Mary Knoll Orphanage - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I have a good friend from Los Angeles who has been living and working in Phnom Penh. She is with an organization that handles children that have been removed from slavery and trafficking. I can't really elaborate much due to security reasons for her, but she is doing amazing work in this field and helping in the healing to begin in these young girls. In the course of her work with Cambodian children, she has gotten involved in one of the local orphanages. Mary Knoll is primarily comprised of babies and youth that have lost their parents to AIDS. Some of the children have HIV and others have yet to test positive. There is always the hope, of course, that they will not contract the disease. She visits regularly and I get to visit with her when I am in Phnom Penh for work. I have fallen in love with the kids. There are two branches: one facility with babies and toddlers, and then another for 5 yrs. and up. I love to see them and just spend time with them. Most of them simply just love to be held. I have one baby in particular that I just love to see grow and make progress. I want to bring him home with me every time - Baby Pana. He is so sweet and timid and just a little angel. There is also a little boy that I call "Baby Srikant" because he looks exactly like my mom's friend Srikant from India. These are a couple of pics from this visit. The first one of Baby Pana and myself is from an earlier visit this April.