippines, we are also looking for more partners in the country to further our impact in our hostels’ communities. We are looking to build long-term working relationships with accountable organizations that are addressing local challenges with lasting solutions.
Basically, we don’t just want to hand over donations, we want to get involved in sustainable and effective projects. If you think you might know just the thing, please email claire@madmonkeyhostels.com with details.
Mad Monkey Education Fund Update
Helmets for Journeys Within Our Community
Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) is a non-profit organization based in Siem Reap, Cambodia that works to improve living conditions of local communities. JWOC’s four main areas of focus are a Scholarship Program, Free Classes at its community centre, Community Support outreach programs, and Education Programs. The scholarship recipients stay involved in the organization throughout and after their studies, working as volunteers to run its other branches.
JWOC and Mad Monkey have established a relationship over the last several months, and we collaborated on our first project in January. Mad Monkey funded a new set of helmets for JWOC’s student volunteers. This sharp-looking gear is vital to keeping the young volunteers safe while they travel out to rural villages to run workshops.
You can learn more about Journeys Within Our Community at journeyswithinourcommunity.org.
Handwoven Bracelets by Life Project Cambodia
Life Project Cambodia (LPC) empowers disadvantaged students and their families to create their own solutions to poverty. They provide access to high-quality education, extracurricular activities, vocational training, and more. LPC works throughout Siem Reap and the surrounding area.
Life Project Cambodia’s model centres on sustainability and empowerment. One initiative that showcases this is their handwoven bracelets. The parents of some of LPC’s students were searching for regular income. LPC worked with them to create a sustainable solution: the parents have learned to weave beautiful, colourful bracelets, and LPC pays them a regular wage for the bracelets and facilitates outlets to sell them at. The bracelets are sold throughout Cambodia, across Australia, and now – at Mad Monkey Hostels! Look for them at our front desks in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
You can learn more about Life Project Cambodia at lifeprojectcambodia.org.
See what else we’ve been up to with the Mad Monkey Education Fund here.
Mad Monkey Arts Fund Update
Partnership: Epic Arts & Mad Monkey Kampot
Epic Arts is an inclusive arts organization based in Cambodia. They use the arts as a form of expression and empowerment to bring people with and without disabilities together. They promote the message that every person counts through inclusive education, community, and social enterprise programs. Mad Monkey has always been a supporter of Epic Arts (and the delicious Epic Café in downtown Kampot!). Over the last few months we have been collaborating with their team to renew this relationship, and now Epic Arts is the official community partner of the Mad Monkey hostel in Kampot, Cambodia.
Come Back Brighter
In January and February of 2017, Epic Arts ran a second season of their renowned production Come Back Brighter. This moving performance combined traditional Khmer and modern dance to tell the story of Cambodia’s Golden Era, tragic past, and exciting future. Mad Monkey was the show’s Gold Sponsor. Some members of the Mad Monkey team had the chance to attend the show in Kampot, and it was truly phenomenal. This was our first collaboration with Epic Arts in 2017, and we look forward to many more to come!
You can learn more about Epic Arts at epicarts.org.uk.
See what else has been going on in the Mad Monkey Arts Fund here.
Mad Monkey Clean Water Fund Update
Lack of access to clean drinking water remains a substantial issue in rural Cambodia. 20% of all the deaths of children under 5 are caused by unclean water. To contribute to the solution to this problem, Mad Monkey works with the Cambodian Buddhism Association for Vulnerable Children to build water wells and water filters in the countryside surrounding Siem Reap.
11 new water wells were built in January, February, and March.
This brings our total to 260 wells built. Our ultimate goal is to build 500 wells.
“Crazy Kroegentocht”: Water Well Fundraiser in Belgium
Mad Monkey would like to extend a special thank you to Raf Verelst. Raf organized an epic fundraiser for the Mad Monkey Clean Water Fund at the end of 2016. Throughout the night of December 26, some amazing DJs (including Raf himself) took to the decks at pubs all across his hometown of Heist-Op-Den-Berg. From what we hear, the party was unforgettable. Even better, the community came together to raise enough money to fund 4 water wells! We wish we could have been there. Thank you, to Raf and everyone in Heist-Op-Den-Berg, for your generosity. Your donation will benefit more than a dozen families for generations to come.
Learn more about Mad Monkey’s Clean Water Project here.
Thanks for reading this Mad Monkey CSR update! We’re looking forward to the next few months – check back in June for another update.
The team at Mad Monkey
