HOPE's Recent Achievements
YOUNG ADULT PROGRAMME
Team Effort!! |
(supporting young adults on their way to independence)
The young adults we support have made marvellous progress in the last six months. 4 girls have moved out from the Sangkheum Center for children and into to the "satellite" house, taking their first big steps on the road to independence.
As part of their increased independence they have created an organisational chart which changes every 6 months for the kids to take on their own responsibilities. Presently the team leader is Sambath and his deputies are Bota and Pok. There is a weekly rota for household chores and they cook their own meals. At dinner time they have agreed to only speak English - a great way to practice. We are so proud of these kids - they are really committed to working with the programme to improve their lives, and are keen to show us how hard they can work.
They are STILL talking about the sponsored bike ride they took part in last December - 30km in soaring Cambodian heat and dust. They have continued to meet every Sunday to keep practising - good exercise, discipline and team spirit. They already want to do it again in 2010, and hopefully Tanya will tie in her annual visit so she can join them this time too.
2009 Bike Challenge at Angkor Wat | |
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HOPE'S Project News
Jo has spent a lot of time since our last newsletter working closely with our projects in the field; we have supported a new football league for 13 - 18 year olds, purchasing the goal posts from another project the Iron Workshop; we have helped another organisation learn about the Young Adult Programme so they can replicate it rather than re-invent a programme and start to help their young adults improve their chances of employment and independent living. We plan to help fund the cost of their teacher/leader once they are up and running and hope to bring you more news of their progress soon.
Kids enjoying football everyday putting P in HOPE
 | But the most significant progress has been made with a project known as "My Grandfather's House" or in Khmer "Pteah Ta Kynom" where HOPE and Jo in particular has helped a local Cambodian fulfil his dream of turning a rundown family property in his remote village into a supplemental school. To date we have.....
- Overseen the renovation of the building, rallying visitors to help with the manual labour
- Helped to kit out the school with tables, chairs, whiteboards, books etc
- Assisted with the recruitment of many locals - 3 to teach, 1 to provide administration and many more to clean and help maintain the building
- Coordinated the open day and assisted with enrolment
In April the school officially opened with 119 children aged 6 to 15 enrolling for supplemental maths, Khmer and English classes. Having provided support from the onset HOPE has also agreed to help by contributing to the monthly cost of the teachers.
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2010 Outlook
We are turning our attention to some summer fund raising and attending some summer fetes selling beautiful silk products (bags, purses, photo frames etc) made by women living in the area around Sangkheum Center for Children, so another win win as the Silk Workshop makes money and HOPE raises funds.
On Sunday June 13th Tanya will be running a stall at the Chiswick Green Days fete (nearest tube Turnham Green) - a fantastic family day out with plenty of rides, stalls and entertainment. We would welcome your support at the fetes or if you wish to manage a stall for us elsewhere please let us know.
In December Tanya will be joining Jo to visit the wonderful Cambodia for a few weeks not only to catch up with old friends but to tie it in with helping HOPE with the 2010 Angkor Wat Bike Challenge. If you would like to join HOPE trustees and the young adults from Sangkheum for a unique cycle around the wonderful Angkor temple complex at dawn please do contact us.
Another great idea that a HOPE supporter has had is to include HOPE on their wedding gift list. In this day, many couples are keen to share their special day and take the opportunity to support a project near to their heart. We are more than happy to provide further information if you would like to adopt this great idea.
If there are any budding Paul(a) Radcliffes out there looking to improve their fitness perhaps you will consider running/cycling/swimming/staying silent (!!) for HOPE - again we are more than happy to help you. A recent visitor to Cambodia, touched by what he saw there managed to rope some colleagues in and did just that - running 10k and raising £1,000 - Thank you Richard and friends. Here's his story.
The great thing is a little money goes a long way in Cambodia - new bicycles can be bought for less than $50, a set of basic Lets Go school books for My Grandfather House costs approx. $35 (for 100 children).
And at HOPE we incur very very little in the way of overheads or marketing, which in any case are all covered by the Trustees' contributions. So we are proud to say every penny of your donations really does reach the young adults and the projects.
But money isn't everything - if you have time we can probably put it to good use, and just by telling people about HOPE, adding the website www.hopeforcambodia.org.uk to your facebook/twitter page or on the footer of your emails will all help spread the word. If you told 5 people and they told 5 people.......well who knows where it will lead.
 
For any questions/offers of help please contact us here.
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