DEBORAH GROVES' BIOGRAPHY - WHO AM I AND WHAT DO I DO?  

          My name is Deborah Groves and I am the founder of Helping Hands Cambodia.  Until April of 2005 I ran my own wedding photography business on Queensland ’s Sunshine Coast in Australia.    After visiting Cambodia as a tourist in 2004 I felt compelled to come back to Cambodia to try and do something to help the Cambodian people, so I put my wedding business on hold indefinitely and headed back over to Cambodia.  

Volunteer Aid Work

          Since then I have been helping an extremely poor and remote village approximately 27 kms from Siem Reap.   The village is called Prasat Char and is located very close to the famous temples of Ankgor Wat.  The level of poverty at the village is hard to describe.  

          I discovered the village in June of 2005 when I visited it with my original tour guide who I had kept in touch with.  He was keen for me to visit the village as he wanted to find a way to help them.  

          On that visit I met an extremely sick man called Mr Som.  Mr Som was so poor that he had not been able to afford any medical treatment.  He had been sick for two years and when I met him was obviously close to death.  I felt compelled to offer help to Mr Som and his family who gratefully accepted.  You can read more about Mr Som if you click on this link.  

I have now formed a non-government organisation called Helping Hands Cambodia, we have a director (a Cambodian) and a committee (a group of people in Australia and France), and are officially registered in the Kingdom of Cambodia.  Helping Hand's projects have grown from just helping one family with a sick father, to, amongst other things, building a bridge, supplying over 240 bicycles, helping set up small businesses and building and operating a school with approximately 300 students. 

 Photography Work

        I support myself and the NGO through my photography work mainly by selling my photographs to tourists in the Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports, book shops and hotels, etc.

Currently, I divide my time between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and can be contacted on 092 442 669 (in Cambodia) or via email on  grovesphotography@yahoo.com.au.