News from Aziza's Place - May/June 2011

Dear friends of Aziza's Place,

In this edition of Courtyard we want to highlight the progress of AP’s resident children as they step-up and extend themselves through the variety of programs and activities that are an integral part of life at Aziza's Place. As each child grows and expands their horizons and capabilities, we, the Staff and Volunteers are also pushed to adapt and modify our programs to keep or get a few steps ahead of each resident child’s tireless quest to learn and grow.

A first and significant major development is our good-fortune in convincing Rob Rushworth to sign on as a permanent English teacher for the four AP English classes. Many of the AP residents have been studying English for more than four years with the help of our many volunteers who eagerly took on the teaching responsibilities during their time spent at Aziza’s Place. Our very varied volunteer universe provided our resident children with an incredible opportunity to learn English while also exposing them to the volunteers' different backgrounds and experiences. While each child made tremendous strides in learning the language, particularly their speaking abilities, we recognized that for further improvements and for the children to step up to new levels, they clearly require a skilled teacher to lead them by developing a consistent and structured English program.

Another major development last month was the opportunity for the eldest residents to attend a leadership and personal development training course and learn skills which they’ve since had a chance to employ by playing a role in organising the May Family Night and in other fun activities with the remaining residents. See below for further details.

Our final important endeavour this month was coming to the aid of the family of an AP resident who reached out to Aziza's Place for support when their house collapsed into a pile of wooden planks and rubble with the onset of Cambodia’s rainy season, which typically begins in May/June every year. Aziza's Place supplied some much-needed building materials as part of our continued commitment to help our resident children, their families and their communities.

Other highlights featured this month are: a warm welcome to Elodie Douillard-Potet as an intern from the Université De Franche - Comté(France); and grateful acknowledgement of a $6,000 ’Enterprise’ grant, received from Global Fund for Children (GFC), an organization dedicated to help many worthy projects around the world that focus on improving the lives of children.

Yours Gratefully,

Aziza's Place

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Thank you for your contributions in May/June:

Special appreciation is extended to Bridie Ryan, grandmother of previous volunteer Hayley Carter.  Her donation to Aziza's Place was made in memory of her husband, Jim Ryan.

Thank you also to: Peter Tabri • Stephanie McMahon • Thomas Ragot

AP Residents Working Together Results in Successful Family Nights; and Delicious Spring Rolls!

AP residents enjoy a 'spring-roll making' competition. 

(Top left) Competition is underway. (Top right) The winning

team celebrate. (Bottom left) Vegetable preparation. 

(Bottom right) Sreynat smiling brightly.

As a way to put the learning from activites such as the Attitude training into practice, we have been focusing on ways for the AP residents to be leaders, take on responsibilities, and work together. Family nights have become one way for our eldest residents to take on greater responsibilities. Each month two of the eldest residents will take charge and work together to choreograph / arrange the performances, decide who will act as MC's and develop the structure of the evening's events. The team in charge reports their plans and progress updates at two staff meetings during the month prior to the event. Chiev and Rotha took responsibility for May's Family Night, with a karate demonstration and a role-play being the main events of the evening. They also took charge of the decor, setting up the stage with curtains and decorating the walls with balloons. It was heart-warming to see the young adults stepping up as leaders among their peers and working together to create a successful family night event.

Children's Day on June 1 was also a fun, simple and innovative way for the children to demonstrate their ability to work together in friendly competition with each other. All 21 AP residents were split into three teams and participated in a 'Masterchef'-style competition with the aim to make the most delicious spring rolls! Each team had their own style as they raced to the market to purchase vegetable-fillings and return to AP to chop the food and prepare delicious and beautiful cuisine for the staff to taste as the judges. One team illustrated efficiency and effectiveness with specialised roles for each team-member, while another team showed off their skills in creating artistic decorations and the third team tried mixing up the flavours with their fillings and sauces. The event was a great success providing an opportunity for the children to work together and demonstrate their skills in developing strategies and teamwork - while also revealing an unprecedented enthusiasm for eating vegetables! See more photos on the AP facebook page. We all look forward to the next round of competition.

News from Aziza's Place - November 2010

Dear friends,

This edition of Aziza's Courtyard heralds the many significant changes happening at Aziza's Place, most important of which is the realization of our long held goal to transition the management and operations of Aziza's Place into the hands of Khmer leadership. Until now, the vision for local leadership has always been a focus for the future, signifying an important turning point in the progress of Aziza's Place. After first opening our doors almost four years ago, we're proud to say that the Future is Now as we embark on this exciting phase in our existence.

Leading this charge will be Soy Socheat who has been with Aziza's Place for almost four years and will take on the overall responsibility as the Director of Programs. Starting on December 1, Socheat will be working alongside a new Director of Finance and Operations, Vong Bopha, who brings many years of experience working with larger international NGOs in Cambodia and who is eager to finally devote her time and efforts to working with children. We also welcome Cath Waugh to the full-time position of Communications Director. As many of you will recall, Cath, prior to her appointment, was the longest serving volunteer at Aziza's Place having spent well over a year volunteering as a teacher and with various AP projects, while earning a permanent place in the hearts of our resident children, staff, other volunteers and the larger AP community.

As we welcome new staff members and old staff members move into expanded roles, we also had to say our sad farewells to Interim Directors Alexandra Robbins and Daniel Haney. Ali and Dan always worked with the goal for local leadership in mind and were both excited to be handing over the torch of leadership to the Khmer staff. Ali and Dan also exerted tremendous effort in building and expanding the AP programs to a level of excellence which everyone will now strive to maintain. In this newsletter we send them off with an enormous Thank You for their commitment and dedication over the past eighteen months to the lives of all of us involved with Aziza's Place.

Other significant news for Aziza's Place includes the award of the Select Equity Group Foundation grant, awarded on behalf of Penny Barten. We are honored to accept the grant, which will provide considerable support for the programs and activites for the children of Aziza's Place. Read on for more details.

With Gratitude,
The AP team

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This month we give a special thanks to:

Select Equity Group Foundation • Kevin Ferguson • Mark and Lisa Burgess

Pauline Dennehy • Anne Perfall

AP stepping into the vision of Khmer leadership

Change and transition is the theme of this month’s activities. We are excited to be implementing the long-held vision for Khmer leadership at Aziza’s Place which has been in the works since shortly after our opening in February 2007. The Khmer staff members have always been encouraged to progressively take on added responsibilities while also being provided with oportunities for training and continuing education. We are incredibly proud and happy to see the Khmer staff now feel confident taking owndership and the lead in directing the management, operations and vision for the future. We see a bright future as Soy Socheat steps into the role of Director of Programs, overseeing the running of Aziza’s Place with a particular focus on programs and activities, and in monitoring the childrens’ progress. Socheat has been with Aziza’s Place since we were established and has a firm grasp on the needs and aspirations of each individual child. He is excited to be taking on new responsibilities in his leadership role for Aziza’s Place.

We are also delighted to be introducing a new Khmer staff member, Vong Bopha, who will fill the role of Director of Finance and Operations. Vong Bopha will join the AP team on December 1st and will be working closely with Socheat while taking primary responsibility for financial reporting, budgets and day-to-day cash management. Once comfortable with her new work environment and mastering all the financial administration duties, Bopha will gradually move into the role of managing the daily operations and AP staff. Socheat and Bopha will work together in strategic planning, developing goals and regularly evaluating program effectiveness.

We also welcome Cath Waugh to the permanent staff of Aziza’s Place. Cath is originally from New Zealand but has made her home here in Cambodia, volunteering at Aziza’s Place for the past 17months. As of October Cath morphed into the role of Communications Director and is excited to be able to dedicate herself to a full-time role at AP. Her role as Communications Director will consist of donor communication; e-media updates (including the monthly Aziza's Courtyard Newsletter); and scheduling and coordination of volunteers and visitors. She is passionate about the aspirations and energy of the AP children and is excited by the prospect of communicating all the latest happenings to our wider community of supporters.