February / March News

Hello Everyone!

As winter draws to a close for many of you, we, in Cambodia, are hitting the apex of the “hot/dry” season and the accompanying heat! This past month tested us in so many ways; first, through the heartbreaking loss of our Director, Nader Ebrahimi who unexpectedly passed away on March 2nd, and, in the wake, the emotional upheaval experienced by the resident children, staff, volunteers and supporters of Aziza’s Place all around the globe.

As we find ourselves at this very important juncture in our short history, the resilience of our remarkable children and the tremendous love and support we’ve received from the greater family of friends and supporters has provided us the strength to march on. We have new staff members who have gracefully accepted the challenges, we have new exciting ideas to implement, and we have new resident children who bring their own sunshine and energy. The future is very bright as we keep the past, the memory of Nader and all that he created, close at heart. We are moving forward and welcome you all to be a part of it.

Thank you all for your dedication and support this month! We appreciate it more than you know.

Wishing you the best!
Aziza’s Place











Sparklers at night

New Residents

We welcomed sisters, Chanty and Channy to Aziza’s Place in mid-February. Both are from the Steung Meanchey dumpsite and immediately made Aziza’s Place their home.

Chanty is really a strong outgoing girl and has an unusual ear for English. She’s a fast learner and has already shown leadership skills and incredible athletic skills. Channy is quieter than her older sister but never far from the action. She is very affectionate and playful. Both are open, loving and energetic and a very good fit for Aziza’s Place.

>February and March Activities

Tie-dye

Last month the children started sewing with our volunteer, Bonnie Cohen. This month, Jane Heng picked up where Bonnie left off. Before coming to Cambodia, Jane was a fashion designer in Australia, so she was able to help the children design their own custom bags. First the children shaped their bags with newspaper, then cut the fabric and, finally, sewed relentlessly until their bags took shape. The final touch—Tie-Dye! It was a wonderfully fun and messy workshop. Keep your eyes open for all the truly unique bags around AP!

Phnom Penh Waterpark

As the season for blistering heat is upon us, volunteers from Outreach International pitched in to fund a field trip to Phnom Penh’s water park. Volunteers from Outreach have been an enormous support system for us this month. Ben and Maria Mays and Simon regularly dropped in to play basketball and other games with the kids or to even just hang-out and keep them company. In addition, Laura Mountcastle, one of our supporters from the USA, took time off from her visit to Vietnam and visited Aziza’s Place for our day of fun in the water.








Lim delivers the floats



Simon plays lifeguard, while Ben and Somlay slide






Laura and Amjad

Studying Planets

Coverage of science is very limited in the Khmer public school curriculum. As part of our raison d’etre, we make a concerted effort to offer basic concepts in the Sciences, Art, Geography, among other topics at Aziza’s Place, primarily because the children have expressed such an interest in these subject and because they supplement their learning. This month all of our English classes have been talking about Outer Space! We even had the fortune of having Julie McEnery, a NASA research scientist come and give a presentation on her research mission in space.

The advanced English class made travel brochures for each planet, detailing some of the features of each planet, why you’d want to visit and precautions for travelers from outer space.

Space Brochure by Sengkri
"Earth’s attraction — “Look at the Humans.”

Football Tournament - March 14 and 21

The children are involved in a football program sponsored twice a week by the Indochina Starfish Foundation. Once a year they hold a tournament for all the children that participate in their programs. Our boys’ and girls’ teams went up against 12 other teams with each of our squads winning one out of three matches and enjoying themselves to the utmost. AP was well represented by the large group of supporters consisting of friends, staff and volunteers. We were all hoarse and sun-burned by the end of a fantastic and very well organized event by ISF.












The whole group at the Old Stadium



Little ones riding back with Momphat

Karate Championships March 28 and 29

Six children from our karate class participated in the Cambodia Karate-Do Shotokan Academy Championships at the end of March. The children performed well under some pretty fierce competition not to mention the intense heat. Our star, SreyNy placed second in her division!


Aziza's Place front and center with our friend's Chibodia peeking out over the sign from the end.


Somlay in action.


Karate Champ!


Looking thrilled with the promo shots

Nader’s Birthday - March 20

We knew we wanted to celebrate Nader’s birthday, but we were a little unsure of the best way to approach it. The children really wanted to sing happy birthday and have a small cake for him. Naturally, the activities turned into a special celebration; we played games and gave thanks for what we have. All told, it was a very uplifting day. Earlier in the week we had a counseling group come in for some sessions with the children. This was well received especially by the older boys who have been at Aziza’s Place since the outset. We are very fortunate to have such a great support system with so many caring volunteers, staff and friends who continue to send their best wishes and encouragement.

Thank you all for you many blessings and wishes.