Community Outreach Program Counsels Families, Prepares Microfinance Project for Two Mothers

February kicked off AP's community outreach initiative. Beginning this year, the Aziza's Place team will extend services to families of our resident children that aim to improve their quality of life. Through consistent and open communication, counseling, financial planning and health care assistance, we seek to tackle issues that plague the impoverished communities our children come from.

At the forefront of our community outreach initiative is AP Program Coordinator, Yi Makara and AP Intern, Lani Warsh. These two AP team members are developing the program through weekly meetings at Steung Meanchey. First, in a group setting, they discuss concerns and general information about current events and their children. Afterwards, families have the opportunity to meet with Makara and Lani privately. Depending on the needs of the families, AP finds solutions and provides advice and resources that are presented at the next week's meeting. Our top priority is to ensure that the families remain involved in the lives of their children. Makara and Lani bring photos of current activities and events for the parents to keep as well as report on the children's progress. These meetings are in addition to monthly family nights where parents, grandparents, and siblings are come to AP for an evening of delicious food and a presentation by the kids.

Providing and encouraging a forum for open communication allows AP to stay attuned to problems in the community and barriers to reaching their future goals. This program hopes to prevent crisis situations through awareness of each family's situation.

Currently, Lani and Makara are helping two family members develop a plan to establish a successful entrepreneurial business. Seed money for the business will be provided by Aziza's Place in the form of a micro-loan of about $70. With these funds, the two women plan to start a business together selling fruits in Udong, a popular mountaintop temple destination for Khmer and Western tourists. Their motivation and basic understanding of the business model makes them viable candidates for this pilot project. Makara, Lani, and the rest of the AP team are preparing terms for the loan as well as training for the women in how to best manage and track their profits. We are glad to see our community’s involvement in utilizing the resources of our program and allowing our management to play an integral role in advising on their critical life issues.