The Angkor Wat Children's Project
Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia 2007 -- Pagoda Thmey is the oldest Buddhist Monastery in Cambodia, one of two Pagodas located at the
World Heritage site of Angkor Wat. It is the official “Killing Fields Memorial”, dedicated to the victims (and survivors) of the brutal Khmer Rouge wars, in which an estimated 1.5 million Cambodian civilians were killed at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.
Pagoda Thmey houses and educates Cambodian children, survivors of the Khmer Rouge insurgency, who every year come to the Pagoda to live, learn, and study Buddhism. Some
of the children go on to become monks and teachers. Children at the Pagoda are housed, fed, clothed, and given an education, including language skills, particularly
English. At any given time, the Pagoda cares for 30 or more children, at a minimal cost of $15.00 per month for each child. There are 24 monks, 15 nun and 18 children without parents
living under the Pagoda, and as is the custom, the Pagoda is funded entirely by donation.
From its beginning and continuing through the 1990’s, the Khmer Rouge subjected Cambodia to vast human and environmental devastation. This destruction included the burning of most educational books in the country. In 2006,
the Pagoda initiated a lengthy and progressive project
to erect a new library and fund a children's school.
Angkor Wat School & Library Project
The Pagoda is requesting donations of educational materials for their school including quality books with photos, as well as children’s text books (in English),
school supplies and funds to cover operating expenses.
Photo left: New Library Debut with Master Kao Ann and Patricia Gagic, Pagoda Thmey, Angkor Wat, October 2007
Photo right: Patricia Gagic teaching English to Cambodian children at Angkor Wat School, Pagoda Thmey.
Patricia's Blog
I visited the "Pagoda Intra Batt Borei" in October 2007, official name for Pagoda Thmey at Angkor Wat, founded in 1845, containing the school grounds and temple compound. The new Library was more beautiful than I could have imagined! The afternoon visit with Master Kao Ann and teachers Koch Sarha and Vithy inspired me to continue helping them re-establish their lives in this magical place. The visit to the orphanage/school was awe inspiring. The children were smart, happy and well-mannered. They were all so appreciative and genuinely interested in learning English and asking many questions! There are four new projects that we are undertaking to support including the building of an entrance gate to the Pagoda, re-building the school, the monks quarters and the school library building.
The Colours of Freedom Foundation has agreed to assist in this project and would love to encourage others to donate either financial support or books and supplies. If you are planning to visit Cambodia please write me as I would love to share the experience. Siem Reap is a special place that is working hard to bring sustainability to the people. - Patricia Gagic
Books and educational materials may be donated
and shipped to:
Attn: Kao Ann
Pagoda Thmey, Angkor Wat
Kro Vann Village
Angkor Thom District
Siem Reap, Cambodia
We are grateful for financial donations in any amount, for further information,
please contact
Patricia Gagic at mlx@worldchat.com
SUPPORT THE CHILDREN of ANGKOR WAT
Please feel free to display our banner & link on your webpages
Thank you!!!
Patricia Gagic and Kathy Doore
Visit Angkor Wat Pagoda Thmey
If you intend to journey to the Temples of Angkor Wat, we invite you to stop by to meet the children and monks of Pagoda Thmey, donate a favorite book, visit the Killing Fields
Memorial Stupas, and view the beautiful 200 year-old
murals (in various stages of restoration), depicting the life
of Buddha.
For hundreds of years, the lost city of Angkor was itself a legend. Cambodian peasants living on the edge of the thick jungle around the Tonle Sap Lake reported findings that puzzled the French colonialists who arrived in Indo-China in the 1860s. The peasants said they had found “temples built by gods and giants”. Their stories were casually dismissed as folktales by the pragmatic Europeans. Yet some did believe that there really was a lost city of a Cambodian empire which had once been powerful and wealthy, but had crumbled many years before.
The Lost City
Henri Mahout’s discovery of the Angkor temples in 1860 revealed the ‘lost city’ to the world. The legend became fact when throngs of explorers, historians and archaeologists
ventured to Angkor to decode the mystery. Gradually, the Sanskrit inscriptions were deciphered, and the history of Angkor was slowly pieced together.
The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113–c. 1150), and was
dedicated to Shiva, the Hindu god of duality. The modern name, in use by the 16th century, means ‘City Temple’: Angkor is a vernacular form of the word nokor
which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (capital), while wat is the Khmer word for temple. Unlike its
counterparts nearby, aligned to the East, Angkor Wat is aligned to the west, due to its dedication to
Shiva, who was associated with the west. It is the largest
free-standing temple in the world. In his book,
Heaven’s Mirror, author Graham Hancock suggests that Angkor Wat is a star temple, part
of an earthly representation of the constellation Draco.
The temple of Angkor Wat has become a symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great pride for the country's people.
Pagoda Thmey is located directly adjacent to the temple of Angkor Wat,
on the Southeast corner.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead
Read: Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields
"Memoirs by Survivors"
Angkor Wat: Time, Space, and Kingship
Cambodia Travels
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JULY 1, 2007 -- A human-shaped shadow in the middle of a rainbow halo appears on Zushan Mountain after a heavy rainfall.
The vision, which many tourists believed to be the BUDDHA, stayed for more than an hour.
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