This update is written from the field as both HOPE trustees have been on the ground together in Cambodia since November.  They have been working closely with all of the HOPE supported projects and in particular the Sangkheum Centre Young Adult Programme as they turn their attention to the next group of children reaching the critical age when they realise one day they will have to live independently from the Centre.

In some ways the next group are more fortunate as the programme has been tried and tested, but each individual child has had different experiences and issues in their short life time and we have learnt that one cap does not fit all.  There is an increasing need for social workers to help these children some of whom, have been badly affected by their past – for example dealing with a feeling of rejection, isolation or a lack of confidence and not knowing who they can talk to. The programme is seeking to equip them to cope with these feelings and issues but there is a distinct lack of qualified Cambodian staff to help address all the problems.  In addition the number of Centres with children reaching this critical age is increasing – there are so many who would really benefit from programmes like this.  We are grateful to all of you helping us help so many, but as you can tell our task is getting bigger every day. 

While some of the young adults already living in the transisiton house have now started on the path of university, nursing college or hospitality school (see attached link for some of their stories)  there are nearly 20 budding young adults aged 13 - 17 who are just taking their first steps.

So at Sangkheum Centre the team of educators are busy planning ahead and ensuring this next group of young adults who still live at the Centre get the chance to follow in the positive footsteps of those already well advanced in the programme.  This an extremely exciting time to ensure the younger ones benefit from the experiences of the past – taking into account both what did work and what didn’t!

To start this process the Sangkheum staff have been running “Life Skills” workshops to enable the budding young adults and youths to think through potential moral scenarios they might find themselves in and give them the opportunity to answer and explain what they might do and why in any given situation.  Scenarios included ‘being mean to someone just because everyone else is’, or ‘taking someone else's things without asking’, or ‘keeping money you find in the library’, etc.

Hannah, the Alternative Care and Education Program Coordinator, at Sangkheum who is initiating the workshops said “We had only planned 15 minutes for the activity,but they really got into it, I heard some really great iscussions, and it took over an hour to finish! At the end they put together presentations to explain to the whole group what their answers were and how they came up with them.”  This interactive approach is very successful with the participants.

Most importantly Sangkheum are using these sessions to start the new young adult preparation programme and Hannah says that “We'll link this activity to the next meeting where we'll use those examples to start creating their own rules, and hopefully they'll get as involved as they were this time.”

They also utilised this time to broach pending questions on being a teenager, to avoid any embarrassments they were asked to write down any questions they had and put them into a secret box. The discussion went extremely well and again the subjects discussed will be key to curriculum planning for the next sex education classes.

The next workshop will be held at the end of January where the students will be divided into smaller groups to really benefit from the classes. 

I have managed to extend my stay in Siem Reap until March and will be helping out at the planned workshops in February where the children will be discussing employment options and skills.  Again we hope this will be an interactive and positive workshop for all.

Thanks again for your support - it really makes a difference to the present and future of these children.

Preparing material for their presentation

The boys take the stage to present their thoughts

Some of the girls taking a turn to present

Links:

• Dec 2012 update on all Young Adults supported by H.O.P.E

The last few months have seen some highs and lows in Siem Reap.  Situated close to Tonle
Sap, the largest lake in Asia and with a river running right through the town, severe flooding has made every day life even more challenging than ever.   With water levels reaching above waist deep, simply getting around has been difficult and the price of food has sky rocketed as farmers have lost crops or failed to get their goods to market.

In the last week or so the waters seem to have returned to normal levels, leaving the huge task of clearing up.  Removing the overwhelming stench may be more difficult and of course the increased risk of disease is ever present. 

On the positive side five of the young adults supported by HOPE sat their final high school exams in September and all passed.  Two of them are now considering a move to Battambang to attend nursing college while the others consider whether to continue studying at university or seek employment.  These young adults have been given the chance  to finish their formal education and pursue careers that will give them independence.  It is not coincidental that most of them want to pursue careers which involve helping their fellow Cambodians – that is very typical of a Cambodian.

This November the HOPE Trustees will be on the ground together in Siem Reap, spending at least 6 weeks monitoring and evaluating the projects HOPE supports with the help of your donations.  We will also both be taking part in the Annual Angkor Wat bike ride in December with as many of our beneficiaries as we can encourage into a 30km cycle ride at 6 o’clock in the morning!!!!  (last year we had over 40 so we have high expectations for a good turn out and will be starting training mornings very soon).

Look out for a fuller report next year when we return from the field.

Thanks for your continuing support

There are many universal problems, obstacles and challenges young adults face all over the world whether it is passing their exams, deciding to go to university or the complexities of whether to go on a date with someone.  Often without parents or siblings, there is no one to turn to for adult advice. 

HOPE supports the Sangkheum Centre's Young Adult Programme which concentrate on giving young adults leaving the centre at 18 strong support to transition into independent life.  Recently we used donations gratefully received via Global Giving to grant funds towards the costs of providing a Sex Education Workshop in partnership with a number of other local organisations in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

A number of young adults from Sangkheum Centre and a more recent project Anjali House attended the workshop entitled: Knowledge And Reflection On Life & Sexuality Through a Holistic Approach.

Read how Roun (17 years old) from Anjali House describes his experiences by attending the work shop.

Realizing about Karol & Setha   By: Roun

Karol & Setha is a program of Maryknoll organization and the full meaning of the words Karol & Setha is Knowledge And Reflection On Life & Sexuality Through a Holistic Approach. Karol & Setha is a program that gives education and chances to young adults for thinking and communicating with the family, friends, boyfriends, or girlfriends in the best way.

On Monday the 4^th of July 2011, I went to study about Karol & Setha at Pannasastra University. There were six organizations that went to study about Karol & Setha, they were Anjali House, Grace House, Global Child, Sangkheum Center, New Hope and Green Gecko.

In my class, there were 19 students and 3 teachers, they are all very friendly and funny and also smart. The teachers taught us 9 topics from Karol & Setha. They were:

1.       Who am I? Who are you?
2.       Showing your feelings and good listening
3.       Growing of love
4.       Sexual intercourse between men and women
5.       Body, feelings, and mind
6.       How to control sexual desire
7.       How to stop or control peer pressure
8.       The flower of love
9.       How to stop and control the spread of HIV/AIDS

These 9 topics gave me more knowledge about Karol & Setha. These lessons are very important for me and for other young adults. I had a nice time at Pannasastra University because I knew many friends from other organizations and I played a lot of games with my new friends. Especially this program made me have a great time, because I learned to be brave, to ask questions, and realize a lot about desire between men and women and also communication with other people.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to Karol & Setha for making me clear and realizing a lot about their topics. Oh, and I forgot to tell you this: at the end everybody made a wonderful heart from a piece of paper and they wear it on the back of their body and they go around and write good things about their friends. All the students were really proud of the teachers because they prepared good lessons for us. Everybody said it as a good lesson but for me, I said it was an extraordinary lesson because I never knew and learned these lessons before.

And HOPE would like to thank all the donors who keep helping us support such fantastic projects which really do enhance the lives of young Cambodians.

HOPE has now been sponsoring the Young Adult (“YA”) Programme attached to the the Sangkhem Centre for Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia, for two years.  To date HOPE has donated $25,000 (see photo in December where the YAs presented HOPE trustees with a Recognition Diploma).

This programme is vital to ensure underprivileged children who have grown up in the orphanage have a sensible and practical transition into grown up life.  This quarter we have asked Pok, an 18 year girl that HOPE trustees first met 5 years ago, to tell you about her story.  When we first met her she was a shy quiet girl, but even then she wanted to be a nurse and help others, she was always helping the Centre’s carers to look after the small children or would be in the kitchen helping Cook.

Pok always had a big beaming smile on her face, despite being the only one of four siblings who had to grow up living in an orphanage. The last time I saw her (December 2010) she was a mature young women with drive, dreams and determination – now the Head Girl in the YA transition house (responsible for the rotas and managing the solution to any problems that arise), Pok chattered away in English and was telling me all about the work experience she was about to start at the childrens’ hospital.

But it is much better if you hear it from her……..Thank you for supporting HOPE, it lets us help Pok and many others like her in Cambodia, improve their own lives. 

Hello, my name is Heap Pok.  I’m 18 years old.  I study in grade 12^th at Samdach Ove High School.  I have 3 brothers.  They live in the country and they are farmers.  They have family.  My parents die when I was 3 years old. I came to live in Sangkheum when I was 7 years old.  I live in Sangkheum where I can learn Khmer, English, Computer, Recreational dancing from Sangkheum and from my teacher. 

When I ill I have a good teacher to take care of me so I happy to live in Sangkheum.  But when I was 17 years old I left from Sangkheum to live in Young Adult House.  I’m very upset at first because I think who cook dinner, lunch and breakfast for me and who take care of me when I was ill and who help me when I have a problem and I don’t want to leave my teacher and Sangkheum.  But now it is very good for me because I know how to cook and how to live in community with other young adults.  I am happy living in Young Adult House because they’re good and friendly with each other.  Sometime we have a little problem with them but its ok because we can explain to each other.  We can learn from them and we know how to live and communicate with each other.  Some of my house mates are training in hotel or company, now we know how to cook.

I get up at 5.00 in the morning, I clean around the house and do dishes or plant the flowers in the front of our house.  At 6.00am I start my school and I come back at 12.00.  If I came home early I cook for all my friends, if I come back later my friends cook, and at 12.30 I’m volunteer at Angkor hospital in Siem Reap town until 4.00pm.  At 4.10 – 5.30 I have computer class and at 6.00pm to 7.30pm I start English class.   I am training at Angkor hospital 5 days a week, computer and English classes 5 days a week too.  And at 7.45pm I’m a babysitter 3 or 4 times a week.  Sometime I am very tired with all my study and my job training.  Because I don’t have power in my body.  But I like it because I want to find experience and know how to work.  In the future I want to be a nurse because I want to help all the children and all the people when they ill.  And I want to take care all the people in my country if I can do. Especially I want to help senior citizen in my country too.  And I want to help development of my country.  Now I can find some experience from other person and from old person, from friend and from my teacher.  In the future I want to improve my life and know how to communicate in the society.

In my big dream I want to visit at some country like Canada, America, England, Australia,….. that I like but it not sure because I don’t have time or money and I’m a student, and can’t travel alone.  One day…….

A diploma recognises the support HOPE has given

Pok showing us around the YAP tranistion house

Pok with HOPE trustee at the Angkor Bike Ride

There is no other bike ride in the world quite like this one – where else would you see sunrise, paddy fields, monks, cows, water buffalo, elephants, cyclos, tandems, Japanese tourists and of course the wonderful temples of the Angkor Wat complex. 

With some 400 entrants this was the fifth year that the race had been held and the second year for HOPE to enter a team, this year 40 Cambodian young adults.  With your help we were able to give many a first time experience, taking part in such an event.

For that group of underprivileged youths living around Siem Reap, this was their chance to put weeks of training into practice, and help others in two ways; a large part of the entrance fee goes to Village Focus who are helping rural projects and HOPE was able to promote the event and raise further funds which in turn allows us to extend the reach to harness more opportunities for play and education projects in Cambodia.  

During 2010 we have been able to do just that extending our support to two additional Young Adult Programmes in place at different childrens’ centres.  All of our riders are participants or educators/carers in the three HOPE-sponsored programmes in the city. The same city with breathtaking scenery and a slowly growing tourism industry which is also witness to high rates of poverty and a vast number of different childrens’ centres and orphanages.

HOPE has been involved in the young adult field for just a couple of years and having kick started its own fund raising back in Europe with a London to Paris sponsored cycle challenge, when the Trustees told some of the young adults about this, they all expressed keenness to take on their own cycling challenge and help HOPE help them and others like them.   

In 2009 we started small with just a few riders from the Sangkheum Centre programme.   It was a great success for those who took part, who then spent many weeks talking endlessly about the race and how much fun it had been to have a goal not to mention being able to work together motivating each other along through training and the race.  So as soon as the date for the 2010 race was known, Cambodia based HOPE trustee Jo Owen set up a weekly training session and London based HOPE trustee Tanya Seeley booked her annual visit (self-funded) to coincide with the ride and got training in the cold!

In the last year HOPE has increased its support to Young Adult Programmes and now helps provide advice and funding to not one but three programmes, so we were delighted to have riders from Sangkheum Centre, Salarrin Kampuchea and Anjali House, all providing much needed education and support to many children growing up in the shadows of the great temple city.

The ride starts at 6am, just as it is beginning to get light, so we have to get there in the dark (another 8kms) and try to get organised in the dark –this is much easier for the Cambodians who are more used to early starts and lack of light, than it is for Trustees Jo and Tanya!  The backdrop for the start is surely one of the most amazing temples, Angkor Wat, there is nothing more inspirational. We highly recommend a visit, with or without bicycle.

The 30km route takes you past most of the major temples in the complex including Bayon (the temple with many carved faces) and in the first half an hour you are treated to watching sunrise in one of the most peaceful places on earth.  As the ride progresses you are cheered on by many of the small local children, all with the compulsory Cambodian smile.

You didn’t have to win the race to be a winner, anyone who got up at 4.30 cycled in the dark to get to the start line and then cycle for 30km around the temples has to be a winner.  Our photos speak for themselves) you can see for yourself everyone was glad to have been part of this fantastic event.

Training sessions on Sunday are continuing, a great way for the young adults from different projects to mix, see more of their countryside and get some exercise (and a break from studying).  We will be back next year – we think we will have even more riders. Come join us in 2011 – usually the first weekend in December.

On the following day the Sangkheum Centre young adults cooked dinner for HOPEs trustees at their transition home.  13 young adults living together learning to take the first steps towards independence.  It was a fantastic night as we saw how these children we have known for 4 years have blossomed into responsible, confident and  ambitious young adults.  

Thank you for your support to help us make a difference.

HOPE Trustee Tanya with Samnang at sunrise

Group shot after the race - lots of smiling faces

Sophal was our last rider home, but still a winner

As December approaches and us Westerners start getting excited about Christmas festivities (or stressed about present ideas), the “Young Adults” (YAs) supported by HOPE are getting excited for a whole different reason.

They are entered into the Annual Angkor Bike Ride, a 30km cycle race around the wonderful temples of Angkor on 4th December.   HOPE supported some to ride last year and it was such a success that HOPE was keen to repeat it.  The YAs were inspired by some of the sponsored cycle rides HOPE had previously arranged in order to raise funds (London - Paris, London - Brighton) and really wanted to help us help them and others like them.   They were overjoyed by the sense of achievement they had and really worked well as a team to get each and every one around the course.

This year, the YAs have been training every Sunday morning, up early to avoid the heat of the day. (Read for yourself some of the diaries of the young riders – below).   Not only is this great exercise, but its teaching them discipline, getting them out into the countryside and giving them a goal.   In addition they are all motivated to improve on their previous times – and I think there is a little bit of competition building!

As one of the founding Trustees of HOPE, I am also overwhelmingly excited since this year I am able to join fellow HOPE trustee, Jo Owen and all the YAs to take part in this years’ event myself.  I will be back in Cambodia for 2 weeks visiting all the HOPE sponsored projects so look forward to updating all supporters in the New Year.

During 2010, HOPE extended its support to two new Young Adult Programmes, which again is very exciting.  We have been able to share ideas, experiences and lessons learnt from the Sangkheum YA Programme rather than reinvent the programme from scratch. We are very proud of this.

HOPE has paid the entrance fee for each YA ($15) and will be providing a few prizes for outstanding achievement.   Your support has been a great help to enable us to give 40+ eager and enthusiastic YAs a goal.  Donating today will help HOPE reach its goal of supporting more young adults to gain key life skills in preparation for independent life.

Thank you for your continued support.  

Here are two diaries from two YAs who took part in recent training:

I did bicycle training on Sunday last week. It was great, but now I’m very tired. I have never experienced riding bicycle for such a long distance. On the road, I saw rice fields, houses, landscapes and a lot of people. Last Sunday, we rode for 23 kilometers. While I was riding the bike I could feel the cool air in my face. Also, I saw a golf field. This was the first time ever that I saw one!
   

Hello, my name is Sopheak and I’m 16 years old. I am a student at Anjali House. On Sunday, I practiced for the bike race. First we met at Soria Moria Hotel and we got a t-shirt. After that, they told us the route that we needed to practice. Then, they took a photo of all the people together. 5 minutes later we left from the hotel and started the training. We rode a long time and we went through the country side. We saw rice fields, cattle, birds, a lot of green, and especially a lot of cool air.
I felt very exciting because this was the first time for me. I hope I will join again. It was a little hard for us to ride, because there was a lot of wind, so we couldn’t ride very fast. But it is fine!

Happy riders from the 2009 Angkor Bike Ride

Links:

• Details of the 2010 Angkor Bike Ride

This quarter’s update is coming directly from the grassroots – I have asked one of the young adults in the program to tell you in his own words about a day in his life – I have not edited his text in anyway, so hope you find the grammar charming rather than annoying. By way of background for you, Bota is a 19 year old boy who has quite recently moved from the big “family” of Sangkheum Centre into the communal house that the young adults live in for the first two years of their independent living. This is a transitional home for them where they learn to stand on their own two feet but safe in the knowledge that the experienced adults/carers of Sangkheum are never far away. Bota is one of five brothers who have all grown up at Sangkheum. His older brother Lita is in fact one of the first “graduates” from the Young Adult Pilot Program and is now carving out a career at one of the local hotels. Bota is an energetic young man, very keen on football and has taken coaching courses so he can now run football training sessions for the younger kids (boys and girls) back at the Centre. Bota was also instrumental is galvanizing interest and maintaining motivation for his fellow young adults to enter the annual Angkor Bike Ride, a 30 km race around the glorious temples of Siem Reap. As previously reported (Update November 2009) the young adults were so enthused by simply having a goal and something to aim for; something a lot of us take for granted. They are all keen and eager to beat last year’s time and I am personally looking forward to joining them for this year’s race in December. Bota, will continue to attend high school until he has passed his final year 12 grades which are likely to be in his early 20s. Like most Cambodia children Bota started his education later than Western children but he is one of the luckier ones as he should get to finish his schooling as a member of the Young Adult Program. Bota is currently gaining work experience with a local travel agency performing admin and computer tasks – as you can tell from his diary below, he really loves it. HOPE supports the Young Adult Program which funds the housing and accommodation costs, food, travel and other living expenses as well meets the cost of extra curriculum education such as English classes and IT training. With your support we are able to help Bota, his younger brothers and friends create a better long term future for themselves. THANK YOU “A DAY IN THE LIFE OF BOTA" _______________________________________________________________________ So right now, I want to tell you something about my habit and my job. I always got up at 6:00 early in the morning before I the sunrise and helped my friends to clean my wonderful house. After that I took a shower, brush my teeth, com my hair, gat dress, and then I cook food for breakfast and eat with young adults Integration group and also for my young teacher as well. At morning before lunch I watched TV and read a book about tourist in Siem Reap and about Khmer subject at school and Khmer culture and review some lesson for Paññãsãstra University of Cambodia, Siem Reap. At 10:00 in the morning on Monday my friend Ann and I cook food for my group and another day my young adults group cook for me and another friends that live together. After lunch I took a nap and I took a bath and went to work. I started at 2:00 in the afternoon, but I always there before the time every days. When I get there I prepare myself, then I work on comparison all about the hotels and guesthouse in Siem Reap, Province. My manager Dayvy allowed me to do only the comparison by myself for her every weekend and she has 5 website for me to check like: Agoda Company, Booking com, Asia Travel Company, Direct Room, and the last one are Expedia. I could knew how the different room rate from other website and we took all website to compare with our web to do comparison, so we knew how much all room rate cost and if we knew we could make our room rate that cost nearly the same. I had to do one comparison for a week and four times a month. When I finished my work I send it to my manager Dayvy and Ms. Jo. After that at 5:00 o’clock in the evening, I leaved from work and I went to study at Paññãsãstra University of Cambodia at 6:00pm and I didn’t eat supper yet. At PUC I study only English subject and I finished at 7:00pm. Finally I went home and get dinner then went to sleep. Right now, we have a new wonderful important website for our company to update things that we need to know such as to prepare the room rate, travel information, Siem Reap map, the weather, the photos gallery and hotels review and other things that we would to know. I want to know all programs in our website clearly that we have. If I know all information in our website I could check about everything that I want to know or it easy to explain some of the guests when they asking me about our company. I really want to go to the hotels or guesthouse that we have the in the website, because it‘s very useful for me and for our company, Because I want to know some news information like the hotels and guesthouse. Then we can make friendship and make a good communicate each other.

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. This is the first time girls have moved out and is clearly fantastic progress.

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 December 2010, and hopefully the trustees from HOPE will be able to join them

In charge of the rice

meet Sambath the Young Adult Programme Leader

Links:

• HOPE trustee & the Young Adults in the Angkor Bike Challenge

Bill Brower is a Field Program Officer with GlobalGiving who is visiting our projects throughout Southeast Asia. On January 24 he visited the Sangkheum Center, supported by HOPE, outside Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Picture an orphan in Cambodia. What springs to mind? Likely the image of a baby being left on a doorstep. Or a young child begging on the streets. But the thing about children is they grow up. This seems to be a concept that is lost on some orphanages and other organizations that deal with young children with no family (or at least no family able to support them). However, as the young people they work with have grown older, HOPE has developed a program specifically for young adults to help them transition to adulthood and independent living.

Talking briefly with some of the young adults at the Sangkheum Center they seemed to be just what you’d expect of teenagers anywhere: Interested in soccer and the opportunities tourism presents. Lightheartedly chatting and laughing among themselves, gathered in the merciful shade of a palm tree. Trying their best to look cool, but still showing respect for Jo and Thomas. You can hear a few of them describe the program for themselves: http://www.youtube.com/user/GlobalGiving#p/u/3/bUj3Iat2lNg

Jo and Thomas say they’re making necessary adjustments as more young people go through the program. (I always take it as a good sign when an organization doesn’t pretend they know exactly what they’re doing straight away.) They start preparing for leaving the Center at 16, meeting with employers in fields they’re interested in. At 18, the young adults leave the Center and go to a satellite house where they continue to receive education, life skills training, HIV/AIDS treatment if necessary and a placement at a hotel or children’s hospital, as a mechanic, etc. At 21 they leave that house, to become, hopefully, independent members of society. Although only four of the young people they work with are this age, so far the results have been positive.

As I wrote about in a recent blog (http://blog.globalgiving.org/2010/02/06/a-tougher-sell/), HOPE is an example of an organization addressing needs that can be more difficult for which to find funding. Kudos to those that understand the need to support their work. You’re supporting a great organization doing unquestionable good in their community.

Young adult center 2

Links:

• Hear the young adults describe the program themselves

In April 2009 I returned to Cambodia (a trip I try to make at least once a year as trustee of HOPE). Fortunately my fellow trustee, Jo Owen lives in Siem Reap for about 70% of the year so I get to hear all about progress and challenges but nothing beats being there myself.

On this trip we took the opportunity to do a short presentation (in English) to the young adults on the Young Adults Programme, telling them why we had selected their project to help and how we had been raising money. We showed them photos of my personal trip from London to Paris by bicycle and explained how this was a distance greater than Siem Reap to the Cambodian capital Phnom Pehn, and given this challenge, generous people were prepared to sponsor me.

At the end of our presentation each young adult was encouraged to practice their English and ask us a question. One of those questions was “Could we do a cycling challenge?”

We were not sure they were serious but over the summer they continued to show a willingness to participate in a big ride and so HOPE has helped them to get organised to enter the Angkor 30km Bike Ride to be held on 5th December. http://www.villagefocus.org/angkor_marathon/

HOPE has paid the entry cost ($25 per Cambodian for 13 YAs, and 6 Cambodian educators). Please note a large proportion of the entrance fee is going to support other charitable projects including a boarding school in Mondulkiri, a slum school in Battambang and development projects in over 70 villages in Northwest Cambodia. HOPE has also helped organise some long bike rides to get in training (see photos)

The benefits of this event are many but the key one is that the children are taking part in exercise and learning about fitness and the disciplines required for training for a big event, including encouragement and motivation.

This group of young people are not sitting around waiting for help to fall into their lap, they are prepared to get up and do something to improve their way of life – we are so very proud of them.

One of boys is keeping a blog, a great way for him to practice his English and IT skills. He is one of a group of 6who have recently moved from the orphanage into shared accommodation, paid for by the program. This is their first step towards an independent life beyond the orphanage.

I’d like to share with you an extract from Bota’s blog…….

Dear Jo and Tanya Hello, how are you? For me it’s fine. I am Bota, and I am 18 years old and I have fourth brothers. They’re live in Sangkheun Center for children. I have been live SCC for six years ago. So, now I leave the Sangkheum Center already, but I still in the Sangkheum project we called “Young Adults Integration”

Now, I want to tell you about bicycling practice. Every Sunday in the morning I have been practice bicycling with my friends, Teacher, Samnang, Thomas, and Jo. I am filling great. You know why? Because this the first time that I have a bicycle racing and learn how to race, too. The first I am filling a bit neurons and tired, but it fun for me. Although, I am getting tired but it’s good exercise. I love to exercise. I usually work out everyday. I get up early in the morning and run for about 00:30min. Then I often go to play football. Sometimes I go for a walk in the evening, about once a week. Thank you for all your help, Bota

We can support more children like Bota and his brothers, through this fantastic program with your donations - THANK YOU

Tanya on London to Paris ride Sept 2008

The new house that 6 YAs have moved to

Links:

• Annual Angkor Bike Ride

Clare Rutz is a student who is traveling throughout Asia this summer and visiting a number of GlobalGiving projects. On July 21st she visited "Give Cambodian Young Adult orphans independence." When asked what she would tell her friends about this project, Clare said: "Great: They are making a difference."

"This is Clare Rutz reporting from Siem Reap in Cambodia.

"Siem Reap hosts the beautiful Angkor Wat, the pre-industrial city made of stone, which tourists from all over the world come to see. Yet it remains one of the most impoverished cities in Cambodia. It is almost impossible to visit a popular temple without being approached by street children who are selling whistles and water. They’ll follow you until they are convinced you absolutely will not EVER buy anything. This, of course, took some time (I’m much better at my firm'“no thank yous' these days) so I was able to talk with them about who they are and what they wanted to be when they grow up. Their English was usually excellent compared to the older generations because Cambodia is now so reliant on tourism that teaching the global language is of utmost priority. So as I walked through Angkor Wat I usually had a child escorting me through. No whistles or waters were bought, but my eyes were opened.

"Most of the children I talked to go to English school, but at night and only a few days a week. Some have stopped going because the cost for uniforms and transportation is just too costly (or so they say). Its obvious that children are better salesman than their fathers would be so they are sent out at an age much too young asking any foreigner to buy postcards and bracelets in order for them to go to school. Now when I think back on Cambodia usually the first image that comes to mind are little hands reaching out for money.

"For many it’s a hard decision of what to do when a child asks for your pocket change. It is difficult to say 'No' to a young child carrying their baby brother who looks as if he was born with sad eyes, but the majority of the time they take the small amount of money they’ve collected and bring it to their parents. In the end it’s supporting a vicious cycle.

"All hope is not lost though. Many projects work with street children in Cambodia and make a serious effort to provide them with an education while getting them off the streets. One organization that I visited called HOPE, which is the acronym for Harnessing Opportunity through Play and Education, is a perfect example of what can be done. As I enter the center I feel as if I’m visiting a summer camp rather than an orphanage. The walls are painted a warm yellow and the cabins where the children stay look like oversized tree houses on stilts. Children are playing an improvised game of badminton while others are busy with their English class. Backpacks are hung up outside their doors and later into my visit more children arrived from school and ran to the very lively arts and crafts room where a new project and the materials needed were waiting for them.

"There are 54 children at the center, 95% of them being orphans, while another 58 children who don't stay at the center come for English classes and recreational activities on the weekdays. In 2001, HOPE was founded with 5 children. Today, the project has expanded to provide vocational training such as hospitality and tourism as well as agricultural skills.

"The Young Adult Program teaches the students who are in the 10th and 11th grade computer skills among other vocational skills that will make employment possible. I visited the computer lab as the teenagers started to trickle in after a full day of school, and I briefly disturbed one of their lessons to chat about her plans. Pok, a 17 year-old with an eager smile, explained to me that although she likes the computer course, learning English remains her favorite. After asking about her dreams she replied, 'I want to be a nurse and I know that it’s possible.' Her confidence has come with years of training and support that HOPE has provided. I leave her be so she continue to write her first cover letter, and I leave the center with hope for the children of Siem Reap.

"To support this project visit their GlobalGiving page at www.globalgiving.co.uk/2602"

April was a great month - not only did I get to visit the young Adults in Siem Reap myself, but we succeeded in the Global Giving challenge, securing a permanent page on their website. I hadn't been to back to Cambodia for over 15 months so I could immediately see the benefits of the Young Adult Program on all the young adults. Their English has improved no end, enabling me to discuss with them directly their career dreams; one hopes to be a nurse, another is starting to train as a social worker and will probably end up working at the very Centre that has been his home for most of his childhood. All have work placements lined up for the foreseeable future.

Along with my fellow trustee Jo, we even got the chance to present a slide show to all the young adults telling them about our charity HOPE and our fund raising efforts. On the back of this they want to help and we are working with them to run a sponsored cycle ride around the amazing temples of Angkor in December - watch this space.

It is a privilege knowing these kids and I am very proud to see their progression and confidence grow. Despite the loss of parents at an early age, they not only grab life with both hands, smiling every step of the way, they act as great advocates for the younger children within the Centre, who they continue to inspire.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us to secure this site permanently, and I can assure you your help is enabling life-changing opportunities for some truly deserving kids.

HOPE trustees presenting to all the young adults on the program