News from Aziza's Place - April/May 2011

Dear friends of Aziza's Place,

This month the AP Courtyard comes from the setting of Cambodia's hot, dry season. April is typically Cambodia's hottest month and this year has been no exception! April is therefore the perfect time for Cambodia's biggest nationwide holiday - Khmer New Year. This year we celebrated Khmer New Year with a party of games and fun at Aziza's Place just before most of the children headed home to spend some time with their families, most of whom return to their home provinces during this Holiday.

This month’s issue also features the successful culmination of three-month dance project undertaken by seven resident children of Aziza's Place in partnership with performers from other NGO's, Chibodia and New Future For Children. All the participants staged an eloquent modern-dance performance, displaying the results of the hard work and dedication invested by the children under the guidance of dance instructor Stephen Bimson.

As we have highlighted in previous issues of Aziza’s Courtyard, Aziza's Place integrates certain core values which we feel express our raison d’etre, namely: 'Respect - for ourselves, each other and our surrounding community; 'Honesty - we believe that trust is the foundation of a genuine relationship; 'Caring - looking out for each other each and every day; 'Unity - living as a family, listening to one another and working together'; and, 'Opportunity - embracing the chance to reach our potential'. These values embody the spirit and belief of Aziza's Place and are the basis on which we live as a community. This month we focus on how our emphasis on 'Opportunity' is advancing our Aziza's Place staff, who have been participating in workshops geared towards building and nurturing their capacity and their potential as a team. The workshops strengthened staff support and explored effective strategies for improving communication and problem solving while providing a healthy and positive learning environment for the children at Aziza's Place.

We (sadly :() extend our heartfelt thanks and farewell to volunteer Leila Antakly who has left a lasting impression with her love and dedication for the resident children of Aziza’s Place and with her remarkable fundraising efforts. We also give special recognition for the impact that former volunteer Hayley Carter has been making from her home in the UK with her fundraising efforts. Please read on for more detail!

With Gratitude,

The AP Team

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We would like to thank the people who supported Aziza's Place in April:

Susan and Arch Elving and the American Women of the Eastern Province (Saudi Arabia) for their generous annual donation

Ed Higham for the matching gift of his employer - New York Life

Mary Norton - a long-standing friend of the Ghori family

Kevin Ferguson - a friend of Aziza's Place intending to establish a new project in Cambodia and looking to the principles of Aziza's Place for guidance.

Ian McCourtney and Jorge DePablo • Enrique Alonso

AP is Honored to Receive Support from Hayley's UK Community: Her Family, Friends, and the Rotary Club of Southport Links

Hayley with Sreynak and Theara, during a

horseriding fieldtrip Hayley organised in

January 2011.

In this Courtyard edition we would like to highlight the generous support and commitment to Aziza's Place from former volunteer Hayley Carter.  Hayley returned to the UK in February this year brimming with enthusiasm from her volunteering experiences which she then relayed to her family and friends so convincingly that they all decided to contribute funds to Aziza's Place.  Hayley held a presentation with the Rotary Club of Southport Links and used the online fundraising tool 'Just Giving' to enable her family and friends to show their support.  After sharing her experiences and her love for the 21 Aziza's Place residents, they all responded with a generous contribution in excess of £1200, surpassing even Hayley's initial lower fundraising targets.  We are so grateful to Hayley and her wider community whose giving shows a sparkling reflection on Hayley’s generosity and love for the Aziza's Place children.  Thank you all for making an impact on the lives of the Aziza's Place children and their families.

Sorseday Chnam Thmey - Happy Khmer New Year!

Many traditional Khmer games provided fun and

entertainment for the Aziza's Place children, staff

and teachers as we all celebrated the most

significant holiday on the Cambodian calendar.

The sounds of fun, games and laughter could be heard from the Aziza's Place courtyard on April 8th, signalling the start of Khmer New Year celebrations. The smashing of clay pots, musical chairs, blindfold games, powder throwing, dancing and karaoke were all part of the fun as the AP children, staff and teachers all took part in traditional Khmer New Year activites. The courtyard was brightly decorated with balloons and streamers, and packages of sweets were given out as prizes to the winners of each game.

As a significant holiday on the Cambodian calandar, Khmer New Year is a time when Phnom Penh becomes noticeably quiet and people travel near and far across the country to spend time with their their families. Most of the AP residents and staff enjoyed a one week holiday. At Aziza's Place we believe the children's connection with their families is important and so Khmer New Year is a holiday when some of the children travel further than their usual weekend visits home, travelling with their parents or siblings to visit their extended family and friends in the provinces of Cambodia.

AP Residents Showcase their Creativity in a Collaborative Dance Project - "Dance Made In Cambodia: Revolutions"

The dramatic finale with all the performers coming

together in their final pose.

For the last three months, seven Aziza’s Place residents have been excitedly taking part in a project that challenged them and extended their creativity of dance in ways that they had not experienced before.

‘The Dance Made In Cambodia: Revolutions’ was a collaborative project among three local NGO’s that introduced contemporary dance in a self-chereographed performance, guided by the expertise of dance artist Stephen Bimson. Children from Aziza’s Place, Chibodia Children’s Home and New Future For Children joined together and performed routines that emphasized their creativity and reflected the months of hard work and dedication they had all invested. The three month process taught the children valuable lessons of commitment, working together, empowerment and ownership of the performance as each performer took on a major role for developing the piece.

The performance was very different to traditional Khmer dance that the children normally practice and stretched their skills and imagination with techniques inspired from ballet, yoga and other dance art forms. Stephen’s focus and aim as a dance teacher is to use the art form of dance “as a vehicle through which unheard voices can be vocalised; for participants to gain strength from the sense of pride and accomplishment of a performance; striving to create work for social groups in a manner that is empowering to the performer”.

The performance was made up of four sections that flowed seamlessly from one to another. The dance began with a demonstration of the stretches the dancers would routinely do to build their strength during the three month dance preparation. Each of the NGO groups then performed a routine they had practiced individually. They then all came together in a piece that combined all the dance performers in a dramatic finale. The feeling of achievement from the performers was immediately apparent on their delighted faces as they bowed to their audience at the completion of their final performance at Sovanna Phum, a reknowned venue and organisation focused on the promotion of Khmer arts and performances.

The dance was presented twice, the first night being an occasion for the other children from Aziza’s Place, Chibodia and New Future For Children to see their fellow residents perform, and the second night at Sovanna Phum as an opportunity for the public to enjoy and support the children. Overall the project was a fantastic success. Click here for photographs of the performance.

Staff Training Enhances AP Staff Capacity

AP Staff: Lim, Makara, Socheat, Bopha, Cath, Lani,

Phat and Ya - excited to be working together and

enhancing their skills in staff training workshops.

The value of ‘Opportunity’ at AP is reinforced with the resident children on a regular basis, as we encourage the children to embrace the chance to reach their maximum potential. This however does not stop with the children, but extends to the staff and entire AP team as well.

To further enhance the staff capacity, the AP staff participated in a series of specially tailored training sessions created to further develop teamwork skills, self-care practices, focus on personal development, responsible care giving, and more. For the past 6 weeks the team has been working closely with Indigo, a counselling service in Phnom Penh that facilitated the extensive trainings. English psychologist Katrina Tickle and Khmer psychologist Sothearwat Sieng, who specializes in team building and group learning activities, led the sessions.

The sessions were creative and dynamic, and allowed the staff to spend quality time together while learning valuable skills. The staff appreciated the good mixture of group participation activities, brainstorming sessions, sharing of feelings and team building exercises that took place during the trainings.

Each session focused on a few key points, all of which pertained to enhancing the ability to care for the AP children with the highest quality care possible.

Some main points the training focused on were:

• The importance of self-care, personal development, and identifying staff needs
• Self supervision and learning to obtain support from the team
• Formal listening skills that can be used to support the children and each other
• How to identify a problem/behaviour within a child that requires professional assistance
• Formulating an action plan based around providing support for peers and children

The training program was an incredible success! The staff left each session feeling rejuvenated and confident with some new strategies to provide the children with the care, love, and support that they need, and the skills required to do so. We are thankful to Indigo for tailoring the program for us and helping us to become better caregivers.

A Big Thank You to Leila from all of us at Aziza's Place!

Sreynak, Leila and Sengkry

This month we also have the opportunity to say thank you to volunteer Leila Antakly who finished her three month role at Aziza's Place in mid-April. Leila hails from New York and has had wide-ranging travel experience as an independent consultant for various profit and non-profit organisations. As highlighted in last month's Courtyard newsletter, Leila put in tremendous effort for building more fundraising support for Aziza's Place. She also built a strong connection with the children of Aziza's Place by teaching the three levels of English classes. Leila was the second volunteer to take on the newly structured classes as the only teacher teaching all three levels. This in itself is quite a challenge but Leila took it on board and established a great rapport with all of the children. She continued teaching the staff English classes and she also found the time to mentor the children in their film projects by providing expertise and support, and also starring in the new AP documentary film.

Leila quickly became a friend to the AP staff and children and found many ways to support the AP team. She encouraged the children to identify and pursue their passions and abilities and continually opened their perspectives to the wide-ranging opportunities available to them if they are willing to work hard.

Thank you Leila for your input and for your dedication to the children at Aziza's Place. We look forward to keeping in touch and seeing you when you're back in Phnom Penh!

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.