A haven for children

'Grandma' connects Cambodian orphans and North American sponsors
GRAEME MORTON, Canwest News Service; Calgary Herald
Published: 2 hours ago
For Marie Ens, these truly are the golden years. "I praise God every day for my life," the eloquent 73-year-old says.

"I get to live in this beautiful place with palm trees, tropical flowers, my two golden retrievers and I have all these children who call me grandma."

A luxury retirement condo on a pristine Caribbean island? No, it's the Place of Rescue orphanage in rural Cambodia, which Ens founded five years ago and where she's still the driving force.

At this neat-as-a-pin community west of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, more than 150 children, many orphaned by parents who died from AIDS, live in a safe, secure environment.

The centre is also a home to 17 "grannies," elderly women whose children have died of AIDS or were wiped out during the maniacal regime of Pol Pot during the 1970s.

"My job is to act as the go-between linking the kids in Cambodia and people in North America who have the heart to help them," Ens said. "This place was the Lord's dream."

The youngest of seven children from a Saskatchewan Mennonite family, Ens knew from an early age that she had a missionary's heart.

After marrying her husband, Norm, the couple applied to be missionaries. "We arrived in Cambodia in 1961," Ens said. Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge forces stormed into Phnom Penh in 1975. "It was a very tumultuous time, but I don't think anyone knew of the horrors that were to come."

In three years, Pol Pot and his minions are believed to have killed between 1 and 2 million Cambodians in his drive to create a socialist, agrarian utopia.

The Ens spent four years in France, where they ministered to many Cambodian refugees. After her husband's death in 1991, Ens felt like she needed to return to Cambodia. In 2000, when she turned 66, Ens had a spiritual epiphany in, of all places, an office supply store. "Despite my age, nothing had changed about the calling I still felt inside me. When I was in a Staples store, I heard the Billy Joel song My Life and that was it," she recalled with a smile.

Soon after, Ens was off to Cambodia again, ministering in military hospitals and caring for those stricken with AIDS. She saw firsthand the growing legions of children being left behind when their parents died. Substantial funding to launch her orphanage came from Samaritan's Purse supporters.

Each child is sponsored by a North American supporter to cover such daily necessities as food, clothing and education. The love, hugs and support come from Ens and her Cambodian staff. "Some of these kids come from horrible situations. My job is to be that caring grandma so that they know they are loved and valued."

For more information, visit www.placeofrescue.com or www.samaritanspurse.ca.