A school that was highly rated this year by the provincial education department as among the best in Siem Reap is sponsored by an NGO that spun off the infamous Children of God cult

NGO arises from a dark past
Thursday, 02 July 2009 22:04

SIEM REAP

Family Care Cambodia emerged from a notorious American cult, but the
NGO has helped to develop and fund one of the best schools in Siem
Reap province.

A SCHOOL that was highly rated this year by the provincial education
department as among the best in Siem Reap is sponsored by an NGO that
spun off the infamous Children of God cult.

Ann and Alex Soldner are the project managers of Family Care Cambodia,
which has helped the Phum Thnarl Primary School over the past six
years by providing three new classrooms and 30 computers, funding six
staff members, and supplying students with uniforms, bags and books.
Em Bunthoen, the Siem Reap representative of Family Care Cambodia,
told the Post that in a routine inspection in January, representatives
of the provincial department of education said that the school is
leading other primary schools in the fields of environment, hygiene
and discipline.

Ung Sireidy, the director of the provincial department of education,
told the Post that the school "is not the best, but is better than a
lot of schools".

Family Care Cambodia is an arm of the Family Care Foundation, which is
coupled with The Family International - formerly known as Children of
God - an organisation founded in 1968 in California and made famous
for a slew of child sexual abuse scandals and a recruitment method
dubbed "flirty fishing", where some women members were prostituted out
to raise funds and gather converts.

Ann Soldner was a high-ranking "first-generation member", with the
Children of God through the controversy, but said the troubled history
of the organisation is irrelevant. "I don't see why that's so
important," she told the Post.

"Those problems have nothing to do with Family Care Cambodia."

Family Care Cambodia is listed by the exfamily.org Web site as a
pseudonym of The Family International. The Web site is compiled by
former members of Children of God.

The Family International was formerly known as The Family, and before
that the Family of Love, and before that the Children of God.

The Soldners founded Family Care Cambodia in 2002 and began working
with the Phum Thnarl school in 2003. In addition to the Phum Thnarl
school, the organisation works with a protection shelter in Phnom Penh
for children recovering from sexual abuse.

On its Web site, the Family Care Foundation, the parent organisation
of Family Care Cambodia, claims to have distributed more than 2
million Bibles and pieces of "gospel literature" around the world. Ann
Soldner said that while other Family Care Foundation projects may
emphasise Christianity, hers does not set out to convert. "We're not
about Bible distributing, we're not about Children of God. We're about
us. Many of our volunteers are Christians, but that's just their
personal beliefs. I do this to serve our fellow man and, yes, that
comes from a belief in God."

Soldner said that "there isn't a direct link, per se" between Family
Care Cambodia and The Family International, which is led by Karen
Zerby,
the former wife of the Children of God founder. Zerby is most well
known as the mother of the boy featured in The Story of Davidito, a
762-page book printed in 1982, which contained pictures and
descriptions of her infant son engaging in sexual activities with
adults.

The mission statement on the Family International Web site states four
aims. One is to provide humanitarian aid to "those in need" and three
are concerned with spreading religion and the message that the "Great
Tribulation" and "Second Coming of Jesus Christ" are "soon to come".

In a document titled "Introducing FCC" authored by Ann and Alex
Soldner, Family Care Cambodia is described as "a pioneer project of
The Family International" and one of its stated projects is to "Offer
Character Development, Community Services and Christian Study courses".
.