History
In 1995, Dr Gary Hewett OAM and Dr Neil Hewett, a medical doctor, volunteered their services for a 2 week medical mission along the Mekong River in Cambodia. During this trip Gary was moved by the tragedy and need in the nation, and hence founded Awareness Cambodia.
The original mission of Awareness Cambodia was to establish medical support teams to assist the nation's struggling health system. From 1996 onwards, short term teams would visit on a regular basis. However, in 1999, a team member reported on the numerous children orphaned as a result of AIDS. They explained that often the child was left to live on the streets because their extended family's feared contracting AIDS, and hence wouldn't care for them. At this time, 50% of the Khmer population were 25 years of age and under, making this a significant problem. This led to the establishment of Sunshine House.
Read more about this topic: Awareness Cambodia
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“We know only a single science, the science of history. One can look at history from two sides and divide it into the history of nature and the history of men. However, the two sides are not to be divided off; as long as men exist the history of nature and the history of men are mutually conditioned.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
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“A man will not need to study history to find out what is best for his own culture.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)