Servants Cambodia Assists Fire Victims
Published:  4/2/2004

On Tuesday, Servants Cambodia completed an emergency distribution to victims of last weekend’s slum fire affecting 300 families.

Servants mobilized a number of local Christians to help with the distribution. Young people from Cambodian churches volunteered to help lift heavy bags of rice and other supplies for the elderly and others. Fire victims were clearly touched by the hard work of the Christian volunteers.

Servants also coordinated the relief efforts of a number of other organizations, receiving donations and meeting with local officials. For example, Mercy Teams International donated hundreds of “hygiene packs” containing soap, toothpaste and other items. While Maryknoll and CRS made financial donations.

Hundreds of poor families lost their tiny homes and all their possessions when a fire swept through the slum located on the banks of the river.

Remarkably, the nearby British American Tobacco Company was untouched by the blaze, as fire engines were stationed in the company grounds. Residents complained bitterly that firemen demanded large sums of money in order to turn on their fire hoses.

A number of Khmer and expatriate Servants workers live within a few hundred metres of the fire site and were woken by the sound of fire engines at two o’clock in the morning. The cause of the fire is unknown.