it’s Janis

it’s Janis… what more can you say but wow!!! This inspiring selfless trailblazer is the Queen Bee & the founder of ‘Cambodian Cocoon’ & through her hard work, tenacity, cleverness & compassion for others has changed the lives of thousands of Cambodian families… we are literally talking about whole villages! This incredible lady has a fascinating story, showing us how the start of a small ripple can lead into a life of happiness for so many… & as Janis is one of our locals, we just had to share this awesome lady’s inspiring story.

As Janis & husband John returned from a holiday through Asia way back in 2009, they asked themselves the question, “why did we enjoy it so much… and especially Cambodia?” They both agreed it was the people, the warm, humble, kind people that would light up at the sight of a smile. Janis knew she wanted to do more to help these people, she didn’t know how yet… but she knew she would be back!!

They planned a return trip 2 years later & again met up with Marouen. This visit they spent more time visiting villages & seeing the living conditions of the local people.

‘Maroeun’ was not only a tour guide… Janis soon found out he also drilled & installed ‘Clean Water Wells,’ creating life changing opportunities for many rural & remote Cambodian villages.

Now to us, it’s as simple as turning on a tap, but for many families in Cambodia, fresh accessible clean water can bring good health, the ability to grow vegetables to eat & stay well & the ability to have livestock, ducks, chickens, pigs & cows. Even children are able to attend school because they don’t have to walk for kilometres with bamboo & buckets to collect water daily… giving them the opportunity to learn & progress through to University & create opportunities for a better quality of life.  

As Janis found out, this could all happen for as little as $300 per ‘Clean Water Well.’

In August of 2010 ‘Cambodian Cocoon’ funded their first ‘Clean Water Well’ & to this day with loads of energy, a heap of generous kind hearted people & 9 years later, over 460 ‘Clean Water Wells’ have been drilled & installed right across Cambodia, changing the lives of thousands of families.

What started off as a way to help others has turned into a truly amazing movement, with not only the gift of water now being accessible to many but ‘Cambodian Cocoon’ have also built & repaired 25 houses, installed many bathrooms/toilets & through the generosity of donors, many children have been given assistance to remain at school along with many life changing gifts to fund medical costs and a heap of other projects.

As all true champions do, she put the success of ‘Cambodian Cocoon’ down to a family of many… Janis lets us know, “we have people contributing from all over the world, either through monthly donations or by being part of the two trips each year to Cambodia to be on the ground & be part of the change that is happening. People come from USA, Hawaii, Germany, Singapore, UK, Australia, really from all over.”  

Janis is always in touch with people in Cambodia daily to check in to see how everything is going. More than 70 have now joined Janis on her Cambodian trips & many have now become repeat visitors. Janis explains, “we’ve got 50 sponsors in one group and 51 sponsors in another group & over half these people have now been to Cambodia!’ 

Also Janis credits ‘Maroeun’ for much of the success of ‘Cambodian Cocoon’, Janis let us know, “without ‘Maroeun’ we couldn’t do any of this, he is an amazing man. With more than 460 ‘Clean Water Wells’ across Cambodia, Maroeun goes looking on his motorcycle, he goes into villages & he speaks to the Village Chief to identify those in most need, then works out how ‘Cambodian Cocoon’ can help. He does the best that he can for good people, he is amazing.”

Janis fills us in on another driving force behind ‘Cambodian Cocoon’, “my darling husband John…when he was only 27, John had a major motorbike accident breaking many bones in his body & he was really lucky that we had such good doctors at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Yes, we’ve been married for 48 years! He worked at Glenside Hospital most of his life & John’s nickname is ‘Silver Fox’ he cares as much as I do about what we are doing. He’s a lovely man, he looks after the grandkids more than I do, he cooks, cleans & shops while I’m busy with ‘Cambodian Cocoon’.”

Janis who is known by many in Cambodia as ‘Mum’ or ‘Janny’ explains how the trips to Cambodia have a profound impact on the lives of the donors that come along, “Some people that contribute with donations also come to Cambodia on our trips & they see first-hand the change they are making… it’s life changing. 

It gives me so much pleasure and happiness on a daily basis to get up in the morning and turn my phone on and go, “wow, 10 more water wells have been completed”. I’ve got a job today, I’ve got to share all those photos back to those donors. Every bag of rice is photographed, with the image shared back to the donor, every dollar that ‘Cambodian Cocoon’ receive, the donor gets to see exactly where it went… maybe it provides a pushbike, a bag of rice or a piglet.”

Janis lets us know how much of a difference such a small donation can make, “Some people think a bag of rice is a Band-Aid effect... it’s not, it can be life changing. It can be life changing because if you don’t have to get up tomorrow morning & think how am I going to feed my three children today, you can focus your energy on other things. A little bowl of rice three times a day will feed a child & as a parent, if you know that this bag of rice is going to feed us all for the whole month, now that that’s taken care of what else can we do now? Can we go and plant some corn, can we start making wrist bands to sell, now that my family has food we can go and do other things to make money. A 50kg bag of rice can feed three children for six weeks, it will get them through, the Father can now can go off and work because he has the energy, Mum can be at home doing something productive… it’s not a Band-Aid affect, it can be life changing, it gives them the opportunity to take away the worry & they can then go, okay let’s plant food, let’s work & make some money. Each trip we deliver donated “Gifts of Food” to families & we have now delivered 1286 “Gifts”, over 64,300 kilo of rice!”  

Janis lets us know her wish for the future of ‘Cambodian Cocoon’, “I want to keep doing this for as long as I am healthy. We want to keep going to Cambodia & seeing these changes & help others get a better life than what they have had. The next trip will be my 20th. This is how the name ‘Cambodian Cocoon’ came to be, “I was sitting at a butterfly sanctuary with a young Uni student who had so much knowledge & was telling me all about the cocoons and the butterflies. It was just him and I in this butterfly sanctuary, it was beautiful & he said would you join me for lunch. We went & watched this huge beautiful butterfly come out of its cocoon right in front of us, it was ginormous & then it just flew off… & I said that is our name… it’s going to be ‘Cambodian Cocoon’.”

“I want these people to fly, to be able to have a life of happiness & not to have that struggle every single day. So, if we can do that for a whole lot of people, the whole butterfly effect is reaching out to other people in the village, other people and their families just to have a better life & to be educated, to be able to look after their children that are now coming along, it’s what we all want.”

Huge kudos to Janis & everyone involved with ‘Cambodian Cocoon’ for all of the brilliant work they are doing… it ticks so many boxes!!!

Please check out & like their Facebook page right here - Cambodian Cocoon - You will be able to take a good look at all the amazing projects these awesome people are doing. You can also send a private message to Janis if you have any questions or if you would like to donate to the cause or even be part of an up & coming life changing experience to Cambodia. Also you can catch up with Janis on her mobile number 0432 846 563 or email janisjohn.lindblom@gmail.com

Thank you Janis for all that you do… The world is a much better place with you in it!!