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
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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.
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