2011: A Year of Growth

AP residents in school uniform, ready to learn! 

This year has been full of incredible progress for the Aziza’s Place residents. The children have thrived in new programs and activities adapted to promote achievement and push them toward new challenges that expand their growth and learning. Aziza’s Place also strengthened as an organization through leadership development, and a targeted focus on staff training.

Organisational Developments

New Resident

With the start of the new academic year we welcomed 8-year old Navin to Aziza’s Place.

Khmer Leadership

A significant change, envisioned from the beginning, has been a formal transition to Khmer leadership. In 2011, Soy Socheat and Vong Bopha took charge as Director of Programs and Director of Finance and Operations, respectively.

The smoothness of their transition and the unqualified endorsement of the children and families speak volumes about AP’s commitment to the virtues of strong exemplars, competent managers, fully engaged caregivers and nurturing leaders in the staff.

Staff training programs

We have continued to strengthen the team at Aziza’s Place and advanced the capacity of individual staff members, all aimed at creating an enriched environment for the children.

Education and Program Development

Public Education Certification

In the 2011-2012 academic year, fifteen of the twenty-two AP residents have attained grade levels commensurate with their age. Just over half of AP's primary school children and over a third of AP's high school children consistently ranked in the top quartile of their public school peers in the 2010-2011 school year.

English Program

By hiring an experienced English teacher, Rob Rushworth, our English program has been advanced to a level that will be able to push the children’s already impressive English language abilities further. The continuity of support for progress from an experienced teacher has been invaluable for the children's learning as they are able to focus on listening, speaking, writing and grammar skills through Rob’s teaching of applied English and related practical uses. The children’s abilities have progressed in leaps and bounds, as is their increasing confidence operating in English - a critical skill in pursuing both domestic and international opportunities.

Counseling Program
The children sometimes make the huge strides they take with their education, families and AP everyday, seem effortless and we know that just growing up has its own challenges too. In 2011, we implemented a counseling program tailored specifically for the children of Aziza's Place to address individual needs, support team-building, and deepen group learning. This helps the children draw what they need from each other as well as from AP’s nurturing staff.

Film Students Take the Initiative
AP's film students successfully directed and produced films for external use – including the Aziza's Place promotional film, and a film for a local NGO – Attitude Centre for Education (ACE).

Community Outreach Program
The AP Community Program responds to the needs of AP family members, the resources available to them, and AP’s strengths as a small organization. Our Outreach Program acts as a facilitator and connector to existing services in areas that our target community lives, tapping into resources at work in the area. In 2011, two family members of AP residents were connected with jobs, a family member was rescued from a dubious work network and two family members of AP residents were assisted in a financial emergency.

Internship Program

The six eldest residents at Aziza's Place thrived trying on new roles in workplaces around Phnom Penh, after independently sourcing internship placements for summer break from Khmer Public School. After two months working, the children returned from their Internship experiences with a sense of purpose and responsibility, and a sense of independence and confidence as they all took on new roles and learned wide-ranging skills relevant to their unique areas of interest.

Life-skills Activities

The children have stepped up their efforts tackling the life skills needed for the daily challenges of independent life. These have included urban orientation and map reading, navigating and purchasing in markets, food preparation, cooking techniques, and other practical activities. All of the children participate to some degree and enjoy even the most modest of these confidence-building victories of daily practicality.

AP Residents Explore the UK
For the first year, two of AP’s most accomplished English speakers were the recipients of a 10-day trip to the UK in recognition of their leadership skills and achievements.

As AP’s first ambassadors, they presented themselves confidently with both hosts and prospective donors, circulating with poise and grace at an event at Asia House in London. Their English-speaking abilities impressed all who met them. Given that this was their first travel on an airplane, let alone their first visit to an English-speaking country, their character and poise in unfamiliar surroundings made them ideal first representatives from Aziza’s Place.

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