MEET CCDO'S 2015 SCHOLARS!
Scholarship 2015
Congratulations to our CCDO 2015 High School scholars

Jake, our volunteer spearheaded the selection of this year's high school scholarship students.

 

"Out of 60 candidates, 7 outstanding students were chosen to receive the CCDO High School Scholarship 2015," Jake reports.

 

"The scholarship includes rice for the family, school books, the cost of tuition for High School classes, 4 new uniforms, as well as clothes and a bicycle for transportation if necessary. Grade 9 students that study English with CCDO were asked to write an essay on the career they want in the future, and a brief interview was conducted with the finalists. Our community outreach workers took note of their financial needs, and we feel confident that these children will use their demonstrated aptitude in spoken and written English to succeed in their journey through High School."

 

The cost for a year is $350 per student. Please visit our website to meet the recipients and choose one to sponsor. They would be happy to have your financial support and also receive an occasional message of encouragement. They will write back to you and we will keep you abreast of their progress.

Water & Sanitation Tracker
Wells needed : 32 
Latrines needed: 29

                     Jan  Feb Mar Apr  May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct  Nov   Dec 
Wells Built      8      5    6     5     12    15
Latrines Built  7      4   15    6       2    16
Reports from the Ground
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"It is always exhilarating to see the progress we are making on the ground. Our Cambodian staff are conscientious and work diligently to see that our initiatives are successful. Some of the team do double duty and help out with the breakfast program as well as our women's workshops and anti-trafficking initiatives."
-  Jenni Lipa, Founder of CCDO
  

Our founder reports CCDO's progress in Cambodia 

  

Jenni  has made frequent stops to check on all our varied projects in Cambodia. And she has this to share with us, 

   

"A big congratulations to our WASH team who built a record number of wells and latrines this month.   

Rose Wang Group
Rose Wang (bottom left) and her team 
I was also fortunate to see our international volunteers, and especially our girl visitors in action and was impressed with the caliber of these young philanthropists. They first fundraised in their home countries then came to spend time and effort in Cambodia to work with our kids.    
Two girls from California, Snigdha & Sana Jayavarapu along with their mother, Madhavi,  presented health and hygiene workshops. Rose Wang from China and her team of 10 (two sets of parents plus their high school graduates) worked tirelessly to do our BMI measurements and sand and paint old desks for our new classrooms.
Jen Lor, a 15 year old Cambodian American from California, interacted with our students and sponsored a field trip to Angkor Wat. Our long term volunteers, (Jake, Trinetta and Amber) continue to play important roles with English classes, Library Association, Sports Teams, Data Analysis and Anti-trafficking Workshops. Their professionalism and enthusiasm was inspiring to watch in action.

We have made the difficult decision to drop one of our schools (Kokchan), as we found out that they are also being funded by another organization from Korea. Our policy is that we give priority to schools that have no other financial support. 

  

Networking with other NGOs always plays a big part of my visits to Cambodia. We believe in synergy and learning from each other. A special thanks goes to Lori Cason of The Ponheary Ly Organization for sharing her expertise.


 

Lastly, a big thank you to Ksenija Olmer, VP of  

Jake Amber Trinetta
(From left) Jake, Trinetta & Amber  

CCDO, who is taking over for the next two months while I take a much needed break."  


 

More books & a skit on Anti-Trafficking!  

Thanks to successful fundraising, we were able to print more copies of the comic booklet "Phea's Dream" and hold new anti-trafficking workshops.  

 

Our volunteer Amber shares how an entertaining skit is used to convey the message of anti-trafficking to the mothers of the community,

 

"There were 30 children and their mothers gathered in one of the community buildings. Four of the community workers gave presentations on what human trafficking is, and why and when it happens. They then played out a couple of scenarios with the participation from the audience."

 

One skit portrayed a mom and her two children at local food stall buying produce. A smartly dressed man walks up to them, displays interested in them and starts asking questions like "what they are doing, where they live, do the children belong to the mother?"

The mother replies to all the questions politely and the man asks if the children go to school. He suggests that they look very smart and intelligent and he hasn't seen any children like that in a while.

He explains he is very wealthy and sends smart
Anti trafficking skit
A community worker in action.

children to university as well as support and provide for them and the best part is, he can do just that for her children. He proposes the offer and entices the mother to agree and in the end, the children are never seen again.

  

Amber adds, " I thought the skits were well played, the community workers did a fantastic job portraying these real life scenarios to the community and then the booklets that were handed out were a great way to allow the mothers to follow up with resources and educating themselves."

  

A New Water Station at TaPang School! 

 

As part of her Gold Girl Scout Badge, Snigdha Jayavarapu, raised $1200 to build a hand-washing station at TaPang School. The innovative design of the double sided station helps more children at a time to wash their hands with soap and running water. It also allows for the washing of breakfast dishes as well as the runoff water being used to water our garden vegetables.
 
The children trying their new hand-washing station! 
Preschoolers delighted with the running water!
 
Thank you for your generous donations!

A big thanks to...  

 

Atlas Club at Riverside High School, USA

 

Our wonderful partner The Forgotten International have been working for several years with the Atlas Club, a student-founded and student-run club at Riverside High School. Each year, they pick one of TFI's programs that they highlight through their website. The students organized various fundraising activities all year long and at the end of the year, they send a check to pass along to their chosen organization.

 

Through their efforts this past year, the students raised $2,623.12 and CCDO is the lucky recipient. The funds will go towards the solar electricity system for our new computer lab. Who knows, perhaps the students of our school will be able to connect through Skype with the Riverside High students in the new school year!

 

Happy BD Preschool

Louly & Bill Williams have been generous sponsors over the years and recently gave $1000 to help with our education program. The same week, one of our former volunteer educators, Elaine Farge, who has brought many cherished BIG BOOKS to our library, also gave a generous donation of $1,000.

 

Elizabeth and Ed Johnson, honored the 90th birthday of Elizabeth's mother, Mary-Virginia Christakos from Florida with a $1,000 donation.
Celebrating Volunteers

Jen Lor & Narin Heng 

 

When we first received an email from Jen Lor, a Khmer who lives in Albany, California, we were reluctant to accept a 14 year old volunteer traveling on her own. But Jen was so insistent and persuasive that Jenni decided to bring her along to Cambodia.

 

Jen moved to U.S.A when she was 3 years old and felt she needed to help her people. The pint size Jen managed to win everyone's hearts. She has been a great example to the Cambodian kids in helping them realize the value of education. She celebrated her 15th birthday in Siem Reap and as a gift took 48 of our older students on a field trip to Angkor Wat. It is sad that the village children who practically live in the shadows of the great temples, have never seen or experienced them.

 

Angkor Wat Group
Students on a field trip to Angkor Wat
 

A shout out to Narin Heng, a local guide who volunteered his expert services so the children could learn about their own history and art. The students took notes and wrote answers to five questions.  

One of the questions was "What was your favorite part of the field trip?"

 

"My favorite part of the field trip was walking around the temple with a tour guide and all of my friends. The tour guide explained to us a lot about the geography and the history. I learned new things that I have never learned in my life. I was very happy."

School Construction Update

The building is completed and passed a final inspection by our Founder, Jenni Lipa.

 

The immediate outside grounds are being planted with trees, grass as well as some flower beds. We are in the process of finalizing the bids to add solar power as well as the computer lab. Partial funds for these are still needed.

 

A big thank you to our contractor Mr.Pram, who donated his time and effort and paid for the workers. He only charged us for the materials used. His children attend TaPang school and he wants them and the village kids to have a safe and quality building to receive the extra education that CCDO is providing.

Completed Interior

Remember: Ordinary people can do extraordinary things that make a difference in the world, ONE CHILD AT A TIME!

Cambodian Child's Dream Organization