News from Aziza's Place: August - September

Dear Friends of Aziza's Place,

The summer break from public school certainly doesn't mean the learning stops at Aziza's Place. These last two months have been a time of extra learning and adventures for all the AP residents and a special time for two residents who experienced many 'firsts' during their trip to the UK with Co-Founder Amjad Ghori.

August was an exciting time for visitors, with Amjad visiting AP for the third time this year. We were also delighted to meet Aziza's Place supporter Jenny Dutton who visited for the first time and long-time supporters (through Basmati), Raphaël Surber and Susanne Jäger who came as part of their annual visit to Aziza's Place. All the guests were present for Family Night during which the AP residents performed a well-practiced rendition of 'The Girl Who Cried Wolf', along with a dramatic Khmer dance performance.

As highlighted further below, all the AP residents took part in an exciting new project guided by English teacher Rob that gave the children an opportunity to think practically, problem-solve and even introduced them to physics as they worked together to build a water pump which transports water across horizontal or vertical distances, built with items found in most Cambodian households.

Just prior to the commencement of the 2011-2012 academic year at the Khmer Public Schools, the AP residents were all involved in an Enrolment campaign in the Steung Meanchey community, encouraging families to enrol their children in their local school before this date.

Finally, we want to express our sincere appreciation for the commitment and dedication shown by Intern Elodie Douillard-Potet during her time volunteering at Aziza's Palce for the last five months, and to Maxime Rovere who came to AP for all of August to experience Aziza's Place first-hand. And we were delighted to see former volunteer Emma Horsfall when she returned to Cambodia for a 10-day visit. We are all ever so appreciative of the unique contributions that each of our volunteers brings to Aziza's Place.

Yours Gratefully,

Aziza's Place

 

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This month we thank you for your generosity:

Basmati-Authentic Help - Raphaël Surber and Susanne Jäger

Jenny Dutton • John Xu and Grace Xi Chen (Give Me A Chance Charity)

Hannah Cooper, Anna Allen and Zaria McClement (South Hampstead High School)

Terranova Family • Lisa D'Aguiar

 

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AP Residents Keep Active with Summer Break Activities

AP residents Roth and Sreyphea
collect and measure the water
transported vertically using the
second water pump model. 

Innovative Do-It-Yourself projects take a lot of trial-and-error, patience, testing, calculating, recording, and making improvements by thinking outside the box. The AP residents are all learning these attributes as they take on an exciting new project guided by English teacher Rob. The project introduces a basic water pump, all constructed with items found in most Cambodian households. The pump can be used to transport water vertically or across horizontal distances and does not require petrol, diesel or any other fuel for operation. As the children know well, these water transport needs are very relevant to life in Cambodia, particularly in the countryside where many households lack access to electricity and where people are required to walk long distances to access water for home or farm use.

In the last two months the AP residents worked with Rob to develop two versions of the water pump. The first model pumped water from the ground to the first level of the Aziza’s Place building (a vertical height of 3.1 meters) at a rate of just over 2 liters in 3 minutes, using hosepipe, a bucket, and physical arm-power (to rotate the bucket). All calculations were made by the AP residents. They are currently working with models that can later be scaled up in size for increased capacity. Their efforts to make improvements with the second model were impressive. Adding in a bicycle wheel and adjusting the hosepipe to work more effectively, the second water pump moved 10 times the volume of water – 21.7 liters of water up a vertical height of 3.1 meters in 3 minutes! The next step has been to power the water pump using a swing. You can see the children enjoying these results on video here.

The project has been recorded online for others around the world to participate, make comments and try their hand at producing improved results. See the Water Pump Instructions online. The AP children have been inspired – we all look forward to seeing their future results from the next new and improved versions!