Aziza's Place News - June/July 2010

Dear Friends of Aziza's Place,
As the children of AP prepare for their summer holidays, we are proud to say that all twenty-one children have passed to their next grade in public school. We praise their hard work and reflect upon the immense accomplishments of these children who have had the odds stacked against them. For the first time AP will have thirteen children enrolled in junior high and high school next school year posing the question, "What's next for AP children?" This issue of the Courtyard outlines how the AP team is working to achieve its goal to equip the children with the life-tools, skills and values needed to become productive citizens of their community.

Many existing aspects of the AP program are already working towards this goal, such as requiring that students earn their high school diploma and also particpate in our high-quality, in-house English, computer, and visual arts training. In addition to these initiatives, this summer we’re excited to announce a new phase in our program that includes workshops, community service projects, and a work experience program. These programs are structured to help our residents navigate life outside of AP and enable each child to carve out their own path based on their individual interests and skill set.

We invite you to congratulate the children on a fantastic year at school and to take a hands-on role in their success. This is possible by providing moral support and mentoring or textbooks and sponsorships for university, inititaives we expand on in this issue. It is your invested support that will enable a future of economic and social self-sufficiency for the resident children of Aziza's Place.

Wishing you a safe and relaxing summer,
The AP Team

Thank you for Supporting Us

Aziza's Place would like to highlight the following individuals who made an impact through financial or in-kind donations this month. You keep our children healthy and our programs vibrant, thank you for your dedication and generosity.

Edward J. Higham and Family - Armonk, New York
American Women of the Eastern Province - Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Susan and Arch Elving - Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Peter Mayer and April Johnson - Brooklyn, New York
Melanie Ryan- Hanover, Massachusetts
Michael Bednark - Brooklyn, New York
Gemma Pinnatel Bove - Barcelona, Spain
Lauren Cawdrey - Brooklyn, New York
Graham McLachlan - Chicago, Illinois
Sophia Sapp - Eugene, Oregon
Nyra Lang - Brooklyn, New York

MAP Raises the Roof- Once again, Aziza's Place would like to recognize Moms Against Poverty for replacing the leaky roof before the rainy season began. MAP has been a partner of AP for the past three years and we are grateful for all they have done for us.

Janice Juszczak - Janice volunteered with AP from January to April 2010. She has continued to support us from home providing funds to purchase a brand new MacBookPro. This laptop will primarily serve our film program, but will be an enormous asset to our regular program as well.

Stephanie McMahon- Stephanie volunteered from October to January 2010 as an English teacher. We are grateful to her for the great goodies she sent from the U.S. (clothes, beads, footballs, toys, oh my!) Her friend Dominic Afzali who is a lawyer working in Cambodia was generous to bring these donations all the way from California.

Natalie Robbins- Natalie, the Grandmother of Director Ali Robbins, was generous to donate her laptop computer for Aziza's Place administrative needs. We are grateful that she took the plunge and switched to a MacBook, making her the most technologically savvy grandmother around.

Vafa Talieh- Vafa is a long time friend of AP Co-Founder Nader Ebrahimi and has been donating children's vitamins to Aziza's Place for many years. She generously gave a huge box of vitamins, medicine and books to a staff member returning to AP from the U.S. this month.

Sophie Cooper, Margarida Santos, and Riya Gosrani - These three remarkable girls, ages 9 to 11, from South Hempstead High School in London did a fundraiser for Aziza's Place before the end of the school year. Sophie is the daughter of the Aziza Foundation UK Trustee Adam Cooper. We thank them and their supportive classmates for helping AP.

Work Experence, Next Phase in Child Development Begins

As the school holiday from August to September commences so has the work experience program designed to introduce children fifteen and older with skill-building and responsibility. AP staff and volunteers are pairing up with eight children to support them in finding an internship in their field of interest. So far, four children have successfully begun their work placement. The children are matched with local business partners whose managers care for the growth and well being of the children. Weekly check-ins with their supervisors keeps the AP staff alert as to what type of work they are doing to ensure they are having a positive experience. Below, the internships of four residents are outlined.

Hair Stylist and Beautician- Eighteen year old Theara is working at Eriq Amtalla Hairdressing in Phnom Penh. Here she is learning the basics of being a hairdresser and beautician by professional stylists from around the world. As her teachers and many of the clientele are English speakers, she is gaining the added experience of learning the business through the English language. After only three weeks in this position her confidence has greatly improved.

Video Production Company Interns - Rotha, age sixteen and Chiev, age seventeen, are working with Mr. Tim Vann at his video production company. Mr. Vann is the current AP film education teacher and taught these two students in last year's film class. This work experience will expand upon their film production knowledge in a professional setting that includes working on television series and pilot projects.

Sales Clerk - Srey Mach, age fifteen, working at a local stationary store. Her experience revolves around customer service and business. She is now entering 9th grade and has expressed interest in going into business and management.

Along with work experience, the children will participate in workshops that begin the discussion and thought process for the future living outside of Aziza's Place. This includes talks with professionals in various industries. This program is in its early stages and will lead to support in finding vocational training, entering the job market, and applications for those eligible for university. The first graduate is expected next year.

AP supporters can join our initiative to help residents transition to adulthood by becoming a mentor. Mentoring is possible through guided and supervised emails with our residents. This is a great opportunity to share your experiences and advice. If you are interested in mentoring, simply reply to this newsletter email and we will send you more details. We will again call on our generous supporters when our graduates are preparing to attend university. At that time you will have the opportunity to sponosor a resident, with enrollment costs averaging about $500 per term. Aziza's Place is grateful to the community in Phnom Penh and around the world that is working to secure a future full of opportunity for our resident children.

AP Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary of Volunteer Cath Waugh

The children and staff of Aziza's Place are so lucky to have had Cath Waugh part of our lives for the past year. Cath is compassionate and hard working and a friend and confidant to all of us.

Cath was inspired to travel to Cambodia by her Khmer friend in New Zealand and after finding AP at idealist.org, volunteered teaching advanced English class for three months. Her love for Cambodia meant her few months became a year-long commitment and she took a job teaching at a private English school. While this new opportunity meant she could no long teach daily classes, she still committed to AP daily and worked on projects such as the website and volunteer blog. Cath never missed a weekend field trip and tutored students in the evening.

Cath, Sreymom, and the New Zealand Community

Cath is involved with a very strong and generous church community back in New Zealand and keeps them up to date with life at AP. This involvement encouraged a New Zealand youth group Equippers Church Kids (all of whom are under 12 years old) to hold a Christmas fundraiser to provide new clothing for the AP residents. Her reach extended even further when she became involved in the future of Sreymom, an older sister of an AP resident who was caught in human trafficking. Cath worked hard to find the Open Arms Training Program, a year long vocational training program that sponsors women in vulnerable situations. While the Open Arms stipend was very generous, Sreymom would still need supplemental income for daily living. Cath again pulled together support from New Zealand (read more in the next article).

Cath took a much deserved six week trip to Europe in July 2010. We are so grateful to Cath for her constant generosity and friendship. Thank goodness she is coming back for six more months. We will do our best to convince her to never leave.

Update on Sreymom, AP Sibling Rescued From Trafficking Scam

The human trafficking plight of Sreymom was discovered in December 2009, when AP staff received news that she was going to be sent to Malaysia. Through the support of AP staff and volunteer Cath Waugh, Sreymom is now training to be a hairdresser and beautician at Open Arms Training Program, where they subsidize her studies, rent and have even provided her a bicycle to get to and from work. Sreymom is very happy in her program and excited at fulfilling her dream to work as a hairdresser and beautician in a professional salon.

To contribute to her living expenses, Sreymom now works at AP as the Sunday caretaker. She cooks and looks after the children allowing our regular 24-hour/day caretakers a much-deserved day off. Along with the income from this position, Sreymom is lucky to have the support of Phillip Havill and the Challenge for Change mentor program located in Wellington, New Zealand. Cath was a mentor for this program and is working with Mr. Havill to organize a fundraiser. Due to Sreymom's global support system, she now has the opportunity to start over and begin a career that she loves. Read more about Sreymom's story here.

July Family Night and Community Outreach

July's family night was full of fun and great food as always. This month the children prepared a Karate showcase and dance performance exhibiting a brand new dance. Teachers, family members and volunteers had fun hanging out and watching the show. We encourage supporters to log onto the Aziza's Place Facebook page where we post current events and photos about life in our dynamic children's home. It is a great way to stay even more connected.
This month Aziza's Place was able to recycle the salvageable roofing tin from the roof replacement last month. The tin was given to the parents of AP children whose homes were in dire need of protection in the heavy monsoon rains. Thanks to MAP's partnership and good communication with the families of our residents, Aziza's Place and three other families are feeling more secure with new roofs this rainy season.

We Get By With A Little Help From Our Volunteers!

In the current spirit of "Beatlemania" at Aziza's Place, we dedicate this section to our amazing circle of supporters. Volunteers Mick and Kepi have introduced the kids to all things Beatles. The kids can recite the names and biographies of the Fab Four and can't get through the week without learning the lyrics to a new song! Aziza's Place gets by with the love and support of our donors, volunteers, and visitors. The simple fact is we just couldn't do it without you!

Megan Wong, from Los Angeles, California, first came to Cambodia with her school group from Westmont University to study anti-trafficking in SE Asia. After visiting Aziza's Place with her group, she fell in love with the kids and environment of the center. Megan will be leaving at the end of July to enter her junior year. We know we will see her again when she finishes school. Good luck this year, Megan.



Kaylie Wallace is beginning her third year at University of Virginia. Volunteering in an orphanage in Brazil this year sparked her interest to major in Global Development and also made her yearn for more experience abroad. Kaylie has a special connection to Aziza's Place as her parents are life-long friends of Founder Amjad Ghori. Along with teaching our beginner English speakers she is helping the AP staff accomplish program and administrative tasks. We welcome her great attitude, adventurism and motivation in Cambodia.


Susan Rosas is a graduate student at the University of Chicago. She will spend three months in Cambodia focusing on the preparedness of children exiting orphanages. At Aziza's Place she will evaluate the process in preparing the children to live on their own. She has past experience working with children from orphanages in Kenya and beginning their thought process on the transition. We are happy Susan will be here to assist us in this process and help us to conduct workshops and discussions with the AP residents.



Ann, David, and Molly Hurd were very close friends and grew up with Aziza. David, age 17, and Molly, age 14, came to AP with their mother Ann. They all wanted to visit Aziza's Place to honor their very close friend. It was a very special visit for them and for the children of AP who do not often meet children their age from other countries. They had so much fun together playing football and becoming friends.