News from Aziza's Place - March 2011

Dear friends of Aziza's Place,

On February 14th, Aziza’s Place celebrated its 4th Anniversary by hosting over 200 guests comprising of families of AP residents, partner NGOs, and other friends and supporters in the Phnom Penh community. And did we celebrate in style! The stars of the evening were the AP children who were decked out in their performance attire or in newly printed Aziza’s Place tee shirts. They practiced long and hard on their creative presentations and performances that made their families and friends proud. When we think back four years to the time when Aziza's Place was a journey yet to be discovered, we are humbled to witness the incredible growth and strides the children have made in the intervening years and how their progress has helped evolve the AP vision: for AP residents to learn the life tools, skills and values to become productive citizens of their community, economically self-sufficient and socially empowered.

This edition of Aziza’s Courtyard will feature the 4th Anniversary celebrations as well as highlight several new Programs that have been introduced to meet the evolving needs of our resident children, their families and their community - such as Career Counselling for our eldest students (six of whom will be turning 17 this year); a new Food Program where teams of children are provided instructions on cooking a meal per week for their fellow residents and the Staff; and, continuing efforts in our Community Outreach Program. We also take the time to give our heartiest thanks to our former Education Officer Darley Tom who worked as in Intern for Aziza's Place over five months and provided some valuable insight and recommendations on ways to improve our supplementary education programs. And we acknowledge the voice of current volunteer Leila Antakly who has shared her love of Aziza's Place with many of her family and friends and welcomed many of them as new supporters of AP. Thank you all for your generosity.  

With Much Gratitude,

The AP Team

We extend our gratitude to the following people for their support in February / March:

Marylee Fleishmann  •  Gemma Pinnatell Bove  •  Keirnan Murphy and Danielle Baron  •  Forrest Williams  •  Maud Gabry  •  Gwendolyne Willis  •  Irina Bogdonova  •  Jeremy and Alison Connick  •  Heather Connell, who we were delighted to see when she visited Phnom Penh in March

*******************************************************************

A special thankyou to Kevin Ferguson and Jeff Cheong who visited Aziza's Place and provided a well-received photography class for the AP residents. The children enjoyed experimenting and applying their photography skills with the new camera also donated by Kevin and Jeff.

We are also delighted to meet and host Steve, Michelle, Annelore (12), Henry (10) and Beatrice (6) Fleischmann who made a two-week stop at Aziza's Place a focus of their three-month Asia tour. The Fleischmanns quickly felt at home among the Aziza's Place residents and, after a few moments of intrigue, the AP children and Fleischmann children became fast friends. As a Board member of the US-based Aziza Ghori Charitable Foundation, we welcomed the opportunity to show Steve and his family the daily workings of Aziza's Place and the small impact that we're hoping to make on the lives of our remarkable resident children. Thank you for your insight and encouragement for us all at Aziza's Place.

Leila Antakly inspires support for AP through Facebook

Summer and Jennifer had to see Aziza's Place

themselves after hearing about their friend

Leila's experiences with the AP children!

This month we want to emphasize the incredible energy and passion for Aziza’s Place, from current volunteer Leila Antakly.  Over the past three months Leila has become part of the Aziza's Place family and has shared her enthusiasm and love of the AP children with her family and friends all around the world.  Leila has a gift of connecting people and by giving them insight into her work at AP she has inspired many others to support the activities and programs of Aziza’s Place.   Through the FundRazr application on Facebook, Leila connected more than 40 supporters who made financial contributions to the Aziza’s Place programs, raising enough money for Accident and Hospital/Surgery Health Insurance for the Aziza's Place staff and children.  Thankyou all for joining with us in building a bright future for the children and families of Aziza’s Place.
 

Leila’s experience also inspired her friends to such an extent that her friends Summer Nasief and Jennifer Ven came to experience AP firsthand.  They were welcomed as special guests in English classes where they spoke about their lives in Dubai and Los Angeles and answered questions from the children.   Their visit included energetic Yoga and Self Defence sessions with the AP residents, and time with some of the older children to inspire and mentor them in thinking about opportunities for their futures.  Thankyou both for sharing your time with us at AP during your visit to Cambodia.
 

Fourth Year Anniversary Birthday Party Celebrates AP's Achievements

Aziza's Place children, staff, and friends,

enjoying AP's fourth birthday party.

On February 14th Aziza’s Place was abuzz with activity as the resident children and staff geared up to enjoy and share our fourth anniversary celebrations with friends and family.  The AP courtyard was transformed with bright colours, with over one hundred chairs adorned in gold fabric set up for guests, facing a stage created especially for the evening's festivities.  New artworks were on display, including a mural painted by resident Chanty - the 'Tree of Growth' which incorporated bright smiling photos of the AP residents in celebration of 'Growth and Good Times'.  The AP house was a hive of activity, laughter and excited energy as the children prepared for their performances, dressed in traditional Khmer dance costumes, applied makeup, put on jewels and coiffed in extravagant hairstyles, ready to appear on stage.
 

The evening's performance included traditional Khmer dances and music, an address by co-founder Amjad Ghori and Directors Soy Socheat and Vong Bopha, a hip-hop performance by the children, residents Rotha and Ny sharing about their experiences at Aziza's Place, and testimonials by AP family members.  The evening continued, with delicious food shared with family and friends, complete with a 4th Anniversary cake.  We wish you all could have been there!  You can see photos of the celebrations on our facebook page here.
 

The Anniversary evening included the debut of our new AP film, created by our film students with the help of volunteer Leila Antakly and film teacher Tim Vann.  Please follow the link to view this production, undertaken completely by the AP film students: new film here!

AP Residents Focus on their Future with Career Counseling Program

Guest speaker Prasnar Yi from Nokor Group IT

presenting to AP's Career Counseling group

about his work experience in the IT industry

in Cambodia.

Aziza’s Place is in a state of perpetual growth and as the kids get older, and their needs change, new ones arise and we focus our efforts to meet these evolving needs. Recognizing that many of our children were turning 17 this year, we initiated a Career Counseling Program for our 6 eldest residents: Chiev, Chanty, Rotha, Ven, Sreymach and Theara.

The six participants either are or will turn 17 in 2011, but are not necessarily at the right grade in their public school due to their prior experience of attending school only intermittently. Many AP residents were unable to attend public school before living at Aziza’s Place because they were assisting their families by working instead. In lieu of this, many are on different timelines in regards to their graduation, which posed several challenges when designing the program. However, as with everything else at Aziza’s Place, we’ve tailored the focus of the program around meeting the individual needs of each child and the results from the first few meetings have been very positive.

The program currently focuses on encouraging the young adults to begin thinking about their strengths, passions, and interests. With the world at their fingertips, we’re encouraging the students to think outside of the conventional career box and learn about the interesting variety of jobs available to them in present day Cambodia. Reflection exercises, specially tailored individual meetings, and guest speakers from a wide variety of careers and sectors are a few examples of activities within the program. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure the participants gain internship/volunteer experience in several areas of work that interests them within the next year. This will assist them in deciding what to focus on in their post secondary studies.

A New Appreciation for Cooking as AP Launches a New Food Program

Theara, Rotha, Sreyphea and Navy at the market,

selecting the best vegetables for dinner.

Aziza’s Place is proud to announce the launch of the AP Food Program!  Facilitated by Chef Seaklim, the program teaches the kids all of the skills, techniques and hygienic practices required when preparing a meal from start to finish.  Commencing in early February, the program involves small teams of residents learning the gamut of skills necessary to prepare a meal under the tutelage and guidance of Chef Seaklim.
 

For the first month the program was held solely in the Aziza’s Place kitchen, allowing the kids to familiarize themselves with basic knife skills, food hygiene, and proper storage methods.  After those basic skills were mastered, the participants then stepped out of the kitchen and into the market! The participants now go on a shopping trip to the market early on the Friday morning they will be preparing the meal.  At the market they get first-hand experience in important life-skills such as identifying fresh produce, the process of bartering with a food vendor, and the importance of developing a healthy relationship with regular salespeople.
 

At the beginning of every month Chef Seaklim prepares recipes that the teams will use to follow along with during their lesson.  Chicken Curry with Noodles, Fried Rice With Pork, and Fried Beef with Vegetables are examples of dishes that have been prepared by teams thus far.  An added benefit to the program is the wide range of English cooking and food terminology that the AP kids now have in their extensive vocabularies.
 

The AP Food Program’s experiential teaching style is at the cornerstone of Aziza’s Place approach to learning.  Interactive, and engaging, the Food Program has created a deeper interest within the kids to become involved in one of the crucial everyday skills that will be required in their daily lives outside of AP.

Community Outreach Program Connects AP Families with Employment Opportunities

AP's Community Outreach initiative is an ongoing project aimed at working with the families of our resident children by connecting them with resources and linking them with opportunities that will improve their quality of life - through opening doorways and opportunities for families to connect with resources such as health initiatives or job and income-earning opportunities.  The Community Outreach team has been engaging regularly with the families of AP residents, communicating to them the services and facilitations we can provide, but the responsibility to seek our assistance lies entirely in the hands of families and conversely, to respond and to be motivated in taking up the connections opened up for them.
 

Program Coordinator Yi Makara has been involved in the Community Outreach Program from the outset.  Though he has met with many challenges he perseveres with admirable patience, encouragement and resourcefulness in thinking about the situation for each of the AP families.  He has been instrumental in building strong relationships with the families through regular visits and phone calls, and coordinating them to attend the Aziza's Place monthly family nights.
 

Most recently we facilitated employment for the mother of resident Sokty, along with her cousin.  They have started working in cleaning and assistant chef jobs at a restaurant established by Vann Pisey, a strong supporter of AP and previous short-term employee as a temporary accountant dating back to 2007 and several years since.  The jobs will provide AP family members with regular and reliable income as well as   Accident and Health Insurance benefits and allowance for annual leave and sick days.  These employment conditions present a considerably safer working environment compared to those of the unpredictable roles of collecting trash and recyclables around Phnom Penh.  We encourage the AP families in their new endeavors and support them as they develop work experience and strive to improve their living situations.     

AP Extends Many Thanks to Education Officer Darley Tom

Darley and Channy -
Christmas 2010

This month we would like to extend our sincerest thanks to former Education Officer Darley Tom. Darley jumped right into the adventurous spirit of Aziza’s Place when she first arrived in September 2010, including an AP vacation to the beach with all 21 AP children. It didn’t take her long for her to fall in love with Aziza's Place.

As part of her graduate studies of Sustainable International Development with Brandeis University, in Waltham, Massachusetts, Darley did some valuable work in evaluating the state of Aziza’s Place' supplemental education programme. She worked with Program Director Soy Socheat and made recommendations for ways to make our classes more sustainable and effective. She was great at offering to help out where needed - working with staff to select new English textbooks to enhance our curriculum, improving AP resources such as the volunteer guide, and connecting with other similar NGO's.

Sadly Darley had to return home earlier than planned due to injury.  We look forward to receiving the outcomes of her written research at the end of the month, which considers the experiences and approaches to education programs by various children’s NGO’s in Phnom Penh. Thankyou for your insight and input into the Aziza's Place programs Darley. We wish you all the best with the completion of you studies and hope to see you again someday!

How to Help Aziza's Place - Support • Volunteer • Connect

Are you interested in supporting the children and programs of Aziza's Place? We invite you to become a part of our growing global community by donating, volunteering, or simply connecting us to your network of friends and family.

Click here to make a donation via PayPal. For donations over $400, please click here for wire transfer information. U.S. donors receive a tax credit receipt for your contribution. UK donors may elect the Gift Aid option so the tax-gross up is received by the charity. If you are a perspective volunteer, please take a look at our volunteer needs on idealist.org, or simply contact us.

Thank you for supporting the children and families of Aziza's Place.