My parents used to make me eat pig slop. You might wonder what pig slop tastes like, but it's not as bad as it sounds. To be honest, I got used to it. But what was worse was when my parents would yell at me. Or they'd hit me. Or they would dip my clothes in pig manure because I wanted to take a school exam. That hurt a lot. Because eating pig slop is nothing really, lots of people eat worse things. What's worse is my parents treated me like a pig - like an animal - for years.

Vattana never knew his parents.  He was a baby when he was abandoned on the street and left to live at a government-run orphanage in Cambodia.

By the time Boupha was 10 years old she had already been dealt some of life's most devastating blows.  Two of her sisters died young.  Then, her mother died when she was nine and a year later her father passed away. 

Can one group - or even one individual - truly make a difference?  The answer to that is a resounding yes! 

Right in the middle of the current economic environment, one small church in Long Beach, CA has made a huge difference in the lives of children in Cambodia. 

The church ran Hope for Hagar, a two-month long awareness and fundraising campaign with the bold goal of raising US$10,000 for Hagar's Community Learning Centre.

A cacophany of sound and a flurry of neatly pressed white shirts and blue skirts and pants could only mean one thing - the first day of school at Hagar's Community Learning Centre.  

"Hagar has helped me the most by providing sewing skills."

-Chenda-

When Qujen was thirteen years old, her mother sold her to a brothel for $300.

"I felt like a wilted flower, or a dead butterfly" she said. In the brothel, Qujen was expected to provide sexual services for up to nine men every day.

This went on for six months until Qujen was rescued by International Justice Mission (IJM). After assessing her needs, she was transfered to Hagar Aftercare.