2010 Highlights as AP steps into the New Year.

AP residents celebrating the end of 2010 with a

Christmas party.

14th February 2011 will mark the fourth Anniversary for Aziza’s Place. In this Courtyard we highlight some of the achievements of AP in 2010 as we approach this four-year milestone.  

• Staff Transition - Management responsibility for Aziza’s Place transitioned to Cambodian staff – Soy Socheat and Vong Bopha working together as Director of Programs and Director of Finance and Administration.

•   New Residents – We welcomed 10-year old Ream and 5-year old Sreynak to Aziza’s Place.

• Academic Achievement - All AP residents easily passed to the next grade in public school. More than half our AP residents are now enrolled in junior high or high school.

•   New Volunteers - 13 volunteers joined the Aziza’s Place family in 2010. Our internship program established early in the year has attracted volunteers for a longer time commitment, with nine of our volunteers in 2010 staying for three months or more.

•   Community Spirit - Family nights, a cornerstone in our efforts to connect with families of AP resident children on a monthly basis saw continued improvement in attendance numbers, including up to 80 attendees one month, all of whom who get to share the learning and growth of their children.

•   Community Involvement – Our Community Outreach program continued to expand as we identified employment opportunities for family members of AP residents and also helped develop small-business opportunities, including acting as an intermediary between families and micro-finance institutions that would consider funding their projects.

•   Work Internships - Our Work Experience Program allowed eight AP residents to get a taste of the “real world” as they interned at several of our Partner organizations such as Boddhi Tree Hotels in Phnom Penh, Eriq Amtalla Salon, Mr. Tim Vann’s film productions, and a local stationery store.

•   Social Development - The eldest AP residents completed a week-long workshop with Karol & Setha “Knowledge And Reflection on Life and Sexuality Through a Holistic Approach”. The workshop was valuable for the AP teenagers in opening up support and encouragement for their healthy decision-making and in establishing positive relationships.

• Curriculum Enhancement – The AP Education program was thoroughly vetted and changes were made creating more structure and consistency to our curriculum, particularly to our English classes. These changes include the purchase of text books and developing a framework for our English curriculum that volunteer English teachers can follow.

•   Creativity Enhancement – Emphasis on traditional Khmer music and dance programs was a continuing feature of our efforts to provide opportunities in the Arts to our residents. In addition, the subject matter in computer classes was elevated by the hiring of a qualified Khmer computer teacher to match the ever-increasing interest and skills of our residents.

•   Child savings plans in place as AP children set up their own savings bank accounts at AMK Bank.

These are just some of the many milestones and highlights of 2010. As each AP resident grows and develops, everyone associated with AP have been forced to keep and continue providing a variety of new opportunities to meet each resident’s hunger for knowledge, experience and learning. A primary focus of our goals for 2011 will be to formulate ideas and convert them into opportunities for our older residents preparing to leave AP in the coming years. Initiatives like our work experience program will become an integral part of for life after Aziza’s Place. We will also continue to focus on expanding our Community Outreach Program by closely tracking the projects and measuring their progress in an effort to fine-tune our approach, resources and, ultimately, success. We are all eagerly looking forward to the exciting things in store for 2011 but also very aware of the challenges we will face achieving our objectives.