Projects
Butterfly Paradise was built to be instrumental in transforming the lives of Cambodian young people.
Butterfly Paradise Orphanage
Butterfly Paradise Orphanage (formerly Wat Preah Yesu Children’s Home) was founded in 2003.
During the height of the AIDS epidemic in Cambodia, children were being orphaned because of AIDS and stigmatized. The majority of existing orphanages were not set up to accept HIV+ children. Butterfly Paradise Orphanage was created to meet this need, taking children from around the country. The close proximity to the Angkor Hospital for Children, in Siem Reap town, which offers a HIV care program for children, meant that children at Butterfly Paradise Orphanage would not only get a loving home environment to live in but also quality medical care.
At its peak, Butterfly Paradise Orphanage was home to 196 children. Children with disabilies, abandoned children and children at risk have also been accepted into the orphanage. Most have grown up and left, 24 children and young people remain.
Children at the Butterfly Paradise orphanage are educated at Adventist International School Siem Reap. The orphanage and school are on the same compound as Butterfly Paradise.
The orphanage is closed to the public to protect the privacy of the children.
Adventist International School Siem Reap
AISS
Established in 1999 as a literacy school for the poorest of the poor from the communities around Butterfly Paradise. AISS (formerly Kantrok Adventist School) rapidly grew to a K-12 bilingual school with a strong emphasis on the English language and vocational training.
In 2002, students from distant rural communities began attending Kantrak Adventist School as boarding students. Today 92 students board at AISS. The children from Butterfly Paradise Orphanage also receive their education at AISS.
The school currently has 240 students, with approximately 40% from surrounding communities. Community students pay $240 per year for tuition. Boarding students from rural communities are provided with free accommodation and food made possible by donations from people like yourself.
Butterfly Paradise is proud to be a financial supporter of the AISS as well as acting as a living classroom where students can study the incredible complexity of design in nature.
Adventist International School Siem Reap Tani
Opened in 2014 as a feeder school to AISS. Children from this poor rural community, 31 km from Siem Reap town, are able to stay with their families for the first four years of their bilingual education, before boarding at AISS for the remainder of their schooling.
Due to the poverty in this village, Butterfly Paradise is proud to assist in providing free education to these children, with the hope that one day they will be able to give back to their village.
Thmor Chol Campground
The 4.6 hectare campground adjoining the Phnom Kulen National Park, was purchased with a goal to providing young people, especially those attending the Kantrak Adventist School, a place where they can get out of the city into nature and experience cooking on a campfire and simple tent living.
Butterfly Paradise is proud to be a supporter of this project.
Butterfly Paradise Community Playground
Butterfly Paradise is developing a playground for community children. The playground will provide opportunities for children to play and develop motor skills in a safe and creative environment..