Journeys Within Our Community

My Hopes and Plans for 2012- from Khoeurn

2012-01-27T11:48:00.002+07:00

In this post scholarship student Khoeurn shares his very sensible resolutions for 2012.

Hi! My name is Khart Khoeurn. I am very happy that I could get the chance to view my 2012 plans and hope.
Why do we need to plan? According to wise people in the world, anyone who always plans who he is going to much more than unplanned person. During 2012, I plan to do the following:

The first thing is to volunteer. Here, I am going to teach voluntarily at a pagoda. I think it is the most important thing. I would like to provide what I have learnt to everyone who needs studying and who try hard to find it. Even though I am now teaching at JWOC and a number of students have been learning, there are thousands students who need education. I am going to teach from 2 to 3 in the afternoon.

The second thing is to read book at the library. We know that library is the most useful research place and the most powerful resource for us who love studying. I am going to spend my time to read books at lease one hour after my class. A proverb says, “The more you read the more you know.”

The third one is to develop myself through JWOC. This point is that JWOC has programs to help every scholarship student to increase ability in each project. I myself have everything which runs smoothly. My subject at the university and the project at JWOC are symmetrical. I am going to join every activity at JWOC and learn more from it.

The last one is to write diary. I haven’t done this since I was young. But this idea happened after I had learnt with teacher Anne who taught me and a friend of writing. During 2012, I am going to do it and make sure I will be acquainted with it and go on write it all my life.

In sum up, after I will have done these four activities for one year at the end of 2012 I hope I could help my society and improve myself and my English.

If Khoeurn has inspired you to also make changes in 2012 take a look here to see how you can work with JWOC to make a difference.

Clean Water Update from Sokhorn

2012-01-26T11:27:00.002+07:00

In his post this month Clean Water Project Manager updates and thanks all recent Clean Water and Emergency Relief donors.

Dear Supporters

I am glad to update you about Clean Water Project.

I worked in Brasat Char village for almost five months, which means I took a much longer time than previous villages. There are a few reasons that I took longer time than other village, firstly, because of flooding destroying infrastructures, so we could not reach to the village then we had to delay our project.

As the solution, we did emergency relief in Brasat Char village; because we could not transport filters to the village. Our team went out to the village and gave out clean water tablets. We gave out fifteen tablets in each family (one tablet could produce 20 liters of safe drinking water).

Because of flooding, we could not use tuk tuk or truck for transporting hygiene packs so we decided to use backpack to carry all the materials. This photo shows student carrying their backpack along the badly damaged road with their own motorbike.

Because of the road was destroyed by flood, we could not transport filters to the village so we decided to choose twenty poorest families in the village (just two people from each family) to repair the road then we gave them fifteen kilogram of rice to work per day. These photos show road repairing and villagers received their rice.

After we repaired the road we could bring our filters to the village, we gave out 335 filters plus one mosquito net for each family. The reason for giving out mosquito net because of flooding just recede so there are a lot of mosquito in the village. Most people used very old mosquito net, which has some hole on net that could not protect from mosquito or did not have enough mosquito nets for everyone in the family. This picture shows villagers receiving filters and mosquito nets after the training.

Once again, the villagers were lacking hygiene knowledge and their children always get sick in their families. Therefore we provided useful training to them for example, hand washing and teeth cleaning, In the training, they were very happy and they could practice and show the correct steps which we had trained them. As the result, we hope they will change their habits and follow the training. Then we gave out 1033 hygiene packs. Additionally, we drilled 44 new wells, fixed 25 existing wells; next, we did 44 water tests from the new wells and 10 from filters.

Now villagers are very happy because they have clean water for using and drinking, they especially like that the wells are nearby their houses. They stop using pit wells. I am very happy to see the result that our team has tried with our best to help them. In the recent update from Brasat Char village chief, told us there are 1612 people and 335 families in the village. Most villagers are farmers, fishermen, and a few are working as a construction workers in the city.

Other news- I trained my team to entering data analysis from baseline survey through impact assessment and also some extra functions in Excel. Because JWOC has budget for staff training I was able to join an Advanced Excel course at a private school. Now my team can help me with a lot of work. I divided them into two groups- one group entering data analysis in the office and other group goes to the village.

Finally, I would like to say thank you again for helping the Clean Water Project. I look forward to writing to you again next time to tell you more about the project.

Best wishes,

Sokhorn

My Dream and Hope

2012-01-16T15:50:00.001+07:00

This January JWOC has been thinking a lot about resolutions and plans and they are also part of our New Year Appeal. In this blog post Soubanh, a scholarship student in Laos, writes about his ideas for the future.

My Dream and Hope

I dream to become an English teacher in the future because English is very important in communication with many people around the world for example in economics, tourism and in co-operation. Due to the fact English is an international language many people use English to communicate to each other. Therefore, I need to teach English to young Lao student so they will be able to speak in the future.

If I have enough capital for my education, I will continue with a master degree after my graduation of bachelor. I think I really need to do that. I think if we have high education, good quality of work and teaching and good organization skills we can be a school director. I hope I could be the chief of school at my own English centre. At my centre I will try to provide the very good course by selecting the teachers who have high experience to teach with me.

Soubanh is able to study at university because he is matched with a JWOC sponsor. If you would like to become a sponsor in 2012 take a look at this page to find out.

Meet two of our scholarship students!

2012-01-12T17:45:00.003+07:00

Earlier this month a group of MBA students from Stanford Univerity visited JWOC to learn more about our work and to take part in activities with our students. After their visit some of the students wrote mini profiles of the students they had spoken to. Read the profiles to learn more about Sothy and Borey.

Sothy Hout

Huot Sothy (27) has a big dream. He is just beginning a bachelor’s degree at Build Bright University in Economics and International Finance because he wants to help Cambodia reduce its dependence on foreign imports and increase its domestic production. He believes that many Cambodians do not understand how to create a strategy to start a business and he wants to address this too.

This vision comes from the son of a fisherman in a small village on the Tonle Sap Lake shores. Dressed in the saffron robes of a Buddhist monk he calmly shares the dreams he’s held since 9th grade with patience and quiet confidence.

In 9th grade his dreams of university studies seemed remote as his father could not afford tuition, with a family of 7 to support. Sothy became a monk in order to pursue his studies, saying “lay people with a good heart let me study.”

Last year, a teacher referred him to JWOC’s scholarship program and he was selected as one of 18 recipients from a pool of over 400. Thus, two months ago this twenty seven year old began his dream from 12 years ago to obtain a university degree. Even though he has just begun his undergraduate studies, he is already dreaming of a doctorate degree and study abroad. His advice to 10 year olds is to “persevere in studying and have a strict future plan.”

It seems his dreams of helping Cambodia develop economically have begun to materialize unwittingly. Over the years, he has “explained the precepts of Buddhism to my sisters, brothers and parents. To avoid harm, respect each other.” Because his family depends upon fishing for its livelihood, his challenge to stop killing takes courage. It seems that his influence with them is such that they have been able to hear his message and his dream about local production. His father has supported his sister in a business that is successful enough that he fishes less. And, his sister’s gratitude to him reveals itself in her offers of financial support for his continued studies.

At the end of our hour interview, we ask Sothy if he has questions for us and he wants to know how he can learn more about the economies of the world.

Borey Uk

Borey is the youngest of five children and one out of three students from his village who has received a scholarship. Borey’s parents, his two older brothers and his two older sisters are very proud of him: without the scholarship, he would have never been able to afford university.

At high-school, Borey was already very interested in math, physics and chemistry. Not surprisingly, Borey now seeks his challenges in Finance and dreams of becoming a branch manager at a Micro Finance Institution. Making a lot of money, however, is not what drives Borey. He genuinely dreams of having a meaningful impact on his country. Through micro finance loans, Borey wishes to enable people to start and grow businesses.

Borey realizes that, in the villages, education conflicts with young people’s need to work for food and support their families. However, Borey strongly believes that education – despite being a long-term investment – will eventually change Cambodia, its economy, social life and politics: Borey explains that a significant share of Cambodia’s population does not even know about its right to vote in government elections. Hence, education will help people to help themselves and those around them.

Borey is happy to meet people from all over the world. Tourism enables young Cambodians to make money to finance their education. Borey’s dream is to spend time in the U.S. or U.K. in order to further develop himself. In the long-run, however, Borey wants to be a responsible dad and have a family in Cambodia.

Borey is a very ambitious person. In his free-time, Borey plays volleyball and soccer with his friends. However, it is not about winning. Borey defines success as enabling others to pursue their dreams the way Borey does himself.

If you would like to find out more about the Scholarship Programme and how you can get involved, take a look here.

Have you made New Year's resolutions?

2012-01-06T08:15:00.001+07:00

JWOC always likes to be helpful and this January we want to help you with your New Year’s resolutions (and hopefully get in on the act as well!).

Have you resolved to get fit in 2012?

How about focusing your training and running a 10K race or half-marathon? There are lists here and with 1904 races there’s sure to be one near you. Once you are focused what could be better than also raising funds for JWOC?
Whatever distance you decide to cover Crowdrise allows you to set up a personalized fundraising page to allow your friends and family (and anyone else!) support your amazing run by donating to JWOC.

Do you need healthier eating habits?

Give some of your cake money to JWOC! A monthly donation of $20 makes a huge difference to us and can mean less cake for you. Click here to set up a subscription donation and make a difference.

Is your resolution to volunteer more?

Small acts of service add up and you can always help JWOC by spreading the word- ‘like’ our Facebook posts, share our blog and request JWOC Gifts for your birthday!

Want to reduce paper waste?

Send e-cards instead- great for all occasions and no wastage. Click on the donate button here to see how to send an e-card with a donation to JWOC. There’s a range of designs or if you prefer you can upload your own picture to make a fantastic, personal card.

Have you decided to have an adventure?

Journeys Within Tour Company is running its unique Active Philanthropy Tour in 2012. This tour is a great way to see Southeast Asia and donate to JWOC at the same time.

Whatever your resolution is for 2012 we hope you achieve it and that we can be a part of it!

An Essay from Bouakham about learning English

2011-12-22T17:13:00.001+07:00

Lao scholarship student Bouakham ( pictured) has written the essay below to help fellow students learn English...

How to learn to speak excellent English?
(Study smart Study less)

Learning foreign languages is very important and necessary these days, particularly English. Why? Because English is an international language that most people around the world use and learn as a second or a foreign language. English is not only used for communication, making new friends with different people from different countries, but it is also used for international business, education, and relevant with socio-economic development in our country. Moreover, English helps us to get better jobs, and learn new things. So, let’s learn English now.

As we see, English has four most important parts: reading, listening, writing and speaking. They are important and necessary skills which we should have in order to master English. All of them are involved in learning vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and how to use it. Yes, Speaking is one of the important parts in learning English that we have to master first. Of course, some of us still have difficulties in speaking English when we communicate with other people from different countries in real life. Let’s say, we have to think, translate into our own language, analyze the grammar first, and then we speak out in English. Do you think it is slow? Obviously, when we speak, we don’t have enough time to think and translate it. It’s different from writing because we have time and can write slowly, analyze the grammar and correct the mistakes. Sometimes we still don’t have confidence. We are afraid to make mistakes are shy. Even though I am writing this article, it doesn’t mean I am good at speaking English. My speaking isn’t fluent and excellent, but I would like to share with you some learning guides to speak excellent English. I am very happy to share these techniques with you. I also hope some of you already know them, but some may not.

Anyway, let’s learn and share ideas together whether they work or not. I got these techniques from A J Hoge, a great teacher, founder and director of Effortless English Club (San Francisco, California, USA). All of these techniques are very different and strange from the methods we use for learning English every day. These techniques mostly focus on improving English speaking and they also help us to learn grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and usage much better, faster and more effortless. There are many people who use these methods to improve their English learning, especially speaking. As a result the techniques work very well. That’s why I’d like to let you to try them. Change the ways you learn English and you will get good benefits. These techniques consist of seven rules for learning to speak English.
Here they are:

Rule 1: Always study phrases, not individual words.
Never study a single, individual word. When you find the new words, always write down the phrases they are in. A phrase helps us to remember and use it better and faster because it gives us more information of what we learn. We will understand and improve our grammar too when learning phrases.

Rule 2: Do not study grammar.
This rule is very strange, but it is very powerful and works. So, stop studying grammar because grammar gives us too much information and teaches us to think and over analyze. We learn and speak slowly. We should learn like a native speaker without grammar study.

Rule 3: Listen first.
This is one of the important rules for speaking fluent English. We have to learn with ears, not eyes. Well, it means we have to listen to understand English. We must listen to English every day if we want to speak excellent English. Listening also helps us to learn vocabulary and grammar much more automatically.

Rule 4: Slow, deep learning is best.
Well, deep learning means repeating what we learn again and again until we remember and never forget it. So we have to learn every word and phrase deeply. “Learn deeply Speak easily.” Then speaking will become automatic and easier without thinking.

Rule 5: Use point of view mini-stories.
Point of view mini-stories are the most powerful way to learn and use English grammar easily and automatically. That’s why we use mini-stories for automatic grammar study. We should learn grammar by listening to real English and listening to the same story told by different people (point of view): past, present, and future tenses.

Rule 6: Only use real English lessons and materials.
In fact, we have to learn real English if we want to understand native speakers and speak easily, fast. So use real magazines, audio articles, TV shows, movies, radio talk shows and audio books for learning English. “Learn real English not textbook English.”

Rule 7: Listen and answer, not listen and repeat.
Hey! This is the last rule and a very powerful way to speak English fast. As we know, we use listen and repeat in school, right? But this rule is to listen and answer a lot of questions. So, let’s learn to answer questions without thinking and our English becomes automatic and fast.

That’s all the seven rules for learning to speak excellent English. Remember that these techniques focus on fluent English mainly, not academic English. If we want to specialize in linguistics or academic English, we have to use different methods. If you want more information, you can find it at (www.effortlessenglishclub.com). Thanks so much!

“Good luck & enjoy your studies”

Bora writes about the Microfinance Project

2011-12-16T18:14:00.001+07:00

In this post project manager Bora explains more about his project...

The project is operating in 6 villages surrounding JWOC, so that poor people around JWOC can get benefit from this project. The poor populations in these villages are combined of people who based here and people moved from difference places around Cambodia to find jobs and make business. Most of people in these villages make an earning from jobs such as construction workers, firm security guard and some own a small business such as small grocery store, secondhand clothes, recycling collector, sewing, food cart, and selling vegetable. The majority of our borrowers are poor people living on illegal land with an old thatch house, others rent a small house.

To retrench and expand their businesses, there is one major issue related to funding. Unfortunately, the bank system and microfinance institution in Cambodia needs a form of collateral and also literacy to fill in the application form. In addition money lenders charge a high interest rate (10-15% per month). Due to these problems, JWOC works on credit facilitation via providing small loan.
The Microfinance Project has been providing loan to small business owners (over 90% is women) since 2006 and aims to give them the opportunity to retrench and expand their existing small businesses so that they can increase the income and bring their businesses to the next level. The loan comprises of basic practical training on budgeting, bookkeeping and business planning to the borrowers, so that they can use that knowledge to make a growth in their businesses and get a comparative advantage.
Borrowers have to form a group and go through all selection processes and training sessions such as attending Info Night, Loan Application, and Business Visit. The successful applicants will participate in signing loan contract, baseline survey and attend budget and business planning training.

Besides providing loan and business training, we have Microfinance Plus activities that associated with Microfinance project works on 1) provides hygiene and filter training 2) provides free hygiene packs and option to buy a filter at a much subsidized cost according to first or second times borrowing.

From the impact assessment survey, we see the borrowers have increased income from businesses that supported by JWOC’s loan, improved of hygiene, food supplies, and savings as well as increased rate of sending children to school.
Next, I would like to update about capacity building activities as this is a key important resource for implementing the project. The Microfinance Project now has 21 volunteering students which eight of them just have joined with the team. This month is a busy month in training the new students ranging from general orientation to whole project.

I would like to say thank you to everyone that has supported the Microfinance Project.

Best wishes

Bora

Importance of well repairs

2011-12-11T11:51:00.001+07:00

This recent New York Times article is a great explanation of why just installing wells isn't enough. Alongside installing wells JWOC teaches villagers how to repair wells and also does repair and strengthening work on existing wells, whoever first installed them.

Read the article below or go to http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/keeping-the-water-flowing-in-rural-villages/?emc=eta1 to see complete with picture and links!

December 8, 2011, 9:30 PM
Keeping the Water Flowing in Rural Villages
By TINA ROSENBERG

Keeping projects in business for the long term has been a constant theme of the Fixes column, and if sustainability has a poster child, it would be a water pump. Travel anywhere in Africa or South Asia or Central America, and you will find a landscape dotted with the rusting skeletons of dead water pumps or wells..

In most developing countries, these water points are installed with great fanfare by the government or a charitable group. They greatly improve the lives of villagers. Having a water point in or near the village means that women don’t have to spend 6,8, even 12 hours a day on perilous journeys to fetch water from rivers or lakes. The pumps allow girls to go to school instead of staying home to help their mothers fetch water or take care of siblings. They allow villagers to drink reasonably clean water instead of risking their health with every sip.

Then something breaks on the pump — a huge catastrophe like an underground pipe bursting, or a small one, like the loss of a bolt or a washer. And it never works again.

Early death is shockingly widespread for water pumps. Perhaps the biggest study of this ever was carried out in 21 African countries by an organization called Sustainable Water Services at Scale. It found that 36 percent of pumps were not working. “This level of failure represents a waste of between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion in investments in 20 years,” said the organization.

In Tanzania, mapping of water points showed that nationally, less than half the existing rural water points were working. Of water points that were less than two years old, a quarter had already stopped functioning.

Why, when communities benefit so obviously from water, do so many water points fall out of use? The short answer is that keeping the pumps running usually falls to the community or local government. But it requires specialized skills, spare parts, tools and funds. None of these are found in rural villages.

One group taking a hard look at how to solve the problem is the British-based charity WaterAid. When the organization analyzed why water points failed in Tanzania, it found something interesting: the most sustainable were those maintained by private contractors. This is not a ready-made solution; it won’t work everywhere — really poor areas won’t be able to pay. And in some regions, problems like price gouging were associated with private operators. But WaterAid felt it might be able to solve these problems. So in the north of India, it came up with an ingenious way to do just that.

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India — it is also one of the poorest and most drought-prone. The government has been aggressively installing new water pumps, but they quickly fall into disuse. In the Mahoba district, south of the state capital of Lucknow, there are about 12,500 community water pumps, said. K.J. Rajeev, WaterAid’s general manager for the northern region of India. “But 40 percent of them are usually down, especially in summer,” he said. And when they break, they stay broken — three-quarters of the repairs take at least a month, and many are never repaired at all.

Now things are different in Mahoba. In May, Lisa Millman, WaterAid America’s director of development and communications, was visiting a town called Charkhari. She was sitting in a small storefront office, a shop lined with shelves of hand pump parts, when a cellphone rang. The call was from the village of Kotedar, where the main hand pump had broken. A master mechanic took the call and asked some questions. This was apparently going to be a big job — five mechanics piled onto two motorbikes, along with the 10-year-old son of one of the men. They reached the village 20 minutes later. As a throng of villagers watched, they took out huge wrenches. They disassembled the pump and began pulling up heavy segments of pipe. At the tenth segment they found a hole and patched it. Two and a half hours after they arrived, the pump was reassembled and working. They got on their bikes and rode off into the sunset.

Millman, who had followed in a car, had asked the 10-year-old if he wanted to be a mechanic like his dad. “He was smirking and laughing,” she said. “But after he watched his dad repair the pump, he was in awe.”

WaterAid and its local partners have set up four workshops, called Community Participation Centers, in the Mahoba district, and the project is now expanding into the neighboring state of Bihar. A call to the workshop reaches a master mechanic. He or she can choose the appropriate mechanics in the group, depending on location and skills, to send to address the problem. Each is is equipped with a cellphone, tool kit and a bike, moped or motorbike. Including mechanics-in-training and several who work part time, the centers have 27 female mechanics.

Many of the women were landless agricultural laborers before they learned hand pump repair, and many were members of the Dalit, or Untouchable, caste — the most downtrodden in Indian society. In a very traditional region, where women cover their faces and do not speak in public, it was at first hard to find women who wanted the job. Even some who completed the training didn’t want to go out to villages and work in public, said Rajeev. Now, however, wherever they go, village men accept them and women embrace them. Seeing a mechanic in yellow hardhat and sari has opened up the spectrum of possibilities for village women.

In 14 months of work, the center mechanics have repaired more than 1,100 pumps in Mahoba. Ninety-three percent of the repairs were made within 24 hours of the phone call, and only 3 percent took more than two days. A simple repair costs a village 100 rupees — roughly $2.00 — with more complex repairs costing up to $6. Water quality testing costs $1.20. The mechanics guarantee all work.

Rajeev said that the four Mahoba workshops cost WaterAid about $40,000 to set up — to train mechanics, buy parts and tools, provide bikes and cellphones and visit village councils to promote the new service. But now WaterAid is tapering off financial support to the workshops, which are all operating sustainably and on the verge of meeting their profitability goals. “We will be providing only technical assistance and hand-holding,” he said. To keep the workshops running, the mechanic keeps 70 to 90 percent of the repair fee and deposits the rest in the workshop’s account.

This isn’t the first time WaterAid tried to train mechanics in the area. In 2004, its local partner recruited men and women and trained them to do preventive maintenance and minor repairs in their own villages. It didn’t last. The trainees learned only the most basic repairs and often had to leave work incomplete. They also earned very little money. So WaterAid then decided it needed to create a real business, using high standards of training, aggressive outreach to village governments and attractive practices like guaranteed work.

Why couldn’t the market take care of this problem? There are hand pump mechanics in Mahoba, after all. But they tend to live in major market cities. Rajeev said they demanded very high fees to go out to remote villages — often too high for villages to pay. There are also information disconnects – they do no outreach to villages, so some village councils don’t know about these mechanics or how to call them.

The market also can’t finance major repairs — most villagers are too poor. The center program can work because the government has a fund that village councils can use to pay for hand pump maintenance. The fund can take 45 days to pay — too long for most traditional mechanics. Center mechanics, however, don’t mind. (Very minor repairs can usually be paid on the spot.) And now four villages have signed maintenance contracts with center workshops, paying directly from the government’s fund.

What’s happening in Mahoba is promising. But the key to this process is that the Indian government pays the bills. In the places where this problem is most serious, government is AWOL. On Wednesday I’ll look at why it has been so difficult to keep water points running, mistakes that water groups have made and what poor villages might do to keep the water flowing.

Join Fixes on Facebook and follow updates on twitter.com/nytimesfixes.

Clean Water Update from Sokhorn

2011-11-21T15:50:00.000+07:00

Read below the update Project Manager Sokhorn wrote last month about progress in Brasat Char village.

I have been trying my best in working for sustainable development in the communities we work with and I am enjoying seeing the big changes happen.I am very happy to continue my working with JWOC to develop the poorest communities around Siem Reap province. In addition, I like working with JWOC team. We have a great team and we have been working in good environment. I am happy to update you about the Clean Water Project in Brasat Char village, which I have been working for more than three months but we have not finished yet.

This photo show clean water team in rainy season. My team and I went to Brasat Char village to do hygiene training for children; we tried to go to the village with the slippery and muddy road around five kilometers from the better road to Brasat Char, some of our team went on foot for a long distance. Even though we have difficulty with the road in this season we are happy and enjoying in working to develop our community.

This photo show poor hygiene with the kids in the village. His nail very dirty and it cause very bad health in the village such as getting diarrhea, dysentery, cholera and other diseases. As the solution we train the kids with basic hygiene training (hand washing and teeth cleaning), we ask them to practice in the real practical from our training.

Brasat Char Village, there are 1607 people and 332 families. If we compare to the previous villages Brasat Char is bigger and most villagers using traditional pit wells than other villages (just big hole to the ground) which make many obstacles for them. In rainy season the water flows from dirty ground into the hole, while in dry season they have to dig further into the ground to get more water. In additional, a few villagers have their own pulley wells, hole wells and pump wells in their families. From our surveys, we can see they have been lacking of hygiene knowledge. This problem can cause number of villagers getting sick in their families.
So far we have already drilled 31 new wells to provide beneficiaries use safe drinking water, and we are going to check more wells location after Pchum Ben festival. Then we are going to provide hygiene training for more children, and then it is the turn of the adults. Additionally we are going to train villagers how to use and care ceramic water filters.

Other news- Jackie the new Education Manager trained our Clean Water team how to be a good presenter for the training sessions. She was helping the team build more confidence, and to know more about the materials used in the training. We asked the team present in turn in front of their team. Once again we asked them for practicing with the louder volume because we can have a huge group to train in the village. In order to make the training successful and useful for the students Jackie and I went to the village to observe them during the training and after that we gave feedback to the team by person.

Finally, I would like to say again thank you so much for helping the Clean Water Project. I look forward to writing to you again next time to tell you more about the project.

Flood Relief Update- Phase Two

2011-11-06T17:39:00.001+07:00

Fortunately the flood waters in Siem Reap have now more or less gone. It's amazing to look at villages that just 2 weeks ago had rivers instead of paths and see bare ground again.

The flooding is now replaced with much more manageable puddles, but problems still exsist.

Unfortunately the flood waters going isn't the end of the story. A couple of days ago ( Friday 4th November) the World Food Program appeal for food aid for victims of the flooding. With rice crops destroyed in both Cambodia and surrounding countries the cost of rice, the staple food, is increasing week on week.

Rice, the staple food of Cambodia is rapidly increasing in price.

This increase in price is going to affect the poorest hardest. Even in better years portions of rice in some households were already meager and this jump in prices will make portions smaller still.

You can read the full appeal from the World Food Program here.

As with the initial emergency response, not everyone will be able to benefit from the work of the larger agencies-there's just too many people. Using the funds donated to our appeal JWOC is able to make a commitment to help the communities around us to make sure that they aren't left out.

We will soon be recruiting a new project manager to plan and coordinate all the activities of our recovery work. The new manager will be a local person with experience in community work- someone able to identify and respond to the needs that exist.

Thank you again to everyone who donated to our appeal and made it possible for us to provide immediate and ongoing assistance.

Yukari Kane * Susan Kieswetter * Sheena Cowell * SHARE * Sandra H Snowe * Ronie Reiley * Robert Lynn * Rhonda Conry * Regina Rubeo * Rajiv Bhagat * Patricia Maloy * Pat Requa * Pamela Mueller * Noreen and Kermit Heid * Nancy Miller * Michael Werner * Mary Renton * M C Day * Leonard Novick * Kathy Hornsby * June and Robert Berliner * Janet and Allen Johnson * Jane Price * Harold Streeter * Gillian Scott * Erin Ricigliano * Erin Leider-Pariser * Deborah Forsythe * Daren Hamaker * Collette Foundation * Christpoher Colson * Chris Hurst * Chelsea Drennan McCabe * Chad and Heidi Carson * Carolyn Rose * Cara McGourty * Brian Feeney * Becky Ballard * Annie Andrighetto * Allison Turner * Alex Nebesar *

Flood Relief Update-Brasat Char Village

2011-10-29T19:26:00.003+07:00

The rain eventually stopped falling and Siem Reap Province started to dry out but this wasn't enough to make everything 'business as usual'. The road out to Brasat Char was still only passable on foot or on motorbike- neither of which are great choices for transporting over 300 ceramic water filters.

We therefore made the decision to get involved in road repairs. Working with the village chief we assembled a team of 40 adults, plus one team leader, to help get the road into a condition where a truck could pass along.

Each team member was paid with 7.5kg of rice ( funded by your wonderful donations)for their labouring. This food for work activity had three main benefits-

(1) it provided some income to families who had lost their normal rice harvesting work due to the damage done to the crops,
(2) it means JWOC can now access the village of Brasat Char to continue its Clean Water work and
(3) the road is now safer and easier for all who need to move between the villages for work, school or family.

Below you can see some pictures for the work in action-

Some of the team

Receiving the rice after the day's work.

Working hard under the cloudless sky.

The big gap that the team could only just negotiate on motorbike last week is now gone.

All this work meant that today we were able to get a truck into the village to distribute the first of the water filters.

Due to the increased areas of stagnant water in the village, left by the flooding, the number of mosquitoes has also increased but we knew from our baseline survey of Brasat Char that only 50% of families had enough mosquito nets for all family members to sleep under one. So now as part of our relief and recovery work we are distributing mosquito nets at the same time as the filters to ensure each household has at least one fully intact mosquito net to provide protection against bites and mosquito borne diseases.

Volunteer Phen hands out filters and nets after the villagers' training session.

Villagers pose with their filters and nets- both important items in improving the health of their families.

Thank you everyone who donated to the relief and recovery fund, we couldn't do this without you!

Read our latest update about our computer classes by our Lab Supervisor, Man

2011-10-25T10:24:00.001+07:00

Computer classes at JWOC have been started since November 2010. It’s nearly one year now and it runs smoothly by Lab Supervisor. November this year, 2011, we had started three new classes in the course of typing and Microsoft Office Word. All new classes are started and worked very well and all students enjoy their course very much. They feel happy when they have opportunity to join the computer class at JWOC and they were shocked when they can touch computer for the first time. Of course, it is hard for them to practice typing for the first time because everything is new that they’ve never known before. They were trained about typing such as how to use keyboard layout, how to type and computer peripheral devices.

During Pchum Ben festival days, JWOC have had a long holidays and that was a time for staff and students to relax and mostly students of computer classes who are from other provinces went homeland to join the Pchum Ben days with their family. They were very happy with those holidays. On October 1st JWOC open the door and it was time for students to come back from their homeland and continue their lesson as usual. It seems to be fresh that everything has been released from their mind and remembered their lesson. We had played some games in the class to rememorizes the lesson.

Flood Relief Update- Clean water for Brasat Char village

2011-10-22T18:46:00.001+07:00

Today was fortunately another mostly dry day, allowing again for water levels to drop. However, although water levels are going down there are still a vast array of problems. The one the Clean Water team had to deal with today was a lack of road...

Reaching the end of the road. A section of the mud road has been washed away.

Having access to clean drinking water is very important for preventing illness, but so far JWOC has been unable to provide our current Clean Water partner village, Brasat Char, with water filters as the road conditions have been too bad to get vehicles into the village. Due to their size and weight it is not possible to deliver the ceramic filters on foot. To make sure villagers have access to clean water while we wait for water levels to drop and road repairs to take place we are providing each household with purification tablets. Being small the tablets can be carried by motorbike to a nearby village and then taken the rest of the way on foot.

Luckily, the team are experienced drivers and motorbikes are smaller than trucks so they could make it across the gap in the road to continue to Kork Maus village after which they continued the journey on foot.

Working with our Project Manager Sokhorn the village chief arranged for people to congregate at meeting places.

Sokhorn explains how to use the purification tablets.

Volunteer Yanath went house to house to distribute to anyone not able to get to the meeting places. Here she explains to a mother how and why to use the tablets.

Volunteer Vutha distributes the packets of tablets at one of the meeting places, each packet has enough to clean 160 liters of water.

The hard working team take a break for lunch, it was to be along day.

The distribution today covered approximately two thirds of the village's 332 families. Another team will go out tomorrow to ensure all families receive the water purification tablets. The tablets are an important temporary measure, however our aim is to get water filters into the village as soon as we can. We will be assessing how to best do this over the coming week.

Thank you to everyone who has supported our Emergency Appeal to allow us to make a difference in communities affected by flooding...

Janet and Allen Johnson * Jane Price * Leonard Novick * Susan Kieswetter * Sheena Cowell * Ronie Reiley * Yukari Kane * Kathy Hornsby * Cara McGourty * Christpoher Colson * Deborah Forsythe * Carolyn Rose * Nancy Miller * Annie Andrighetto * Chad and Heidi Carson * Erin Ricigliano * Collette Foundation * Gillian Scott * Rhonda Conry * Chelsea Drennan McCabe * Alex Nebesar * Regina Rubeo * SHARE * Journeys Within Boutique Hotel * Chelsea Drennan McCabe * Chris Hurst * Pat Requa * Daren Hamaker * Pamela Mueller * Robert Lynn * M C Day * Patricia Maloy * Brian Feeney * Mary Renton * Becky Ballard * Erin Leider-Pariser * Sandra H Snowe * Michael Werner

Flood Relief Update- Reducing disease risk for children

2011-10-21T15:38:00.000+07:00

Yesterday was a busy day!

The children's dry haven at JWOC was bustling with 63 coming for lunch. The team of staff and volunteers worked well together to get everyone fed and watered.

Getting set up for lunch, each child receives rice, a meat and vegetable dish plus soup and water.

Lots of children's lunches means lots of washing up; Sokha has been great in dealing with the extra work.

As well as all the activities at the dry haven, there was also distribution in Veal and Tropeang Ses villages. Here each of the 156 households received a bottle of liquid antiseptic and enough water purification tablets for 200 litres. It was a difficult mission with the villages still flooded and rain still falling.

Volunteer Sokpheak delivers the supplies to a family.

As the team distribute the items they also explain why and how to use them.

Volunteer Reaksmey wades along the 'road' to get to the next house.

Volunteer Thon talking to this father about the importance of using the provided items.

More disease reducing items going out to families that need them.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to make this work possible.

Janet and Allen Johnson * Jane Price * Leonard Novick * Susan Kieswetter * Sheena Cowell * Ronie Reiley * Yukari Kane * Kathy Hornsby * Cara McGourty * Christpoher Colson * Deborah Forsythe * Carolyn Rose * Nancy Miller * Annie Andrighetto * Chad and Heidi Carson * Erin Ricigliano * Collette Foundation * Gillian Scott * Rhonda Conry * Chelsea Drennan McCabe * Alex Nebesar * Regina Rubeo * SHARE * Chelsea Drennan McCabe * Chris Hurst * Pat Requa * Daren Hamaker * Pamela Mueller * Robert Lynn * M C Day * Patricia Maloy * Brian Feeney * Mary Renton * Becky Ballard * Erin Leider-Pariser * Sandra H Snowe * Journeys Within Boutique Hotel *

Flood Relief Update- Reducing disease risk for children- Veal and Tropean Ses Villages

2011-10-20T10:16:00.001+07:00

We are now on day 3 of our emergency response and about to start a new activity- distribution of materials in the two squatters' villages furthest from JWOC.

South Veal village.

A survey yesterday morning of the children attending the dry haven let us know that no one from either Veal or Tropean Ses villages was there. This means that so far JWOC has not been able to reduce the disease risk for the children living in those villages.

Vantha is leading on the response for Veal and Tropean Ses villages.

Vantha, our Office Manager and standing in now as Emergency Relief Team Leader, went to the villages to investigate further. This investigation confirmed that 156 households had yet to receive any help from JWOC or any other organisation. Also the dry haven provided by JWOC is just too far away for the children to attend.

In order to hep reduce the disease risk for children we will provide each of the families with enough purification tablets to make up to 400 liters of water safe to drink plus a bottle of liquid antiseptic to minimize the risk of cuts and sores becoming infected.

Each pack of purification tablets comes with clear instructions in Khmer along with pictures for those who are illiterate, the team will also explain to each household how to use them and answer any questions.

Both villages are still in a state of flooding, but as before the raised beds are remaining dry.

Despite two days with less rain, both villages are still very wet.

Veal village.

Thank you to everyone that has already donated to our Emergency Appeal, your kindness means we can get help to those that need it.

If you would like to donate, please go to this page of our website.

Thanks goes to-

Janet and Allen Johnson * Jane Price * Leonard Novick * Susan Kieswetter * Sheena Cowell * Ronie Reiley * Yukari Kane * Kathy Hornsby * Cara McGourty * Christpoher Colson * Deborah Forsythe * Carolyn Rose * Nancy Miller * Annie Andrighetto * Chad and Heidi Carson * Erin Ricigliano * Collette Foundation * Gillian Scott * Rhonda Conry * Chelsea Drennan McCabe * Alex Nebesar * Regina Rubeo * SHARE Institute * Chelsea Drennan McCabe * Chris Hurst * Pat Requa * Daren Hamaker * Pamela Mueller * Robert Lynn * M C Day * Patricia Maloy * Journeys Within Boutique Hotel

Flood Relief Update- Reducing disease risk for children

2011-10-19T14:00:00.006+07:00

The first part of JWOC's relief response to the flooding in Siem Reap has been about reducing the disease risk for children in the urban communities where we work.

JWOC is fortunately staying dry amongst the floods. Keeping children out of the flood waters, where the risk of disease and injury is high will reduce their risk of contracting water borne disease.

To maximize the impact of the dry haven JWOC will also provide-

- showers, soap and towels- most have no place to wash or dry

- lunch- so children do not need to return through the flood to get lunch, and to make sure they are receiving at least one good meal a day

-clean, safe water for drinking

- basic medical treatment of bites, wounds and sores. Anything more serious will be referred to the Children’s Hospital

- a bottle of povidone-iodine, a liquid antiseptic, to take home

We are now on day two and things are going well. Below are pictures showing each of one of our activities.

Providing a dry, safe haven where children can play and study

In addition to the regular classes and activities in the library, JWOC has organised extra activities to keep the children entertained and out of the dirty flood water.

Volunteer Pat runs a basic yoga class with the children.

This morning a skipping competition proved lots of fun, with the boys out-skipping the girls!

One of the champion girl skippers!

This little boy, seen here playing football, was one we found yesterday swimming in the flood. We're so pleased Vantha persuaded him playing on dry land is better choice.

Providing a place to get clean and dry

We're providing soap, nailbrushes and showers to all children that come, plus towels to get dry with. All the children come from homes without bathrooms so this is a welcome opportunity to get clean.

To take advantage of the sun we set up temporary washing lines for the children to get their clothes dry. The children wore clothes made by the sewing class while they waited.

Providing lunch

Getting ready for lunch. Every child receives rice,stir-fried vegetable with meat and a bowl of soup.

The lunches have the double benefit of keeping children out the water and also making sure they are getting at least one good meal a day. The children need no persuading in eating up their food, every last bit is consumed.

Providing clean, safe water for drinking

The children have three designated 'water times' plus drinking water is available all day. Another NGO has provided one village with water filters but other villages are still in need of access of clean water. We will provide purification tablets this week.

Provide basic medical treatment of wounds

Every child is checked and a liquid antiseptic is applied to any cuts, sores or other wounds. With the bacteria count in the flood water so high keeping wounds as clean as possible is very important.

Staff and volunteers work together to make sure everyone is checked and treated

Provide liquid antiseptic to take home

Each family received one bottle to take home. Before they are distributed Vantha trained the older children how to use it.

A big sister lets us know she has received her bottle of povidone-iodine.

Today the weather is dry and sunny; standing in JWOC it's difficult to imagine we are in an flooding situation. However just a few hundred meters away paths and wells are underwater.

A big thank you to everyone who has helped us make a difference.

Janet and Allen Johnson * Jane Price * Leonard Novick * Susan Kieswetter * Sheena Cowell * Ronie Reiley * Yukari Kane * Kathy Hornsby * Cara McGourty * Christpoher Colson * Deborah Forsythe * Carolyn Rose * Nancy Miller * Annie Andrighetto * Chad and Heidi Carson * Erin Ricigliano * Collette Foundation * Gillian Scott * Rhonda Conry * Chelsea Drennan McCabe * Alex Nebesar * Regina Rubeo * Journeys Within Boutique Hotel * Chelsea Drennan McCabe * Chris Hurst

If you would like to donate please use the widget below or go to our website.

Flood Relief Update

2011-10-18T18:43:00.002+07:00

Thank you to everyone who has already donated! With your help we started the relief work today, starting with providing a dry, safe haven for children to study and play,reducing their risk of illness or injury.

The day started early with the first children arriving at 7am. While Somath, our Librarian, provided fun and engaging activities in and outside the library Vantha, our Office Manager, and I (Nicola,Managing Director) headed into the squatters' villages to advertise and importantly to check if there had been a change in the conditions. Our main concern was to check whether people had a dry place to sleep. Fortunately although levels had risen a little, the raised beds provided a refuge from the wet.

Having this dry place to play is important in keeping the children healthy.

Vantha distributing information about the children's dry haven. Interest was high and we expect numbers coming to the school to increase tomorrow.

We found so many children playing in the water- water always seems fun.Unfortunately this water is not the place to be playing as it currently doubling as a latrine.

These children have found a mostly dry place to perch, but they were excited to hear they could come to JWOC all day and on Wednesday.

This was one of the worst houses we found, but luckily even here the bed was remaining dry.

We headed back to JWOC slowly, trying to not fall over on the slippery mud or fall down any holes obscured by the water. By the time we were back at the library the numbers of children had increased and it was getting close to lunchtime. The children had all showered and scrubbed with antibacterial soap and cuts, bites and other sores had all been treated.

I will update tomorrow on the activities that have been taking place in the dry haven of JWOC.

Thank you again to everyone that has donated- Janet and Allen Johnson * Jane Price * Leonard Novick * Susan Kieswetter * Sheena Cowell * Ronie Reiley * Yukari Kane * Kathy Hornsby * Cara McGourty * Christpoher Colson * Deborah Forsythe * Carolyn Rose * Nancy Miller * Annie Andrighetto * Chad and Heidi Carson * Erin Ricigliano * Journeys Within Boutique Hotel

Emergency Appeal: Siem Reap Flooding

2011-10-15T14:01:00.003+07:00

As you may have heard on the news Southeast Asia is experiencing worse than normal flooding, with the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia suffering particularly badly.

Siem Reap Province, where the majority of JWOC’s work takes place, has been hit with a wave of flooding- damaging homes, ruining crops and destroying roads and other infrastructure.

In the town many businesses are closed along with one of the major universities. For those living off the main roads just getting out of the house means wading through dirty water that in places is well above knee height. In the rural parts of the province villages are becoming cut off as roads are washed away.

Due to its proximity to the river the university has been under water for three weeks.

Despite the floods people try to get on the best they can with normal life.

Many businesses have been forced to close.

The pictures below were taken in our closest community, an urban squatters' village where many of our students and microloan borrowers live. This will be one of the first villages to receive our help.

The village paths are already under water and the rain continues to fall. Heavy rain is expected until the 18th.

Getting around Siem Reap is getting difficult. Some rural roads have disappeared altogether.

For now people can still access the wells, but it is going to become more difficult.

JWOC Founders, Brandon and Andrea, and Office Manager Vantha assess conditions in the village.

People in the communities JWOC works with are so far surviving but it’s an anxious time - water levels are expected to rise again, the risk of water and mosquito borne disease is high and then there’s the clean up and repair to consider once the water does eventually go down.

Although homes are spared the worst for now, it will not take much of a rise in water levels before the flood water enters the living areas. If this happens JWOC will provide shelter at the our school.

The increased disease risk, caused by dirty water and extra mosquitoes, will affect young children particularly.

During this difficult period we are asking you to donate towards our Relief Fund to allow us to help with current emergencies, reduce risk of disease and to give us the ability to contribute to the recovery of the communities that mean so much to us.

To donate please go here. Mark your donation Flood Relief

Find out what Somath, our Librarian, has to say about the JWOC library

2011-10-11T15:59:00.002+07:00

Our Library Sessions

From day to day the library is popular and is known to many students and children who live nearby. They like coming to read, to play, and to join all of the activities happen in the library every day. There are a lot of games, toys, books (Khmer books, English books, bilingual) waiting for children and students. The schedule of activities in the library is very busy. Everyone is welcome to the library.

Travel Aid and High School Intern students made a five days per week summer program for one month in August to make children happy and learn from the games and activities such as coloring, painting, dancing, singing with both English and Khmer songs. The children were very satisfied with all the activities led by Travel Aid and High School Intern students. They made a big picture and posters which we put on the library wall. The activities led by Travel Aid and High School Intern students made the library more popular and active. They left a lot of great memories to children. It is a good time for Cambodian students to learn from the Western students. Thus, we both learned from one another. We are very happy to have Travel Aid students lead summer activities in our library. We hope that this will happen every year.

Open toy box time is very popular for children to play with toys and games that can help them learn English and have creative ideas such as puzzle games, building block, memory games …etc. that are appropriate for children. In order to keep the library interesting, we have to buy new games and books every month. Fortunately, some child-friendly games and toys and English books were donated by Asia Foundation Organization, Room To Read Organization and other generous volunteers and guests who came to the library and were involved in the activities.

Soft toys are very popular toys in the library. The children really like to cuddle them while they are reading. Some children like taking picture with these toys. The majority of children always pick up the soft toys first before take the books to read.

We have many sessions in the library. One of these, quiet time, is the good time for older children and adults to research their lessons and increase their general knowledge through reading. We also have sets of books for teacher resources, some were donated by Room to Read Organization and Asia Foundation. These books are great for reading comprehension. The teachers can borrow these sets of books for their students to read in the class, or they can book the library for the reading session.

Story time is very important for little children who cannot read. Older children are also interested in this session. They can learn both Khmer and English story every session. After the session the children can summarize the story and tell to their friends. We then have coloring and paper folding (they learn how to make bird, crane …etc.) time afterward. We copy the coloring sheets for them. We have water color, oil color, pencil color, and crayon for them to use. Sometimes they draw the pictures on their own. These sessions are good for them learning drawing, coloring, and listening.

These are all the activities that happen every day in the library. It is good to see children and adults come in every day and we will try to improve the library regularly so that more and more students come in. If you would like to find out more about our library please click here

Thank you!

2011-09-22T18:01:00.000+07:00

Thank you to everyone that donated to our Back to School wish list! We have now been able to get everything apart from the new benches needed in Laos. This is a great joint achievement!

If you are able please donate $55 to buy a new desk and bench like those above to replace the old, uncomfortable and in places dangerous ones in the classroom at the moment.

Go here to donate- http://www.journeyswithinourcommunity.org/support/donate/

Back to School!

2011-09-01T18:39:00.000+07:00

Back to School! This familiar phrase is all around us now, signifying the end of the summer vacation and the start of another school year!

For many parents and grandparents it’s a time of buying all that is needed for the new school year- books, uniforms, pens and more. This September we’re asking that alongside your regular purchases you also buy something for a child in Southeast Asia.

JWOC has a Back to School Wish List of things we need to help us give children the opportunity to learn. Take a look at the list and see what you could donate.

Uniform set for a school child - $10

Uniforms are compulsory in the state schools in Laos, but the cost is prohibitive for many of those living in rural areas. By providing a uniform you are providing an opportunity to go to school. The set consists of two shirts or blouses and two skirts or trousers plus a pair of shoes.

Mark your donation – Uniform

Click here to donate.

English Dictionaries for language learners- $12

English to English dictionaries are a great way for students at a conversational level of English to extend their vocabulary and understanding. Having enough copies for a class means teachers can incorporate their use easily into a lesson.

Mark your donation – Dictionary

Click here to donate.

JWOC Teacher sets - $14

JWOC’s Free Classes Project relies on its enthusiastic and committed teachers to be able to deliver free but high quality English and Computer classes. This teacher set provides our teachers in Cambodia and Laos with the basics they need to run their classes. Each set consists of 3 refillable board markers and ink, 1 board eraser, 1 folder to keep all the paperwork neat and a copy of the Teachers’ Book for the course they teach.

Mark your donation – Teacher set

Click here to donate.

Muang Nga Teacher packs- $15

Limited government funding on education means public schools don’t always get the budget they need. These teachers’ packs make sure that the teachers at Muang Nga Primary School in Laos get at least the essentials so they can get started with their classes. Each pack consists of pens, board markers, attendance books, report paper and other needed school stationary.

Mark your donation – Laos teacher

Click here to donate.

20 sets of computer class books- $20

JWOC’s computer classes are extremely popular as they provide a chance to learn vital new skills for free, giving students from poor families the opportunity to increase their job and education prospects. The set consists of 20 copies of the text book used in the classes.

Mark your donation – Computer books

Click here to donate.

Class set of mini-whiteboards- $25

These mini-whiteboards help make language learning fun by providing scope for numerous interactive games and practical activities. These will be used in our Free Classes in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar enhancing the lessons of students of all ages and levels. Each set consists of 20 boards, pens and erasers.

Mark your donation – Whiteboards

Click here to donate.

10 sets of English course materials - $35

Being able to study English for free is an amazing opportunity for disadvantaged children and adults living in Southeast Asia. JWOC’s Free Classes provide this opportunity to over 600 students. These sets of course materials provide our students in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar with their own copy of the textbook, workbook and mini-dictionary.

Mark your donation – English

Click here to donate.

Complete sets of language learning flashcards- $55

Flashcards help make lessons more interesting, interactive and fun, benefiting both our teachers and students. These complete sets cover all key vocabulary at each level we teach. The cards are in colour and laminated making them eye-catching and durable.

Mark your donation – Flashcards

Click here to donate.

Book cabinet- $65

Muang Nga School in Luang Prabang, Laos, is a public primary school and also the site of JWOC’s free weekend English Classes. It unfortunately lacks some of the basic facilities we usually expect in a school, such as somewhere safe to keep books and other teaching materials. These lockable cabinets will be a great addition to the classrooms.

Mark your donation – Cabinet

Click here to donate.

Reading and Drawing class materials - $110

Opportunities for relaxed reading and creative activities are very often lacking from the public school timetable due to the time constraints caused by having too few schools and teachers. JWOC’s Reading and Drawing Classes in Laos and Myanmar give children those opportunities. The set of materials consist of children’s books in the local language, colouring sheets, crayons, coloured paper, glue, scissors and more, plus a big box to keep in all in.

Mark your donation – Reading

Click here to donate.

Classroom set of new desks and benches- $845

The old benches and desks Muang Nga Primary School in Laos are at best uncomfortable and crowded at worst dangerous, with nails and splinters sticking out. The new sets will provide more space for each child, a better writing surface and more comfort. The desks are hand-made locally to a high quality meaning they will last a long time, benefiting many students over the years. A classroom set consists of 15 desks and benches.

Mark your donation – Desks

Click here to donate.

New video from Clean Water Project Manager Sokhorn

2011-08-27T10:47:00.000+07:00

For his post this month Sokhorn has made a short video describing the need and impact of his project. Watch to find out more-

More about the fun summer- Rachel describes her experience

2011-08-22T07:41:00.001+07:00

In this post TravelAid volunteer Rachel gives insight on what it is like to be a summer activities coordinator and how much happiness it can bring...

Having been a Brownie and helping out for a few years after, I found ideas for crafts, games, sports and songs come flooding back when we sat down to plan the 3 week summer programme. We tried to run one lively and one calmer activity in each morning/afternoon session, and all the kids loved to take part in everything. I’ve never seen boys colouring so neatly or singing so heartily!

Most mornings we started with an action song such as Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (a firm favourite –especially at high speed!) or Incy Wincy Spider. It’s so impressive how quickly they pick the songs up; most of the children aren’t great at reading English when we write the words on the board - it amazes me how well they can listen so carefully and repeat the words so accurately. And they understand the words, too (well, most of the time); one afternoon I sat down next to a girl who was flicking through a story book, pointing to the body parts of a frog and naming them in English!

They love party games such as musical statues and Duck, Duck, Goose, and it’s been great to learn some similar Khmer games. The kids are more than happy when sat outside in a circle with the suspense of maybe being picked next to race around and back to the same spot!
Duck duck goose and ladders game photos

A highlight of the sports activities has to be the sports day. We drew out a chalk race track on the playground, split the kids into Team Monkey and Team Rabbit and set up a score board. With the help of Reak Smey translating, the events kicked off with the relay, followed by a skipping race (most kids had an interesting technique, but it seemed to do the trick!). Next was a slow and focused egg and spoon race followed by a three legged hop, with no casualties, thankfully! Throwing and hula hoops competitions, an obstacle course and Bulldog resulted in a 4-4 draw so we awarded everyone with a medal they’d made in a previous craft activity, and a snack. They absolutely loved it!

The theme of our second week was Nature, so one morning we took to the garden and gave it a spring clean; all the kids came of their own accord and started helping me yank up weeds, saying ‘Cha!’ reproachfully when I accidently pulled up a plant.

We also taught them the names of fruits, and organized a treasure hunt, hiding rambutans all over the garden.

Working here in Siem Reap has been an absolutely brilliant experience. I will never forget the affection the children show and their shouts of ‘Cha, Cha!’ when they want to show me their work or wave goodbye. Their constant shouts, squeals, giggles and general excitement brings it home how much they love the school – it’s so valuable in providing a space for play, friendships and an opportunity to use resources they may never otherwise see. JWOC does such a valuable job, it’s great!

A busy and creative summer - Lisanne writes more about the activities

2011-08-21T18:50:00.001+07:00

Here, Lisanne, volunteering with TravelAid, describes some of the art and craft activities that have been going on and how successful they were...

Growing up in a developing country often means a childhood without art and craftwork beyond that involving sticks and leaves, sand, and, if lucky, a set of donated crayons. Be it painting, origami, or any other type of handicrafts: tools and materials are expensive and difficult to obtain, there is neither space nor time, nor – perhaps most importantly – anyone to provide the kids with ideas and guide them in the process, channeling their creativity into the production of a piece of artwork of their own.

Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) in Siem Reap, Cambodia provides young children from the nearby squatter villages with exactly this scarce opportunity. Not only are the library and integrated Kindergarden which are open to everyone full of pens and crayons of all colours and kinds but every Sunday afternoon a horde of children pours into JWOC’s patio to attend Art Class – a two hour session involving hygiene training, singing and dancing, and a weekly changing art project; the results of which are proudly taken home afterwards. Surprisingly complex structures are demonstrated, understood, and then reproduced (if not improved) in this short amount of time.

When we started planning the Summer Programme there was no question that arts and crafts were to play a big role in the daily activities. We tried to include at least two creative projects every day which were often related to our weekly themes and involved some useful vocab teaching. Even though I’m not great with artwork I got to take part in many of them because Srey Poch (my cheery Khmer partner and a lover of all arts-related activities) is talented, efficient, and patient enough for the two of us; and the kids found my occasional clumsiness more amusing than annoying. The summer camp began with simple activities like colouring in sheets, making balloon men, cutting out people’s shapes and drawing family portraits – all of which turned out to be really popular with the children, no matter how young or old. Where there were tools the kids were difficult to stop and even our two face painting sessions (causing an incredible level of excitement) ended in a sweet ‘chaos’ of kids with clown, tiger, butterfly and rainbow faces sitting in pairs all over the terrace, wildly drawing on each others’ arms and hands.

Seeing the kids’ initiative and concentration completely rid us of our initial doubts about the more challenging projects we had planned. And indeed, whether it was making medals for our big Sports Day, folding little origami boats and birds, knotting bracelets, making paper plate masks, or bending almost a hundred pipe cleaners into adorable (and definitely adored) little finger puppets – once they got the hang of it the children never seemed to get tired of screaming “Cha Cha Cha, look, Cha! One more, Cha, just one more please!”.

The kids loved being able to take home (or surprise a volunteer with) their own ‘masterpieces’ but I think what they enjoyed even more was working together on one big project: they enthusiastically embraced drawing a little boy’s body outline on a big piece of paper followed by colouring and labeling all its parts, watercolour painting a large jungle-inspired animal banner for the library, and - one of my personal favourites – creating a beautiful nature collage from bits of coloured carboard, felt, glitter, and glue.

Perhaps everyone’s highlight was painting our very own backgarden mural towards the end of the three weeks. What began as a simple underwater mural rapidly grew into a detailed cross-section of the Tonle Sap (a large lake connecting Siem Reap and Phnom Penh) with its typical life beneath the surface, and little fishing boats, kids on rafts, and the characteristic floating villages above the water, surrounded by the red sky of a beautiful Tonle Sap sunset. Completing this one big project that involved all children, interns, and volunteers alike was a perfect way of both ending and perpetuating a challenging and intense - sometimes more stressful than successful but ultimately very rewarding - four weeks at JWOC. A big thank you to all the staff and students!

Louisa shares what she has learnt about microloans

2011-08-21T18:33:00.001+07:00

Louisa, a volunteer with Travel Aid, spent time with the Microfinance team to learn more about the impact microloans have in the communities around JWOC...

Economic development is a strong interest of mine and so when I arrived I
eagerly anticipated learning about how JWOC ran their microfinance
department and its impact on the local communities. After talking with
Nicola and Bora I was given the opportunity to observe the work of the
scholarship students one afternoon.

I soon found myself on the back of a moto, bumping along the dirt tracks with Horn an English Literature student at university. Kim, a fifty two year old grandmother greeted us both
cordially as we arrived to fill in an impact assessment form. She lived with her daughter, son in law and their children. As her husband had left her one year earlier she applied for a JWOC microloan of fifty dollars in order to expand her business of selling traditional Khmer cakes. She used the money to buy a bicycle so that she could sell her cakes in other villages not just her own. She successfully repaid her first loan and has given the profits to her daughter and son in law to contribute towards their daily expenses.

Horn carrying out the impact assessment questionnaire with Kim.

The impact assessment was extremely insightful as it allowed me to have a greater understanding of what her life is like on a daily basis which seemed to be fairly representative of others living in the local villages. The questions varied from how often fish, meat and
vegetables were eaten weekly to how often someone in her family gets sick,
whether or not they are able to afford the necessary healthcare and her
living conditions. Kim said that someone gets sick more than once a month
in her family and that she can afford the correct treatment only sometimes.
The assessment also included a breakdown of her total monthly household
income which astutely highlighted her financial dependency on her son as he
contributes 67% of her monthly income with the remaining 33% coming from
her business. She estimated that her net profit was $50 each month, which
roughly equates to $1.8 each day. The assessment form provided a clear
indicator of Kim's quality of life through qualitative and quantitative
data which enables JWOC to easily assess the impact the loan has had on Kim
and her family.

I also met a woman who had just finished repaying her
fourth JWOC loan which she first used to expand her food stall outside the
Children's hospital in Siem Reap. The hospital does not offer food to
either the patients or the staff so the loan enabled her to offer a greater
range of food using better cooking facilities and a greater section of
ingredients. Her second and third loans were used to diversify her business
to sell clothes for the mothers, babies and children staying in the
hospital. JWOCs microloans are only given to existing businesses to
minimize the risk of defaulting and most tend to be small roadside stalls
selling food such as fruits, noodles and rice soup.

Completing the paperwork and cash counting after returning to the office.

JWOC's microfinance project began in 2006 and since then it has helped over four hundred and
seventy families receive loans. There is a huge demand for basic loans as
many of the villagers do not have access to commercial credit. Most banks
require a minimum amount of money in order to open an account along with a
form of collateral which is often not possible in the local villages as
they have weak, if any property rights to use as collateral. Commercial
loans also require a high level of literacy in order to fill out the
paperwork and are only likely to accept applications with those who have
formal employment.

Directly visiting the individuals who had received the loans and observing how the microfinance department is run in JWOC has crystallised my interest in the role of microloans in poverty alleviation. JWOC's form of microfinance has proven to be extremely successful so far in the local communities to help people help themselves in a sustainable long term manner that I hope will continue to exist with the support of continuing and new donors.

Making new friends- Matt writes about getting know the Khmer team

2011-08-21T18:17:00.001+07:00

In this post Matt writes about his experience of being part of the summer activities team, where Travel Aid volunteers work with local high school students. Making new friends and sharing new experiences is all part of the process...

After some pretty manic teambuilding exercises we paired off with the Khmer students that we were to work closely with over the next 3 weeks at JWOC. My partner Reak Smey, a tall, confident Khmer boy with a prominent jawline, immediately began to bombard me with questions about the English education system and skipped the small talk altogether! He was very interested to know exactly why the English education system was better and although I wasn’t entirely sure, I assumed it was probably because school classes here have upwards of 60 students so teachers can’t give the same kind of attention to all the students that they can in England. Most of the others from TravelAid however found their partners were initially very shy and reluctant to talk about themselves, but Nicola explained that they weren’t used to our English accents and so conversation would probably flow more easily after we’d spent more time with them.

Matt and Reak Smey

Once the Summer Camp began our Khmer partners soon started to open up more and were clearly very comfortable around us. Perhaps one of the most noticeable differences between Khmer children and English children is the outward affection they show towards each other and us. Reak Smey would often put his arm around me or hold my hand which is something you would never see adolescent English boys do. He also seemed very excited to show me his home and for his parents to meet me which was a nice gesture. Even after spending a short time at his home it was obvious the sense of community here is very strong as when I asked him about the huge gang of children playing in his home, he told me they were not his siblings but just his neighbours.

In the second week we decided to take all of our Khmer partners out for a Western meal because food is such a distinct part of foreign culture that they can appreciate without actually going abroad. After some discussion we settled for Mexican food and took them out to try burritos and other dishes. I ordered as many different things as I could for Reak Smey and happily he seemed to enjoy all of them. Unfortunately, most of Khmer girls seemed less enthusiastic about the Mexican style of cooking, I think they’re too used to Khmer food which can lack variety and tends to be fairly sweet. But they all certainly seemed to enjoy the outing, especially because a lot of them didn’t know each other before the summer camp so they have made lots of new friends.

While it wasn't everyone's taste, some really enjoyed the Mexican food.

Towards the end of the Summer Camp, our partners got their exam results which they’d be waiting for from their schools. All of them passed and so have now graduated from high school, but unfortunately not all of them got the individual subject grades they needed to get university scholarships so they must hope now they are successful in applying for a JWOC scholarship. To celebrate, Reak Smey organized a spontaneous Khmer dance session at JWOC and our partners showed us some of their traditional dance moves (Apsara style) and invited us to take part. It was very nice to share in their joy and enthusiasm and I would like to thank them all for all their help running the summer camp and translating for us. I think they all have bright futures in front of them and I wish them well.

Sakina's experience in Conversation Class

2011-08-21T18:04:00.000+07:00

Conversation Class is an adult’s English class held four times a week. During out time at JWOC, the Travelaid volunteers were given the chance to sit in on these lessons, spreading ourselves amongst the students, chatting to them before and after the lessons and helping them with whatever task was at hand in class.

From the very first class that we attended, the students’ enthusiasm was immediately noticeable and was really quite infectious. It was clear how much they valued the chance to practice their language skills with native English speakers and how important it was for them to learn the language in the first place.

Conversation Class teacher Sokpheak introducing some new vocabulary.

What I particularly found most interesting about the class was the opportunity to speak to the students about their background and their lives. One particular story that really stuck with me was that of a student who had been living in one of the surrounding villages for around five years when the landowner decided to forcibly evict the villagers from the land. This was perhaps the third time that this had happened to him in his life, and it was this that prompted him to start to learn English. For him this was the first stage in protecting the homes of his fellow villagers. He hopes to become a lawyer so that he can become able to represent the voiceless people of his village by fighting the case himself. This story, among many of the others that I heard, made me realize how empowering the ability to speak English in the developing world really is.

Conversation Class students complete their worksheets.

This was just one story out of dozens explaining the eagerness of each and every student, most of them having to take time out of their overly busy days and make the long journey to JWOC on a daily basis. The raw enthusiasm and overt appreciation of the students for the opportunity to practice speaking in English, not only to learn the language but also to gain exposure to completely different cultures and to enlighten us to the intricacies of Khmer culture, language and way of life.

When we first arrived at JWOC, we were given a lesson in basic Khmer. The expressions that did stick were incredibly useful in the month I spent in Cambodia – bartering would not have been nearly as successful without the ability to make countless shop keepers and tuk-tuk drivers burst out with laughter at my exclamation of ‘Klein na!’. But the difficulty of learning a new language so different to your own and remembering even half of the phrases and vocabulary that we were taught was brought back to life and only made it more impressive that after every class the students would come back the next day having remembered all of the vocabulary that they had been taught previously. My feeble attempts to learn from the students the words that they had learnt in Conversation Class in Khmer not only provided everyone with some amusement after class, but also made me realise that learning English was not something they did purely to increase their prospects for a job but that it helped them communicate with those from outside of their communities, sharing stories and experiences and gaining exposure to the wider world.

Sakina advertising the summer activities in the nearby village.

Daniel writes all about the summer activity programme

2011-08-21T17:14:00.000+07:00

Here, Daniel, a Travel Aid volunteer, explains how the summer activity programme was done, from the first steps of planning and advertising through to working with the children...

During our month long stint at JWOC, the foremost task of the TravelAid team was to conduct a three-week summer activity camp for children in the surrounding community. While some of these children have been attending free English classes at JWOC for the past few years and were already expecting some summer activities to be held during this time, there were still many who have not had the time or opportunity to attend these classes and would not have heard of JWOC. Thus, in the week before the summer activity camp, we not only had to plan and prepare for the activities for each day, we also had to go out to the nearby villages to advertise our summer programme.

Our advertising efforts turned out to be an unexpectedly interesting and enjoyable experience. Our primary means of advertisement were through posters and flyers that we distributed in the neighbourhoods as well as word-of-mouth: if our activities are creative and novel enough, more children will turn up as days go by! The Khmer high school interns that were partnered with us were most helpful as they translated our requests to shopkeepers and villagers to put up posters in convenience shops and village common areas. As we walked down the main road, we also stopped children on their ways to and from home and promoted our summer programme to them. Coming from countries where people are pretty wary of strangers and whatever they intend to 'sell', our hearts were warmed as we saw how readily the locals welcomed our uninvited visits.

Visiting a squatter village during our rounds of advertising offered us a peek into the lives of some of the poorest people in Cambodia. These villagers don't own the land their houses are built on; many of them just don't own enough to do so. It is among these people that JWOC works: through lending small loans to people who would otherwise have no access to credit, through installing wells and providing simple hygiene training, and most relevant to us, through the provision of free classes for children whose families cannot afford to send them to school. Many of these children we visited in the squatter village were very enthusiastic about what we were offering them - a chance to have a few weeks of fun, games and activities while picking up some simple English at the same time. The summer camp also attracts children to attend proper English classes at JWOC, thus setting the stage for a longer term impact on the community.

While we planned for the summer programme, we consulted our Khmer partners about the appropriateness of the activities. Although we were targeting children between the ages of 7 to 13, we had to keep in mind that most of them had, at best, elementary English comprehension skills, and so in explaining games to them, we had to ensure that the rules were simple. The advice of our Khmer partners was invaluable: in one instance, they vetoed a game because it would have been too difficult, and even dangerous if not explained properly, for the young children to play. More importantly, we had to have good rapport with our partners in order to communicate our ideas to them and make sure that they were on the same page as us. And so after a week of intense brainstorming and planning, we were ready with a schedule packed with handicraft, painting, sports, games, song and dance, and reading sessions.

As we carried out the programme over the following three weeks, we found that although not all of the activities were exciting or entertaining, the children were grateful to have the opportunity to draw and play and spending time meaningfully together. Many of them came day after day after day, some even arriving an hour before the official start of the day, hoping to have someone spend time reading or playing with them. In all, it was a exhausting but pretty successful summer, hopefully we have enriched the lives of these children in one way or another!

Anna explains the importance of scholarships

2011-08-21T14:38:00.002+07:00

For her blog post Anna, a Travel Aid volunteer, talks about the new friends she has made and the realisation that her fundraising will make a big difference...

It is a requirement of all Travel Aid volunteers to make a donation of around £500 per person to their charity of choice. So, many months before touching down on Cambodian soil and facing the realities of an education system in need, we began the arduous and often challenging task of fundraising. Back then, our combined target of £4,500 was just a number at the end of a very long road. Each team racked their brains for ways to win over the hearts- and pockets- of our notoriously tight fellow students, and over the months which followed we have painstakingly watched our JustGiving totalisers inch upwards to meet our goal. So, cakes were baked, Krispy Kremes and Pimms were sold, cars were washed, and we discovered that some people will pay anything for a glowstick in the pub on a Friday night. The donations started rolling in, and thanks to the generosity of our families, friends and local organisations we were able to step on the plane content in the knowledge that our first goal had been met.

The summer activities team- Travel Aid volunteers and JWOC High School Interns.

One thing that I don’t think any of us had really considered though was the impact our donation could make. The children and young people at JWOC go there because they need the services it provides. Many of them are from very low income families who cannot even afford the small costs of state schooling, so the free classes and wide range of facilities open doors of opportunity they could not otherwise imagine. Over the course of our time at JWOC, we have got to know a fraction of the students who benefit from the school’s resources- perhaps best of all, our Khmer partners; high school students who have just completed their final exams. In September our nine new friends will be told whether or not they have been awarded one of the 17 university scholarships the school offers. My partner, Raksa dreams of studying medicine at university, but despite her family’s recent begrudging approval for her to continue her studies, she simply does not have the money to support herself through university. She feels that the internship has given her the confidence to apply for the scholarship, something with which Reak Smey, another of the interns, agrees; “the internship has given me a chance to practice my English- English skills are one of the most important factors in getting the scholarships.” But despite this apparent ‘leg up’ in the JWOC family, neither Raksa nor Reak Smey can guarantee that they will be some of the lucky few to receive a scholarship. Already, the school has given out over 200 application forms and with the closing date over a month away, they are expecting hundreds more.

Anna and Raksa enjoy a dinner out in Siem Reap.

Competition for places is only one hurdle in their paths to a more prosperous future. Currently, the corrupt and ruthless education system relies largely on bribery and wealth, and as a result, Reak Smey notes, ‘the rich will stay rich and the poor will stay poor’. The JWOC scholarships offer students a lifeline out of a poverty trap, giving them the chance to improve the lives of their families and build a fairer society around them.

Dancing and singing has been a big part of the summer activities!

Working so closely together with our Khmer partners- building friendships alongside the summer camp project- has left us in no doubt as to where we want our donation to end up. For the lucky few who will receive a JWOC scholarship, their fees for the duration of their time at university, a mere $2000, will be provided for. Not only that, but the experiences they gain from their voluntary hours at the school- whether it be educating villagers in health care, working tightly with the microfinance project or taking on teaching roles in the classroom or the IT lab- will be invaluable to their CVs, and strengthen the relationship between the community and the education system. Cambodia is a growing country, and if our donation can give a few more students like Raksa, Reak Smey and the other high school interns the chance at a brighter future, we’ll know that the summer of 2011 will have been one well spent.

Clean Water and Hygiene at JWOC- Rob's experience

2011-08-21T13:03:00.001+07:00

In this post Travel Aid volunteer Rob talks about what he learnt and observed while joining JWOC's Clean Water and Free Classes teams.

Muddy, sandy, slippery: picking our way for several kilometres along a sodden track leading to the village felt like an appropriate introduction to JWOC’s work in the village communities as, on the first Saturday of our time as volunteers in Siem Reap, we were lucky enough to watch the clean water team go about their work surveying the village’s residents.

The householders were very hospitable, offering us seats - or, on one occasion, a hammock! - and sometimes fruit while the project workers asked questions such as each house’s water source in different seasons, protection against mosquitoes, and recent illnesses. We then saw the basic wells which a lot of the houses seemed to use: these produced decidedly mixed results, so the next step will be for the clean water team to return and install new, reliable wells for use in all seasons and then gauge their effectiveness over time.

The sight of the brown, murky water of the rice paddies, which we were told were used by the children for swimming, was a clear reminder of what the project was all about; all the more so, since a project worker explained to me that, while instances of serious waterborne disease amongst adults are comparatively few, children are far more prone. That’s precisely where another JWOC project, the hygiene program, comes in: to build on the ground-work of the clean water scheme and begin to educate children at an early age about the sorts of hygiene basics which, although apparently simple, can make a great difference.

It was refreshing to see both the enthusiasm of the children – whatever their ages – in following the mimes of hand-washing during the original demonstration, and then their eagerness to put these principles into practice in between games and activities, scrupulously subjecting their palms and fingernails to sprays of soapy water.

Hygiene training also complemented the broader drive of teaching English to the children, since the training consisted not only of a single demonstration, but also of approaches to it from different angles – with the key words on flashcards, alongside the action itself. Staff also tended to sneak back to the theme at different times, such as before art class on a Sunday afternoon, when the children were reminded of the steps and then went about following them with characteristic gusto. As well as concentrating on younger children, JWOC also aims to introduce older students to the fundamentals of the Hygiene program by introducing ideas such as hand-washing and teeth-cleaning into early-stage English classes, and hygiene training also comprises a follow-up stage in the clean water project.

These sorts of hygiene basics seem simple to us precisely because they have been drummed into us from an early age, and hopefully by the same principle initiatives like these can make a real difference to the health of those living in and around Siem Reap.

Helen's experience in writing class at JWOC

2011-08-21T11:29:00.000+07:00

One of the most heartening aspects of teaching at JWOC has been the
incurable eagerness and enthusiasm of the students. Many of them walk,
cycle, or even push their way in wheelchairs to the JWOC English
classes from their homes which can be 20kms away, and yet still
always arrive with beaming smiles and confident “hello’s”.

As TravelAid volunteers, our first job in the English conversation
classes was simply to sit amidst the students and help them with their
exercises and comprehension throughout the lesson, and to chat with
them before and after class (several would stay after class until we
ourselves had to go, which was hugely different to students at home
who would shoot out the room the minute the bell rang). Most of them
have busy days without JWOC anyway; many of them work, whilst others
must take care of their younger siblings or help with household
chores, and the fact that they still make the time and effort to come
to JWOC is an inspiration to me, and something which I wish I could
say of the teenagers back home.

It was mainly because of this experience that we decided to set up
our own free classes: the students simply yearned to learn and were
meticulous in their improvement, making sure they picked out every
detail they hadn’t understood and patiently waiting for us to find the
simplest explanation we could, and knowing what a struggle basic Khmer
was for us to learn, it’s hard to conceive how they kept themselves so
driven!

We arranged for these classes to take place during the hour before
their Conversation Class, so they wouldn’t have to trek half way
across the country to and from school more than once a day. Because
there was such a wide spectrum of English skills within the group (and
almost all of us wanted to teach anyway), we had three volunteers in
each class – one at the board and two sitting among the students to
help any who were struggling. We organized the topics and the
activities before each class, loosely based around what we had
observed in our sit-in lessons.

Standing in front of a semi-circle of expectant students, all
desperate to learn your language, and completely reliant on every word
you say wasn’t exactly the idealistic image I’d pictured of breezing
from one exercise to the next effortlessly, as I now realize my
schoolteachers seemed to be able to do to perfection. Twenty pairs of
big brown eyes gazed up at us, and the pens in their hands seemed
disconcertingly ready to transmit my every word into the awaiting
notebooks. Suddenly instructions on my print-out of the lesson plan
like, “Explain the reasons why various past tenses are used in
different situations” left me utterly clueless, and any grasp of the
English language I might have had made a hasty retreat into the most
remote rabbit-holes of my brain. Fortunately, we found them to be incredibly patient with us - as unqualified teachers we often struggled not only to understand the complications of the English language ourselves, but also to explain
them, yet they encouraged us nevertheless with their own suggestions
and ideas, and kindly smiled though our endless ‘err’s and ‘umm’s.

Talking to them individually, it is clear that for the most part they
don’t view English as a chore to drag their feet through, but rather
as an opportunity to share the intricacies of their lives with us, and
to attempt to understand the rather perplexing facets of our foreign
culture which they simply couldn’t get their heads around – despite
countless drawings and translations, we were never able to make
everyday features such as custard, toasters and pastry be met with
anything more than a sea of raised eyebrows.

Five more sponsors needed!

2011-08-04T19:40:00.000+07:00

You may remember I wrote a while ago asking you to consider becoming a sponsor of one of our 24 new scholarship students. The great news is that many of you decided to help change a life this year and have become new sponsors.

However, we still need five more sponsors in order to support the 24 new students in their ambition to attend university and improve their prospects.

JWOC Scholarships change lives. And you can be a part of making that change.

To help you know the difference you are able to make, two JWOC graduates, Thoum and Keang ,have written below about their experience as a JWOC scholarship student and how it has helped them and others.

My name is Thoum Lorm. I come from a small village in the forest in Banteay Meanchey Province. JWOC changed my life and I had chance study at university. I did not believe that I could study at university but JWOC gave me the power to do so.

JWOC helped me to change my life, my family, and my community. I learnt as a JWOC scholarship student general knowledge and the specific skill of teaching English as a second language. During my scholarship I helped JWOC with teaching English in the JWOC school to improve my skill. This was great experience for me because my degree is in the field of Teaching English as a Second Language.

In conclusion, JWOC is a good organization in Siem Reap, Cambodia that helps a lot of people. I wish for JWOC to grow bigger and bigger and support more scholarship students.

My name is Ms. Heam Keang . I feel that I am very lucky of my life because I got JWOC’s scholarship student since am in the first year until graduate. I am very happy to telling all of you what I did in JWOC And also what the difference a JWOC scholarship made to me.

I got scholarship in 2007 and I took Banking and Finance as my subject. During I am scholarship student I got great knowledge from JWOC day by day. As Micro-Finance’s volunteer every Sunday I was going to visit villager and collect the money and in Clean Water Project we are going on every Saturday morning to villages along the road of north Baray. When we are arrive some villager are waiting us. People are happy to get knowledge what JWOC provide, and we are completed villages one by one and improve to village to other village. This is a really good experience for me and especially I was teach to my mom and neighbor how to install, use and taking care of water filter that I got from JWOC. How we do without leaning?
I graduated on August 31, 2010, and the job I have now I think it’s nearly my goal job. I wish JWOC get more sponsor, so can have more teaching project, water project and micro finance and help more students

Sponsoring a student and changing their life costs $500 per year of their degree. This covers all their fees and books, plus all the additional life skills training offered by JWOC.

If you would like to find out more about the Scholarship Programme please visit this page on our website or reply to this email with any questions. We also have a FAQs page to answer some the most common questions.

If you have decided to help JWOC change lives you can make your donation via our donate now page. You can donate online or by check, marking your donation ‘scholarship’. We ask you make a 4 year commitment to your student. If you are able to send sponsorship for the full four years that is wonderful, but don’t worry if not, you can donate for each year individually. Please make your donation before 31st August to make sure we can match you with a student for this coming academic year.

I look forward to welcoming you as a new sponsor and introducing you to your student in September!

Very best wishes,

Nicola
JWOC Managing Director

Microfinance Volunteers

2011-07-23T15:04:00.001+07:00

As his blog post this month Bora has a video that shows the collaborative work between JWOC and Melbourne Microfinance Initiative.

To find out more about JWOC's Microfiance Project click here.

Clean Water Update from Sokhorn

2011-07-19T13:17:00.002+07:00

In this post Clean Water Project Manager Sokhorn gives his thanks to all Clean Water Project donors and outlines the activities that have taken place in our most recent Clean Water village.

Dear Clean Water Donors

On behalf of the stakeholders in the Clean Water Project in Doun Keo village, I would like to express my thanks for your help in making clean water possible and contributing to sustainable development in the village. I am pleased to update you about the Doun Keo Clean Water Project, which I have been working for more than three months with this village.

The village chief signs the partnership contract.

In Doun Keo village, there are 1140 people and 243 families. Most of villagers have their own pulley wells. Even though they have these simple wells, these wells do not last for a long time and they lack water in the dry season. Furthermore, some families were still using traditional pit wells (just big hole to the ground) which makes many obstacles for them. In rainy season the water flows from dirty ground into the hole, while in dry season they have to dig further into the ground to get more water.

A girl collects water from an old pit well. A hard and time consuming job.

In additional, some villagers feel scared to use their pulley wells because of some wells contain iron water (if they soak their clothes, they become red; if they cook rice, it becomes black; if they brush their teeth, they becomes red).
From our surveys, we can see they have been lacking of hygiene knowledge. This problem can cause number of villagers getting sick in their families.

A children's hygiene training session. Two young participants demonstrate what they have learnt.

As the solution, we provided basic hygiene training (hand washing, teeth cleaning) and filter training. In the training activities, they were very happy and they could practice as the correct steps, which we trained them. As the result, they have changed their habits and are following the training. Additionally, we drilled 10 new wells to provide backup water supplies across the whole village and we fixed 114 existing wells. Then we gave out 714 hygiene packs, and 243 filters for families after the training.

A new well being drilled.

Next, we do 10 water testing sample from wells and 10 from filters to make sure all beneficiaries use safe drinking water. Now villagers are very satisfy because they have clean water for using and safe water for drinking. Wells are located in the center of the village group, so they can share with each other if they still lacking of water in dry season or their own wells break. I am very happy and passionate to help and see the big change that our clean water team made by working their best to help beneficiaries. The whole village can change because of your generous donations - working together for sustainable development in the poor communities.

Collecting water samples for testing.

Other news- I have updated the hygiene-training process (hand washing, teeth cleaning) and I have trained my team on how to use the new flashcards. Now we have flashcards to train villagers and then we have messages at the back that can help our team members to remember in the correct steps and make the presentation more attractive for the audience.

Finally, I would like to say again thank you so much for helping the Clean Water Project. I look forward to writing to you again next time to tell you more about the project.

Best wishes

Sokhorn

If you would like to donate to the Clean Water Project, please go to this page.

Change a life this year

2011-07-10T15:54:00.001+07:00

This picture shows last year's new students, can you help us welcome 24 more this year?

This new academic year JWOC would like to support 24 new students in their ambition to attend university and improve their prospects. But...we can only do this with your help! Please consider becoming a scholarship student sponsor this year.

JWOC Scholarships change lives. And you can be a part of making that change. Read Tola’s note below to find out how he benefitted from his JWOC scholarship.

Hi, my name is Sann Tola. I am a former university scholarship student at JWOC. I had this scholarship from 2007 and graduated from the university eight months ago.

JWOC has changed my life for the better. By getting the scholarship, I was able to go to a university, and being educated in a university gave me a brighter future to look forwards to beyond waiting tables at a hotel or restaurant.

Now I have a job in an NGO, which I love very much, and I would not imagine being able to come to this point without a scholarship from JWOC. Besides, I have gotten to know some wonderful people through this place. I have made more friends at JWOC than I did at the university, my JWOC friends have become my very good and close friends.

With its charity projects which we involved in, I was given the opportunity to work with other students, and people who volunteer with us, and I enjoyed the experience very much. Moreover, I was able to contribute to the development of my own country by participating in the projects such as the clean water, and the free class project.

I say thank you to JWOC and my sponsor for the opportunity you gave me. It means a lot to me.

Sponsoring a student and changing their life costs $500 per year of their degree. This covers all their fees and books, plus all the additional life skills training offered by JWOC. With your help we hope to give 16 new scholarships in Cambodia, 4 in Myanmar and 4 in Laos.

JWOC selects students on merit and monitors students’ grades and attendance, so you can be sure your donation is put to good use. Your student will also update you monthly by email to let you know how their doing with their studies, jobs and volunteering.

If you would like to find out more about the Scholarship Programme please visit this page on our website or write to info@journeyswithinourcommunity.org. We also have a FAQs page to answer some the most common questions.

If you have decided to help JWOC change lives you can make your donation via our donate now page. You can donate online or by check, marking your donation ‘scholarship’. We ask you make a 4 year commitment to your student. If you are able to send sponsorship for the full four years that is wonderful, but don’t worry if not, you can donate for each year individually. Please make your donation before 31st August to make sure we can match you with a student for this coming academic year.

We look forward to welcoming you as a new sponsor and introducing you to your student in September!

275,000 Non-profits fail to submit financial reports

2011-07-09T11:35:00.000+07:00

Last month Guidestar published the news that 275,000 Non-profits in the US had repeatedly failed to submit financial details and were therefore losing their 501(c)3 status. You'll be pleased to know JWOC wasn't one of these! We submit our independently reviewed financial reports each year, meaning all our spending and income is transparent for all to see and we can keep our 501(c)3 status- making your donations tax-deductible.

The story is copied below for more information.

GuideStar, the leading resource of nonprofit information, announced today that the IRS has published the first Automatic Revocation of Exemption List, thereby revoking the tax-exempt status of approximately 275,000 nonprofits and fundamentally changing the scope of the nonprofit industry. As the nation's premier source of nonprofit data, GuideStar is working to incorporate this information into its database and products.

"More than a quarter of a million nonprofits have had their tax exemptions revoked because they failed to file an annual return with the IRS in compliance with the Pension Protection Act of 2006," said Bob Ottenhoff, GuideStar's president and CEO. "This event will have a tremendous short-term impact on the nonprofit sector and those who support and rely on it. The true impact, however, will be long-term. Over time, knowing which organizations are in good standing with the IRS will increase public confidence in the sector as a whole, which in turn will increase support for the nonprofits it comprises."

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 requires the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization required to file an annual return (Form 990, 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990-PF) that fails to do so for three consecutive years. Revocations are automatic and mandatory under the law. The Automatic Revocation of Exemption List published yesterday represents the first time this provision of the Pension Protection Act has been put into effect.

GuideStar is in the process of incorporating automatic revocation data and other information about nonprofits' standing with the IRS into the GuideStar database and GuideStar products.

"In a recent survey that GuideStar conducted with Hope Consulting, 87 percent of 5,000-plus donors said that nonprofit legitimacy is a key factor in their giving decisions," Ottenhoff stated. "GuideStar users and customers can continue to rely on the information we provide, knowing that it remains the most up-to-date and accurate nonprofit information available."

http://www2.guidestar.org/rxa/news/news-releases/2011/irs-revokes-exemptions-of-275000-nonprofits.aspx

Watch Somit's Video

2011-06-24T09:46:00.002+07:00

For his post this month Free Classes Project Manager, Somit, decided to make a video to explain the need for and the benefits of his project. Watch the video to find out more-

You can also get more details about the Free Classes Project here.

Hygiene Training in Doun Keo

2011-06-06T16:26:00.001+07:00

As part of the Clean Water Project we carry out hygiene training in each village we work with. The last three weeks have been training time in Duon Keo, our latest village partner. We got great levels of attendance and it was also an opportunity to test out some recent revisions to the training sessions.

Look through our pictures to learn more...

The training sessions take place in any open spaces in the village- though trees are always a welcome feature for the shade they provide. Here we can see Project Manager Sokhorn starting the teeth-cleaning session.

One new feature of the adults' training sessions is a temporary creche which allows the parents to concentrate on the messages and activities. The little ones get to complete hand-washing colouring sheets and play games.

The props and interactive nature of the training sessions make them fun and memorable.

One of the changes to the teeth-cleaning session was to introduce actions to help the participants remember the steps. Here we can see children doing the "up" part of the "up, down and around" routine.

Another one of the changes was the use of flashcards during the session. These pictures help explain ideas and also aid memorisation of the messages.

After the sessions everyone receives a 'hygiene pack', so they can put the training into practice straight away- increasing the chances of creating new habits.

To learn more about the Clean Water Project and what other activities take place in each village visit this page.

A short Microfinance story

2011-06-03T08:17:00.002+07:00

Meet Kim...

Kim is originally from Takeo Province but has lived in Siem Reap for most of her adult life. Since her husband left her a year ago she has been living with her daughter’s family. The picture above shows her with one of her granddaughters.

The money she earns from selling traditional rice cakes goes into the household fund to pay for food for the family.

The small loan Kim received from JWOC enabled her to buy a bicycle meaning she can cover more distance each day and sell more cakes.

She says being able to contribute more to the household fund has two benefits- the family have more to eat and can save a little money for emergencies and importantly, she feels better about herself, more proud.

For Kim, the $50 she borrowed from JWOC made a big difference to her daily life. If you would like to help other families in Siem Reap please donate $10 or whatever you can afford...

Learn more about the Lao school system

2011-06-01T16:20:00.001+07:00

This post is a little different as it is hand written. Somdith, a student at JWOC's Language School in Muang Nga, Lao PDR, has written this mini-essay about the school system to share with you all. Click in the picture to make it bigger. Apologies for the scanning- I hope you can read Somdith words!

To read more about how JWOC supports Muang Nga School click here.

Volunteering in JWOC's Free Classes

2011-05-29T10:02:00.000+07:00

Read about Kaitlyn's experience as a Free Classes volunteer and the difference it made for her and the students she met...

Define the word helicopter. Use only the simplest English vocabulary. Do not rely on the use of illustrations as an aid. Remember that the education of a group of five young students lies temporarily in your hands. It is not easy. Sitting in a classroom enveloped in the rush of humidity that follows an afternoon shower, ten fervent eyes fixed solely on their volunteer instructor, I had the task of defining “the flying machine with a spinning fan on top.”

The obstacle of defining several words that I take for granted in my everyday vocabulary was presented to me when I signed up to volunteer at one of Journeys Within Our Community’s (JWOC) conversation courses. During this time students are encouraged to attend and improve upon their English speaking skills. Unlike in America and other developed countries, in Cambodia the prospect of a sufficient education is not a right afforded to every young person. Public schools are inadequately staffed and underfunded. Students who wish to receive a proper education must seek out instruction elsewhere. This is where JWOC comes in, providing free classes for people of all ages in various subjects including the two I volunteered for, English conversation and art.

I have had a firm grasp of the English language since I mastered “Hop on Pop” in my pre-K years; however, I have never attempted to teach my native tongue. It was much harder than I ever could have imagined. After being placed in my small group I found my hand trembling as I filled in the correct answers on my worksheet. Fears of being a bad teacher suddenly seemed very real and all of my English speaking abilities left the room. At the moment of utmost panic one student looked at me and asked a question that immediately made me realize why I had come to that classroom.

“Can you read it to me? I want to hear all the words.”

This was something I could do. For the first time since entering the country I did not feel like a tourist, unaware of the lives unfolding all around me. I yearned to help these students to the greatest of my ability. Driven to this place of learning by their own desires, not by outside force, these young adults represent the heart of a developing nation. In their company I developed a strong admiration for the work they had put into their futures as well as an appreciation for the difficult yet rewarding job of teaching.

The second class I attended was a Sunday afternoon art lesson. Stepping through the doors of the newly built library, where classes are held on rainy days, meant stepping into a world of childhood imagination. A circle of children and adults suddenly became a menagerie of elephant, dog, tiger, and cat impressions. With little notice the animals transformed into a session of “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” followed by “the hokey pokey” to the joy of all involved. Next it was story time. Read in both English in Khmer, we were told the story of a little bird that left his home, had adventures, and finally found his way back to his family. The story led to the craft of the day, the construction of colorful paper birds complete with feathers, moveable wings, and googly eyeballs.

Having not stepped inside an art class since the end of my fifth grade education, I found myself a little rusty. Not only did my crayons wander frequently outside the lines, I had to sneak glances at the young boy sitting next to me in order to properly assemble my bird. In the end I was pleased with my product, enough so to hope my parents will find a prime spot on our home refrigerator to display my handiwork.

I left the school, bird in hand, and wondered if I had in fact done anything to help the children I had volunteered to assist. Their art skills far surpassed mine, my offers to help with the difficult parts of bird construction were met with silent stares, and attempts to take photos of their work resulted in frown-filled poses. As the wave of futility began to subside a new thought entered my mind, perhaps I was the student in the class. Across all cultures, as innocence is lost and maturity sets in, nothing is ever the same. In a country where people are often forced to grow up too fast, moments of childhood enjoyment are the most important to preserve. Sometimes the best thing to do for oneself is to stop being an adult and take the time to make a paper bird fly.

2011-05-28T14:24:00.001+07:00

In this post Sarah Lundgren, a visiting Journalism student, describes her experience as an Art Class observer turned Art Class volunteer...

I feel there’s some innate desire in children, no matter what culture
or country they come from, when given feathers, to put them on their
head. Be it stuck behind the ear, in a ponytail, or glued to the
forehead, kids will always find the simplest ways to entertain
themselves. And in a third-world country lacking structure and
intricate forms of entertainment, that’s a good thing.

Last Sunday, a couple of the girls in our group walked next door to
the Journeys Within Our Community school, to join some local children
to do just that. JWOC as we call it, is a non-profit group that
reaches out to the surrounding area through many programs, including
microfinancing, educational classes, and clean water initiatives. On
Sundays during the year, they offer a free arts and crafts class for
local children, a group that ranges in size from 30 during the rainy
season to upwards of 70 during the dry time. It’s not a big
compound---a couple sturdy, beige buildings surrounded by a tall wall.
But in the open center, there’s sinks with footstools and colorful
children’s handprints on the walls and a grassy area showcasing a
vibrant yellow mural that bring the place to life.

When we arrived, we were directed into the recently established
library; a small group of children, staff and a few volunteers were
already in a circle eagerly chattering. The library is made up of two
rooms that are open to each other, one open area with posters on the
walls and the other with a small table, toys and shelves of books. As
the group gathered into a circle, I stood behind them, waiting to snap
the shots of their happy faces. Above my head were decorations made by
the children, strung across the ceiling in an X. Out the glass doors,
I could see the grassy area and mural, a stark contrast to the gloomy
sky. The rainy season is just beginning here so the kids were inside,
but that didn’t stop their overload of energy.

After a couple words in Khmer, the volunteer in the middle spoke
English: “Fish!” and the circle erupted into movement---sucking
noises, pouty lips and hollowed cheeks, and flapping arms walked
around, one behind the other. Then the elephant, swinging arms and
shouts, and then the dog, panting and barking and wagging tails. This
continued for a couple more animals and then it was time for Head,
Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. It’s been a while since most of us ladies
have done the dance; I’m pretty sure the kids had it down better than
we did. We went straight from that to the Hokey Pokey, children and
adults linking arms and spinning around after sticking their left feet
in and shaking them all about.

These exercises help get the kids focused and learn English at the
same time. We’d missed the hand-washing session prior to class, but
we’re told the JWOC teachers help the students and children that come
to the school learn proper hand-washing and basic hygiene techniques
to take back to their homes. The JWOC staff, including the students
they aid with scholarships, give back to their community through their
outreach programs. At home, my service sorority, Gamma Sigma Sigma,
does the same thing. There, it’s a group of girls that are
well-educated at a public university, not exactly struggling to feed
or clothe ourselves. Here, it’s so different seeing these people who
already don’t have that much finding ways to give back.

To calm the kids down but keep the English lessons flowing, the staff
have a story time---a children’s book read out loud, page by page,
first in Khmer and then in English. The kids interact, interjecting
their presumptions about what’s going to happen, or at least that’s
what I think they were saying. I’m not exactly fluent in Khmer. I sat
behind the group, watching as the kids laughed and smiled at each
other, trying to take in the story and repeat the English words. After
taking four languages myself, it was refreshing to see enthusiasm in
their eyes where as most people my age are burnt out and just say,
“Ugh, English please?”

And then the feathers came in. One of the staff got up in front of the
group, pulled a carefully constructed, paper bird on a popsicle stick,
feathers across its body and a fastener in its wing to provide
movement. After a few minutes explaining how to make the bird in
Khmer, holding up the varying tools provided, the kids grouped
themselves around cardboard lids full of crayons, gluesticks and
scissors and went to work. Kaitlyn and I sat in one group of
particularly quiet kids who were extremely focused on making the best
birds. Kaitlyn actually had to look on to the little boy on her left,
following his moves to get hers done.

I’d resigned myself to just take pictures and observe, provide my help
if needed, but the little girl to my right had on a sad look and gave
up after her first cut into the paper. No more than 5, she’d obviously
grown bored with the process but longingly watched as everyone else
started to bring their creations to life. Despite my reservations and
the language barrier, I took the paper from her and began cutting out
the shapes. She gave me a little smile. After I glued the circles and
rectangles together and put the metal fastener in the wing, I got
another smile. When I picked out the feathers and tried to glue them
on myself, I got a frown. She wanted to do that part.

With the popsicle stick and googly-eye as the final touch, she had a
bird to run around with like everyone else. She wasn’t a very
emotional girl, but I got enough happy faces from her to call it a
success. As I turned away from her to check out the crowd, that’s when
I realized and missed the simple joys of being a child. If I could
glue feathers to my forehead, maybe some googly-eyes and laugh with my
friends about it, I’d probably be happy as a clam too. Needless to
say, as the group rushed outside in the emerging sunshine, I grabbed a
yellow feather and stuck it behind my ear, just for good measure.

The kids danced around the yard, flapping their birds, poking each
other and smiling, and then hamming it up for my camera. When I
hunkered down to get eye-level, I got ambushed. Paper birds and little
hands whacking my camera, falling off balance but still trying to
catch every moment. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much happiness
from children, and I’ve volunteered at countless summer camps. They
were all so excited to see their picture when I opened the screen for
them---I assume most of them haven’t ever seen themselves captured
like that before. As we walked away to shouts of good-bye and many
skinny, tan arms waving, I was reminded of why I came here. This is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to study, to help, to tell a an entire
country’s story, and I can’t believe how much of it I’ve already
experienced in less than two weeks.

Operation Smile

2011-05-16T16:43:00.001+07:00

In this post Vantha our Office Manager and Scholarship Programme Supervisor talks about his recent involvement with Operation Smile as part of JWOC's Relief Project.

There are many children in Cambodia has problem with cleft lips and cleft palates.

JWOC's Emergency Relief Fund has helped many families, at below is the one story of child that was helped by JWOC to have operation for giving beautiful smile back to his life.

His name is Phat Em, his father name is Hov Phat and mother’s name is Sa Ruot. Both of them work as farmer and in dry season his father works as construction worker. Now Em is 1 year old and 11 months. He has one older brother who is 5 years old.

In late of 2010 his family knew about JWOC providing help to children who have a problem with cleft lip or palate to get operation at Phnom Penh by covering on transportation, food and accommodation. They found about Operation Smile Clinic from JWOC previous scholarship student working as Microfinance Credit Officer in their village. Em’s parents decided to bring him to JWOC for asking for more information after that JWOC made appointment with his family came to Siem Reap Provincial Hospital for first operation.

On 14th December, 2010 Em’s family brought him came to Siem Reap Provincial Hospital for doing operation but unfortunately he couldn’t do operation cause his health so weak and his weight still not enough. He has to wait for next two month and went to Phnom Penh on 21st February, 2011.

Em’s photo with his mum came to Siem Reap Provincial Hospital first time in 14th December, 2010

Em’s photo with his parent at Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh for second time on 21st February, 2011

Em’s photo with his mother to register the name and information.

Em’s photo with his parent on tuk tuk to visited around town in Phnom Penh
while waiting number for operation.

Em’s photo with his parent to visited Royal Palace in Phnom Penh while waiting number for operation.

Em’s photo while waiting to get operation and he is so tired.

Em’s photo with his mother after finished operation for 3 hours.

Em’s photo after finished operation.

Em’s photo one week later after operation and came to Siem Reap Children Hospital to take out stitches.

Em’s photo 3 months later after operation.

My name is Vantha I work in JWOC as Office Manager, I would like to say thank you so much for all of your spending your time to read our blog and also I really would like to say thank you so much for all of our donors that always helping JWOC with all projects especially in Emergency Relief.

As we can see that the result of charity always can help people especially children which to change their life from dark life to get future bright. I hope that our supporters will stay and join with us to provide more help to the people or children need help and keep helping our new generation for develop our society.

If you would like to help by donate for them please follow this link http://www.journeyswithinourcommunity.org/support/donate/.
We will transfer all your kindness to those that need it.

Our first photography exhibition

2011-05-04T11:55:00.000+07:00

JWOC recently held its first photo exhibition, featuring fantastic pictures from our Children's Photography Workshops and our photography volunteer, Jesse Mojica. Here we share all the children's photos included in the display.

The New Year

2011-05-01T08:41:00.001+07:00

Borey, a scholarship student in his second year, writes here about his New Year and a big fish...

Hello! I’m Borey. Recently I participated a national festival, called Khmer New Year. This last for three days and always start on 13th or 14th April.

On this special occasion everyone was very happy with family and friends at their homelands. Houses were decorated with colorful and flowers, fruits, drinks,incense and candles were ready prepared to serve new angel with new things.

Borey at the market to buy goods for the New Year celebration.

On the 3rd day was the happiest time for me. I and my friends rode motorbikes to a very far pagoda. We danced and played traditional games there until early night.

Offerings at the pagoda.

A day after New Year’s days ended I went fishing and caught a very big fish with my nephew. We were surprised and happy. It was probably the gift that new angel give to me for New Year and made very delicious dinner for my family.

Borey's nephew with the big fish.

Khmer New Year

2011-04-27T06:45:00.001+07:00

It was recently New Year in Southeast Asia, the biggest event of the year. Here one of our scholarship students, Sareth, shares his description of what happens.

Hello! Happy New Year!

I’m Sareth I just had a great time- Khmer New Year. For three days of the celebration I was very happy and excited. From the first to the third day of the celebration everything was almost the same, most business centers, goods markets, public buildings and citizen houses were closed and replaced by hanging lanterns and decorated houses with fruit, cake, drinks, flowers...to show they were welcoming and enjoying the New Year days.

Places that were normally crowded became silent. Instead of this, people went to gather in places like the monastery or public area. They went there to prepare food for monks, to play traditional and popular games,and to dance with New Year popular songs.

We played games, sang songs with dancing happily together. We have many styles of dancing for our popular songs. It’s really exciting. Beside this, some people went to visit tourism locations or own relatives as well.

I didn’t want the days to leave, I really love the New Year time.

New Year and New Classes!

2011-04-23T17:08:00.003+07:00

Having celebrated the Khmer New Year, see what's NEW with the Free Classes by checking out our update.

Read the update to find out more about new activities like this one.

Watch our new Microfinance video

2011-04-11T11:21:00.001+07:00

Watch our new video to find out why microloans make such a difference to families in Siem Reap and why a donation to JWOC’s Microfinance Project will help again and again.

An Update From Laos- Graduation Day!

2011-04-05T09:45:00.001+07:00

Nicole, Country Director for JWOC in Laos writes about one the best days of the school year- graduation day! To find out more about our work in Laos, visit our website

One of my favorite days to be at the language school is on the day of graduation. How could it not be an exciting day? It is the day in which all the students who have worked through a term receive certificates of achievement and the scholarship students who have taught them can witness how their volunteering has made an impact in their community. It is a day filled with happiness and pride and I am thankful to have the opportunity to observe, applaud and take pictures!

The latest term, which just finished in March (two classes will end in April), began in December 2010 after all of the scholarship students received a series of trainings on JWOC, the language school and teaching methods. Along with our scholarship students we had 2 volunteer teachers which brought our free English classes total up to nine, the most we have ever had at one time at the school! Three of the classes were returning from the previous term and the other six were new beginner classes with students ranging in ages from 6 years to 22 years.

This term we decided to cut the duration of the curriculum for the beginner levels in half so that we could gauge the level of the students earlier. We also felt it was important for these beginning students to be able to notice their achievement in a shorter amount of time to increase consistency of attendance and interest. Even though we did have some classes lose students during the four month period, the ones that remained have all passed, giving the school a 100% graduation rate! I think with the next term we will really be able to observe the impact of these changes to the curriculum and see if they are beneficial and the impact is lasting. We are always looking at ways to improve the system at the school so that we have the most positive impact for the students and the teachers.
I have to applaud the teachers this term; they have all done such a great job with their classes. They all applied what they had learned in the training workshops, improving their instruction and structure of their lessons. I think because they all aspire to be teachers that they are invested in the trainings and the experience they are receiving at the JWOC Language School. They are taking advantage of this opportunity and excelling with their classes.

The impact the school has on the teachers is another reason graduation day is special. This is when the teachers are able to see what they have done, what they have accomplished. This term was the first term for five of our scholarship students so, this was their first graduation. On this day they see how their work and efforts have given their students skills and knowledge. They begin to see and take pride in knowing that they are a part of the JWOC team and are making a difference in the lives of others. I am so proud of them all!

Here are some of the pictures of the smiling students receiving their certificates and the teachers that lead them to their success…

Mrs Vandy gives out a certificate to an enthusiastic young learner at the JWOC Language School

One of our Young Learner English classes expresses their excitement after receiving their certificates

Here are just a few of the students celebrating from Mr. Hmong’s class. This is their third term in the Young Adult Learners

Mr. Lee hands out a certificate to one of the youngest members of the school. He teaches the English class for 6-9 year olds. They are an energetic and fun bunch!

Ong Xiong is all smiles as she receives a certificate from her teacher, Mr. Bouakham. Ong was the only girl in her English class

Mr. Soubahn, a volunteer teacher at the language school is in his third year at Teacher Training College and came to JWOC so that he could practice his skills in the classroom. He was very successful!

A Clean Water Project Update from Project Manager Sokhorn

2011-04-02T08:46:00.001+07:00

Dear JWOC Supporters,

I am writing to update you about the Clean Water Project. Nowadays, I have been working for more than three months with the new village, which is called Thnout Chroum village.

Sokhorn talks with the village chief

In this village, there are 1060 people and 224 families. Most villagers have been using their pit wells (just a big hole in the ground) for many years, which are very dirty, especially in rainy season, as the water flow from dirty ground into the hole. A few of them have been using family wells and some using pulley wells, which are very shallow. In dry season, they still do not have enough water for using in their families However, in dry season they have to dig into the deep ground to get more water.

A pit well in the village

Once again, they have been lacking of hygiene and children always get sick in their families. Therefore, we provided training to them. For example, hand washing, teeth cleaning, and filter training. In the training, they were very happy and they could practice and show the correct steps, which we trained them. As the result, they have changed their habits and are following the training. Additionally, we drilled 26 new wells and we are going to fix 38 existing wells. Then we gave out 750 hygiene packs, 215 filters for families during the training. Next, we plan to do 26 water testing from wells and 5 from filters. Now villagers are very happy because they have clean water for using and drinking, especially wells are nearby their houses. Then they can stop using pit wells. I am very happy to see the result that we have tried with our best to help them. The whole village can change because of Journeys Within Our Community.

Other news, I have updated filter-training process. Now we have flash cards to train villagers and then we have message at the back that can help our staffs to remember in the correct steps and make the presentation more attractive for the audience.

A member of Sokhorn's team using the new flashcards

Finally, I would like to say thank you so much for helping the Clean Water Project. I look forward to writing to you again next time to tell you more about the project.

Best wishes,
Sokhorn

Meet two of our borrowers

2011-03-29T10:00:00.001+07:00

JWOC's Microfinance Project has helped hundreds of local small business owners increase their earnings and better provide for their families. Below are profiles of two of our current borrowers. If you would like to donate to the Microfinance Project, please follow this link- http://www.journeyswithinourcommunity.org/support/donate/

Mai Channa

Channa is 30 years old and runs a food stall outside the Children’s Hospital in Siem Reap. This is a good location for a stall as the hospital does not provide meals for patients or their families so visitors will buy food for them. She also serves staff that work at the hospital.

Channa applied for a new loan as she found she was running out of food before the end of the day and had to turn potential customers away. With the loan she will buy new equipment for her stall (additional cooking and serving pans) and also more ingredients. As an additional advantage is that with the access to additional funds from the loan she is able to buy in bulk and benefit from the cheaper wholesale prices.

Channa and her husband have three children, aged five, six and eleven. She says she some of the extra income she earns through the changes made with the loan will be put towards her children’s education. Although state schools in Cambodia are free, the costs associated with attending school- books, uniform, transport, equipment- often mean families cannot afford to send all or any of their children. With her additional income Channa will be able to send all of her children to school. The rest of the additional income will be split between paying for some improvements to her small home and setting some aside for emergencies.

Channa says she is pleased JWOC is able to offer loans to small businesses as JWOC’s interest rates are lower than other places and they allow weekly repayments which helps with budgeting. She says thank you to JWOC, which we in turn pass on to our supporters!

Thorng Touch

Touch is 48 years old and runs a second-hand clothes business. She buys second-hand clothes wholesale in the capital, Phnom Penh, and then sells them in two ways. One way is to sell bundles to other clothes sellers; this is easier but makes her less money. The other way is to sell individual items to customers, making a greater profit on each item. She sells in two places, sometimes in the market, other times outside her home in Krous village.

The loan will mean she has been able to buy the second-hand clothes in bigger quantities, meaning she was able to get a better rate and also reduce the number of times she needs to travel to Phnom Penh, reducing her business costs and time away from her family.

Touch and her husband have four children, the youngest being 15 years old. She would like to use the extra income generated to help support one of her older children in attending university. Although cheap compared to Western fees, the cost of university in Cambodia, $500 per year, is prohibitive to most.

Touch says she liked the process of getting a loan from JWOC as they supported her through the application processes, including helping her make a budget plan. Like Channa, she also appreciates the weekly repayments.

She says awkoon ch’ran (thank you very much) to all those that helped her receive the loan!

Watch our new Clean Water video

2011-03-29T08:54:00.001+07:00

Our new video explains the background and impact of JWOC's Clean Water Project and how you can help.

JWOC Talk

2011-03-04T16:50:00.012+07:00

One evening last week Narla and I headed into the squatters village on his motorbike to meet with a man that sells herbal medicine. I had an editor interested in such things and wanted to check it out before sending a guest out to see it. The squatters village sits behind Journeys Within and JWOC and really started growing when we first moved to Siem Reap seven years ago. Those living in the squatters village all have stories of why they’re there, each one seemingly sadder than the next…a sick husband in hospital and everything sold to pay for his care, only for him to die and leave the family destitute; a youngest brother who can’t farm along with his older brothers because there just isn’t enough land to go around; drugs, alcohol, depression. JWOC has a presence here, many of the squatters are our microfinance project loan recipients and clean water project wells dot the community offering at least clean water in otherwise squalid conditions.

Villagers making good use of their JWOC Clean Water Project Well

As we drove through I was again shocked by the trash, the amount of children and the general chaos that comes from too many people living in too small a space. I can’t imagine a childhood spent here. Narla and I left the village agreeing that for the over 3000 people now living here, life was bleak.
The next day happened to be my first Music and Movement class in the new JWOC library. I have had my kids in music classes since they were little…kinder music, mommy and me music time, nursery music and so on. Each time we were back in the States we enrolled in a different class and I loved to see my little ones clapping to the beat, dancing with scarves or pretending to be a kitty cat. I had always wanted to run a music and dance class at JWOC, but we hadn’t had the space. Now we do!

For the first class we didn’t do sign ups, we decided to run it as a drop in class and we advertised in our other classes. Part of the reason we did not have sign ups was we knew no kid would know what such a class was and might be scared off. Class was on Tuesday, from 3 to 4…I was nervous! At 2:45 there were only a few kids reading in the library, at 2:55 there were a few more, but by 3pm when we started our stretches we had about 20 kids and by the end of class, we had 45! That’s right, 45 kids from the age of 3 to 13, dancing, singing and playing silly games.

Andrea teaching Music and Movement in the new JWOC Library

It was a joyous hour, we played little games for the kids, played freeze tag with everyone and we sang songs and pretended to be different animals. We talked about ballet and even practiced a few sashays. The older kids helped the little ones and the little ones’ excitement infected the cooler older kids, even the teenage boys were up on their tippy toes practicing their ballet.

Students perfecting their curtsy

Throughout the class I recognized kids from the squatters village. Some had ripped clothes, others had filthy clothes, a few of the little ones had no pants, but for one hour none of it mattered, we just played.

It struck me how important this new library was. An escape from a home life that was less than they deserved, a chance to be kids and just have fun, a chance to relax and learn in a safe and clean place with a strong fan and clean floors.

Students enjoying their new library space

After class the kids all thanked me and then many of them went and got books and a teddy bear and found a corner in the library to read in. I am so proud that we have this space for them and that we are giving kids the opportunity to be kids…it makes me so happy I want to dance…which is lucky since the kids all requested hip hop as the theme for next weeks class!!!

Xin Yuan - October 2010: Clean Water Project

2010-10-28T20:25:00.011+07:00

As part of our Company’s Corporate Social Responsibility program, our company selected four volunteers to help out in the Clean Water Project with JWOC for 6 Days. I was fortunate to be the team of volunteers to have the opportunity to contribute. I arrived in Cambodia on 19th October 2010 and immediately we made our way to JWOC Headquarters in Siem Reap. I was greeted by Andy and Camilla, the Managing Directors of JWOC. They gave us a briefing on Clean Water Project and touched on the issues faced by the villagers. We were given a schedule for our volunteering roles over the past few days.

The following morning, we were picked up from our guesthouse to help out in the construction of Bio-Sand Filters (BSFs). It was something new for me as I have never tried pouring concrete or doing anything similar. At the end of the day, although my hands were blackened with grease, oil and concrete, my heart was filled with simple contentment.

The next day, we started out early from our guesthouse. Sokhorn, JWOC’s Clean Water Project Manager, picked us up and drove us and 17 boxes of donated items we had brought with us from our guesthouse to JWOC for sorting in order to ensure the items were distributed in a fair, calm and organized way. Andy explained that JWOC’s clean water project relies on fair and equal distribution of all the resources offered. Therefore, JWOC must ensure therefore that all the benefits given through a JWOC project are shared out equally or it would risk jeopardizing the other aspects of the project. I was sincerely touched by Andy’s opinions on this matter and it clearly shows his dedication.

After delivering the items at JWOC, we had our first trip up the Knarong Veas village to assist in the distribution of the BSFs and an educational seminar to teach the villagers how to use it. Along with Monnoreth – a JWOC scholarship student and Clean Water officer - my colleague and I delivered the BSFs to three homes using manual carts. The BSF organisation sent their employees to assist the villagers in installing the BSF. While installing the BSF, I spotted a well next to the house. Sokhorn mentioned that well was shared by many families around and most villagers had to walk several kilometers just to get their water. In addition, during the dry season, the villagers could only get a limited water supply from the well. He pointed out that with our company’s financial support for well construction and BSFs, the villagers will have much greater access to clean water even during the dry season.

On the following day, we went back to the village to help out with well construction. When we arrived, the well was already drilled and the local construction company has already begun the work. I helped out with screwing the bolts to secure the water pump base and to lay the bricks. Although the bricks I have laid were not a pretty sight and the local construction workers had to do remedial works on the bricks, I was satisfied that I was able to contribute. In the afternoon, we left the well construction to the trusty hands of construction professionals and made our way to the Knarong Veas Elementary School to give out vital supplies to the children including their core school textbooks, stationary and other items.

At the Elementary School, we did a Q&A session with the students on topics such as malaria and personal hygiene. We asked the questions in English and Sokhorn translated it into Khmer language for the students. I heard so many enthusiastic *wooooo* whenever we gave out soft-toys to children who answered correctly! We ended the experience at school by giving each student 3 brand new textbooks and either stationary or soft-toys depending on their grade level. The stationary and soft-toys came from donations from our colleagues and another Singaporean lady.

It was a heartwarming experience to see the beaming smiles of these kids.

On the last day of the volunteering trip, we were split in three groups to conduct Hygiene Seminars and distribute the clothing donations to the villagers. Sokhorn tasked me to take photographs during the Seminar and to distribute the hygiene packs and clothing donations. I was grouped with three Scholarship students and another of my colleagues.

Miss Ra Ya delivered a witty and engaging presentation for the villagers. It was heartening to see all the villagers coming to the Hygiene Seminar and for them to participate actively in the answering questions and doing demonstrations. When we handed out the hygiene packs and clothing donations, I was so touched when the villagers thanked us profusely. There were some villagers who immediately put on the clothing and admired each other’s new outfits!

The time I have spent with villagers may have been short but they have warmed up my heart. Their genuine smiles and “Or-Kun” (Thank you in Khmer Language) made my trip completely worth it. The trip realigns my mission and purpose in my life. I will definitely be on more of such trips to serve the community.

Thank you JWOC for giving such a life-changing experience and I hope the best for Andy, Camilla and all staff at JWOC in their mission to improve Cambodian lives.

TravelAid 2010: Debbie

2010-08-26T12:40:00.005+07:00

Arriving at JWOC on our first day we really had no idea what to expect. Following Andrew into a modern complex I was incredibly surprised to see how developed JWOC was, despite being a relatively new charity. Essentially none of us were entirely sure what we would be expected to do. Camilla, however calmed our nerves with a clear explanation and my anxiety rippled into waves of excitement.

Of course, the highlight of my first day was meeting my intern. Sokim seemed sweet and polite and, most importantly, eager to start! Games with the JWOC staff helped break the ice since we felt as ridiculous as each other. I think it’s safe to say day one at JWOC left us feeling relieved – we knew amusing children and teaching English for four weeks would be challenging, but judging by the welcome we received we also knew we would enjoy it massively. I grew to appreciate how JWOC was a quietly busy place to be- there was always something to do. The nine of us really had to rack our brains for enough ideas to occupy children everyday and there were times I felt extremely disheartened when they didn’t work but I think that despite the cultural and linguistic barriers, in the end, kids will be kids and they mostly had lots of fun.

Sokim and the others were indispensible in the activity camps- not only for translation but for bringing their talents to the class (especially Kuemhong and his dancing). Developing a bond with the interns has definitely been one of my favourite aspects of our time spent here- through the activity camp and other projects we have grown closer and dare I say, become friends.

And my entry could not possibly be complete without a mention of Phong. The vision of him toddling on the grass with a t-shirt matching our own made us all fall in love with him.

So I guess the last thing I have to mention is a massive thank you to Andrew, Camilla and the rest of the JWOC staff for giving us this amazing opportunity and unforgettable experience.

TravelAid 2010: Rosanna - Clean Water Surveys

2010-08-26T11:18:00.004+07:00

On the first Saturday during my time at JWOC a group of 4 of the TravelAid volunteers (myself included) and our respective interns attended the Clean Water Project. I had no idea of what to expect. The meeting at 7.30am was conducted in Khmer but JWOC staff were keen to elucidate about the project in English throughout the day.

The first shock was getting on the back of the ‘moto,’ which was my first experience of such transport. Luckily all the JWOC interns drove us carefully and safely to the villages. The aim of the morning was to return to where JWOC had installed wells and filters 6 months before and to ensure the process was running smoothly and having the desired effects.

Nothing could have prepared me for the villages, which were a world apart from my life and home in London. The children’s behavior was in stark contrast to the children in Siem Reap or at JWOC, who are always keen to shout ‘hello.’ Instead many children cowered away from me or stood and stared at me - a JWOC officer informed me this was most likely because they had never seen a white person before. In addition I was overwhelmed by the accommodating nature of the people in these villages, who found a place for JWOC workers to sit. I felt rather intrusive walking into their lives and homes, but this didn’t seem to be a problem, I was pleased I had donned my JWOC shirt that day.

JWOC staff completed questionnaires while speaking to the same representatives of households and villages as they had spoken to 6 months ago, I found it curious that these were always women (most likely because there are the most reliable). The questions were also the same as 6 months before so that comparisons could easily be made. The questions concerned general information such as the number of people in the family and their monthly income! The monthly income of a family of nine worked out at $7.50 a month, this was a real shock to me considering I could easily spend that amount on a single meal or even drink!

Other questions concerned health such as stomach aches, fevers or diarrhea. JWOC staff informed me that the feedback we got showed a marked improvement since the wells and filters had been installed! It would seem that people had really taken on board what they had been shown. It was fascinating to observe how something such as clean water, something so taken for granted in the Western world, can make such a huge impact on the lives in rural Cambodia. I also observed marks on people’s body throughout the village which are circular burns of some description which I was informed is what the people do here if they are sick to rid themselves of ills. This seemed like extremely outdated medicine to my mind and placed the location I was in within a very real context.

As a geography graduate this experience animated years of study concerning ‘bottom-up’, but most importantly sustainable projects. The clean water project that I observed empowers the people of Cambodia both at JWOC and in the villages. It is now within the capabilities of these people to continue such a project and to run others elsewhere. I hope that JWOC continues to take such knowledge to other villages!

TravelAid 2010: Debbie F. - Clean Water Specialized Training

2010-08-26T10:46:00.004+07:00

I sat next to a patch of ginger plants, shaded from the morning sun watching six village chiefs and heads of families being trained about good personal hygiene, how to use water filters and basic water pump repair by a group of university students and a well expert. It seemed a complete role reversal with the younger generation teaching the older but the training was interesting and engaging and everybody had a good time.

I was glad to see the filter training and well demonstration, as I saw a tangible change in the villagers’ lives. I wish I had the chance to revisit village in six months time to see how these changes had made a difference to their way of life.

I thought that I would feel awkward being the only non Cambodian person for miles around, but the people I met were so hospitable, getting me a chair to sit on and allowing me to see round the village. All I had were a few words of Khmer and the villagers had even less English, yet I felt welcome and was able to convey my gratitude. The language barrier – all the training was obviously in Khmer – made the whole experience seem very surreal, like I had fallen into another world. The countryside full of rice fields and water buffalo was among the most beautiful I have seen in South East Asia, and I feel so fortunate to have been able to see rural Cambodia for what it actually is, without tourists and commercial influence and to see a different side to the country. It really was a unique experience and I have to thank all the staff at JWOC for making it happen.

TravelAid 2010: Saras - Microfinance

2010-08-26T10:06:00.003+07:00

Many things have taken me by surprise here at JWOC. I never thought, for example, that I would find microfinance so interesting. In fact, before coming, I wasn’t even sure of what it entailed. In simple terms, it can be thought of as lending money, something that’s quite sequestered from the traditional image of charity work, but the microfinance project at JWOC is much more than that, it is about empowering entrepreneurs in a small community.

JWOC lends money to people in villages throughout an ever expanding area - these are people who have promising ideas, or are looking to grow an already established business and support their family. The borrowers would not usually be able to acquire an accredited bank loan, for various reasons, such as not being able to do the hefty paperwork, or not owning any collateral.

The loans are given with a large dose of trust, as JWOC does not take action against failure to repay, but measures are set in place to minimize this, such as loans being given out to groups with one member being a leader that deals with the individual finances, and incentives for those who pay back.

One afternoon at JWOC, I had the opportunity to work for the microfinance department, consisting almost totally of JWOC’s scholarship students who volunteer as part of their sponsorship through university. I went with a team to a nearby village, to collect repayments from two group leaders.

The first house we arrived at, we were greeted with great welcome and gracious hospitality. Once sat down and comfortable, we talked about the business. This particular entrepreneur was a middle aged lady, who had bought a sewing machine with her loan, after learning how to make tote bags on a course with another charity. I was pleasantly surprised by their quality, something I could definitely see myself buying for a friend. She used unconventional materials such as clear plastic and shredded newspaper and sold the stylish bags on to a large organization that gave her a modest sum of money, but nevertheless, allowed her to support her family and live comfortably.

Yet again, we were met with smiles and welcomes upon our arrival at the second house. Looking around, I saw a water filter provided at a large subsidy by JWOC, a perfect example of how JWOC ties in its various projects merging microfinance with clean water and, whilst handing out a loan, educating people about hygiene and good health. This businesswoman had chosen a more conventional route to take and had a small grocery vending business within her house. She used the loan from JWOC to buy in supplies for the shop. Business seemed to be going well and yet again, it was a humbling experience talking to someone who was so grateful for a sum of money that I may have once wasted on a family holiday.

Travelling back to JWOC headquarters I had time to reflect upon the trip. Both businesswomen had used every cent of their money to its maximum potential, and in doing so they could support their families, maybe provide education to their offspring, good food and nutrition, etc. Moreover, they were happier, had prospects and goals, and had the opportunity to join the next loan cycle from JWOC - who knows what they will do with the money. A little bit of capital can go a long way, not just in providing sustenance to a small group of people, but in allowing enterprise to flourish, small economies to thrive, and in providing the first rung of the social mobility ladder.

TravelAid 2010: Lucia - Dance Activities

2010-08-26T09:56:00.003+07:00

It was the 3rd of August and the day before our first session of morning activities for the children. I found myself, alongside two other volunteers and three Cambodian High School interns, trying to brainstorm a dance lesson for an unknown number of children of an uncertain age range. As the activities camp was entirely optional children from the surrounding areas, they could turn up if they so wished. This meant the numbers of children per day were never certain. We decided to do a fusion of Khmer and Western dancing, it took us far longer to learn the Khmer moves than it did to teach the interns English favorites such as the Macarena. The next morning we nervously performed this eclectic mix to a group of about thirty rather bemused children, who found our attempts at Khmer dancing utterly hilarious. Their undisguised disdain was a blow to my ego, I rather fancied myself as a dancer, but it worked well as they then felt little embarrassment at getting involved, I believe their attitude was that they could never be as bad as us! One group of five ‘lads’ was particularly disconcerting as they watched the entire performance leaning casually against a wall, eyebrows raised; little did I know they were to become my most avid followers! To our surprise and delight after their rather unimpressed faces they really enjoyed learning the dance. We had expected the dance to take up the bulk of the lesson, it took them about fifteen minutes to learn a dance which had taken us an hour and a half to choreograph, they were far faster learners than we had been!

Each night we choreographed increasingly complex dances designed to be taught in a forty-five minute session after various warm up games. We drew inspiration from pop music bands and the snippets of their routines that we could remember; juxtaposing ‘Grease lightning’ with ‘S club’ was surprisingly effective! The speed at which the children learnt the dances never ceased to amaze me, they were far more adept than many of the volunteers who struggled even with the Macarena!

We thought the youngest group, composed of children between two and five, would probably struggle to learn a choreographed routine, so instead we played a variety of games, including musical bumps, and sang countless songs-the ‘Hokey Cokey’ became a favorite with all age groups! Even in this age group there were several children who impressed everybody with their moves!

There was nothing that made me happier than seeing groups of children practicing their dances after class. The ‘lads’ who had caused me such worry at the beginning would argue over which pop dance was the best, perfect each others’ moves and be the first in the dance classroom each day. They turned out to have a surprisingly wide repertoire of dance styles including break-dancing and moon-walking.

We tried to incorporate some drama into our sessions, and managed to weave dance together with the theme of ‘the environment’. We composed an interpretative dance about deforestation which included break-dancing trees (having learnt some moves from the ‘lads’), balletic hungry animals and the evil ‘bad man’ who cart-wheeled onstage and proceeded to cut down all the trees.

We also taught the children a few Scottish dances, although the reluctance of boys and girls to pair up made this rather tricky. I loved watching the childrens’ faces of intense concentration as they mastered each new dance. The sight of thirty Cambodian children dancing a medley of pop songs was a strikingly bizarre, and yet extraordinarily rewarding sight! I like to think the children enjoyed it, I most certainly did!

TravelAid 2010: Sarah - Sport Activities

2010-08-26T09:39:00.003+07:00

From a very young age I have played sporty type games with parents at home and friends in the playground so was really keen to do some sport sessions within our activities camp. Entertaining the younger ones with games out on the dirt field was easy and great fun – anything that involved lots of energy and competition was a hit! Nowadays nearly all sport that I take part in back home is very structured and rule based so I was initially quite surprised at how difficult it was to get the older ones to get involved and enthusiastic about structured sport. The boys were happy just playing football all the time but it was especially difficult to get the girls to participate in large matches of volleyball, football or dodgeball. All loved the running/tag based games but they were clearly not used to being asked to play sport matches as part of a large team.

I was especially surprised when I tried to get a game of volleyball going with just the girls, that, despite it being one of their national sports, most were not interested and had clearly never really played it before. In the end we found it best to build up to ball sports gradually by introducing a ball or bat into relay races or fun games. They seemed to really get into these and the girls even managed some simple netball drills, although some, which I thought were quite natural and easy, were clearly very foreign to them! By the end we were able to get everyone involved in a dodgeball match and even tried rounders once. However, playground type games such as bulldog, cat and mouse and stuck in the mud always proved the most popular – perhaps because they are most similar to Cambodian games of which we were taught a few and were always a great laugh.

TravelAid 2010: Becky - Art Activities

2010-08-26T09:30:00.004+07:00

When I think about my childhood, perhaps the strongest recollections are of long days spent drawing and painting in my bedroom, copying from books or simply dreaming up a more interesting world. I was forever collecting toilet roll tubes, shoe boxes and milk cartons in the aim of reproducing the next amazing idea I had seen on Art Attack or Smart, or working current projects. Art was always part of my life. I was always embarking on a new plan, whether a simple sketch or a crazy invention. The thing that I took for granted, however, was that as a child I always had the opportunity to be involved in creative projects. I was given inspirations from a young age and always had the chance to act on it. At home and at school, in craft classes and art clubs, I had the tools available to do just about anything I wanted. Without such outlets I may not have been able portray my creative fantasies as a child.

Recollecting on my past, it seems alien to think of a childhood without art. However, for most children, particularly in the developing world, there is little opportunity to be involved in artistic projects. For this reason, I think it is incredibly important that organizations such as JWOC are endeavouring to provide underprivileged children with the means to be more creative. When I applied to volunteer at JWOC this summer, I was unaware of what sort of work I would be involved in. When I discovered that they would like us to run an activities camp for children in the area, I was immediately drawn to the idea of running some arts and crafts, reliving some old childhood projects.

Since starting the activities camp we have introduced the children to a range of activities, from sport and dance, to drama and art. On the first day, standing in the blazing morning heat, surrounded by excitable children, everyone was doubtful as to whether our plans would succeed. On that first day I helped two groups of children with different art projects. In our first session we did some Butterfly pictures with kids from around 2 years old to 6 years old. Although in the beginning there were a few puzzled faces, by the end everyone had created beautiful pictures and seemed very happy with their work. After, we helped the 6-11 year olds to make some wonderful balloon men complete with googly eyes and feather ears. For me, it was the first glimpse of the creativity of the kids with every character having its own expression.

Although as the camp has gone on there have been some less successful projects, on the whole the kids have always put so much energy and enthusiasm into their artwork. From simple environment themed colouring sheets to personalized photo-frames, the children have shown incredible creativity and talent. It is hard to pick a favourite project but if I was pushed I would have to say that my best day was when we made mobiles with the older children in the group. After much discussion the previous night and various failed plans we had tentatively settled on the idea, worried that it would be too childish for older kids, or too girly for the so-called ‘lads’ of the group. However, after some nervy opening minutes explaining the idea, we soon realized that we were on to a winner. From the children who diligently followed our example, meticulously making little felt pandas and stars, to the others who took their own course, every mobile was better than the last. One child even made a Cambodian themed mobile complete with a felt Angkor Wat!

Working on artistic projects with the children has been an immensely rewarding task. I hope that, even in some small way, our input has helped to spur a love of art in some children who might otherwise have never experienced the joy of starting and finishing their own creative project. These children are also lucky enough to continue growing artistically with the help of JWOC, who run an art class every Sunday with children from the area. I hope that some of them will take up the opportunity, because seeing their creativity and talent has undoubtedly rekindled my love of art.

TravelAid 2010: Kenton

2010-08-26T09:24:00.005+07:00

During our month long period of volunteering at JWOC we have each been paired with a Cambodian high school intern. This has been one the of the highlights of the project for me, as the opportunity to make friends with a local has allowed me to see Cambodian culture and everyday life in a personal way unavailable to most visitors to the country. On a practical level, our interns are translators, invaluable when running children’s activities on our summer camp. Spending every day with them, however, allows this relationship to deepen into a friendship that has made our volunteering both more interesting and rewarding.

For the interns, the purpose of being paired with us is to improve their English. My partner is called Bun Roeun. Twenty years old, he is originally from a village 100km from Siem Reap and I have noticed his confidence and quality of English improve over the last few weeks, and I am able to speak faster to him now than at the start. Whilst he is not fluent, his English is very good and trying to understand what each other is trying to say is all part of the fun, especially as he makes a great effort to talk and improve his English. Indeed, from small-talk about family and hobbies, conversation with the interns is now more developed and we have a great repartee with them, although, of course, levels of English are different. Last Saturday, we all went to a bar in Siem Reap and had a hilarious night.

I am really enjoying finding out so much about Khmer culture and lifestyle. Last weekend we went on one of JWOC’s clean water programs and Bun Roeun told me much about his own experiences growing up in the rural villages. The diet of the average farmer here, he told me, was rice, green water vegetable and fish three times a day, every day. These insights into general Cambodian life that the average traveller does not receive has made my experiences at JWOC all the more fascinating. Moreover, he has told me much about Cambodian experiences of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, an all too recent period that burns through the memory of the Cambodian people. Bun Roeun’s grandparents were starved to death in the late 1970s through Pol Pot’s agricultural policy.

It is so interesting to talk to someone with a culture very different to mine. As I am fascinated by Cambodian life, Bun Roeun says that one of the most enjoyable parts of the internship has been learning about life and culture in England, such as the differences in education and employment. Unlike in most countries I have spoken to people in, knowledge of English life is not ubiquitous in Cambodia: ‘Are there places like this in your country?’ I was asked as we walked through the poor squatter villages on the outskirts of Siem Reap. A sense of guilt also sometimes occurs when I am asked questions such as the cost of my mobile phone contract in England. Despite this, it is really enjoyable to share comparisons of our two cultures. Differences in social life, dating culture and gender roles have particularly struck me, with Cambodians appearing more reserved in all three.

We have all enjoyed spending the last few weeks with the interns, have had a lot of fun and learnt a lot. I have exchanged e-mail addresses and will keep in touch beyond our time together at JWOC.

TravelAid 2010: Tom

2010-08-26T09:15:00.004+07:00

Capturing unique isolated moments at JWOC is what makes this charity so special. Having spent the last three weeks here running a children’s summer activity camp and teaching English I have been submerged into an organization which truly grows from the inside; JWOC is clearly defined by its students and staff.

Over my time here I have grown particularly close to one intern student who was ‘assigned’ as my partner on arrival. The individual heart and character that Borat has shown has certainly made me question priorities in my own life. Perhaps more importantly however, is the real talent that many of the intern students share. The energy and enthusiasm that has been injected by some of the interns has amazed me. Consequently, these students have refocused my thoughts on the role of people in the development process. Whether in a poverty stricken country or a globalised city, my experience at JWOC has reminded me of the importance of relationships in all areas of life; something which has perhaps become jaded in recent times.

Thus, JWOC has been a refreshing adventure for me and I feel privileged to have been actively involved with such a dynamic charity. Thank You 

James Whitler - West Point Cadets

2010-07-13T08:32:00.005+07:00

Today, as I sit in the sun reflecting on the last few weeks, I cannot help but feel fortunate. My time spent in Cambodia has been very rewarding, and my experiences with JWOC have helped me see Cambodia in a ways I would have never imagined. Over the course of my stay here, I have worked with JWOC handing out water purification systems to villages, monitoring wells, teaching self-defense classes, and helping small business owners who have taken microfinance loans from the NGO. These experiences have shown me aspects of Cambodia that I would have otherwise missed and has helped me to develop a genuine appreciation for Cambodian Culture.

Traveling to Cambodia as a westerner can seem a little overwhelming at first, but after a while the people and the culture will make you not want to leave. It pays to have an open mind though. While in Cambodia, I have had to change my perceptions on many things—including what is edible, and my idea of safe travel. The locals here eat just about anything you can imagine, big spiders, baby frogs, crickets, small birds, among other things are all considered treats here. While I was hesitant at first, after trying these local treats I will admit they aren’t too bad, in fact the baby frogs were really good! Another thing that surprised me about Cambodia is the roads. The first time driving on a road in Cambodia is an adventure. It will not take long to see that traffic laws are more suggestions, and the idea that a vehicle may have a caring capacity is notional. However, this too only added to the trip’s overall fun and excitement.

While eating crazy foods and driving on crazy roads was cool, the best part about the trip was the people. Cambodian people are amazing people. They are fun, they love to laugh, they love to smile, and they seem to just love life. All of the people working at JWOC and the people at the B&B were amazing and more than happy to share their culture with you. Of all the things I love about Cambodia, I have to admit it is the people that I love the most, and it is those people I am going to miss when I finally have to go home. All I hope is that some of the happiness and joy the Cambodian people showed me will stick with me when I finally have to leave.

Michael Tollerton - West Point Cadets

2010-07-03T22:40:00.003+07:00

Almost every year The United States Military Academy sends a handful of cadets to Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) to help conduct humanitarian efforts in Cambodia and Laos. The students sent to JWOC in 2010 were given three particular group tasks such as leading self defense classes, Clean Water project, and a microfinance project. In order to complete our tasks, JWOC assigned translators for each person. The translators were the scholarship students at JWOC who study at University and would benefit from the situation and in turn teach us. Working with translators was a whole new experience for me and I can definitely say I learned a lot more than I thought when I began. The great thing is that working with the scholarship students as translators is very applicable for my future profession as a 2nd LT in the army. Not only did I learn a lot of Khmer words but I also worked with male and female translators from an entirely different background and culture. The language barrier made it challenging but informative. Sometimes I needed to speak slower and pronounce more clearly but sometimes there was still a language barrier. At times I would write things down and then they could understand, which was interesting and wonderful because I have the same problems the students do when learning a new language. I loved learning from them and spending time with them. When we weren’t interviewing and conducting the tasks I ask him questions about Cambodia and his life while he asked me about the United States and my experience as a student. My eyes were open to a whole new language, culture, and people and I got to learn through translators and spending time with the people.

JWOC has made this traveling a new experience for me personally because it has combined leisure and volunteering. I have only traveled for pleasure before and with JWOC volunteering in Cambodia and Laos has been enjoyable and fulfilling. I would highly recommend volunteering with JWOC to everyone interested in traveling to Cambodia or Laos.

Marti Brown - May 2010: Clean Water Project

2010-05-23T16:13:00.006+07:00

Just another beautiful day in Cambodia. Riding on the back of a motorcycle, camera slung across my shoulder, plastic playmate cooler balanced on my leg, straddling what was a complete stranger until yesterday. Somit and I are off to visit the village of Phnom Reum – proud partners with JWOC in its village centered Clean Water Project. We are going out to collect water samples, to test if the filters provided to each family are operating properly. Humming along down the newly paved road, a steady stream of bicycles pass, often with 2 people per bicycle and motorcycles with 3 or 4. Dad at the “wheel”, mom, baby and brother or sister riding on back. There is also an occasional tractor, filled with people, tour bus and Lexus SUV’s for the up market travelers and NGO’s. Along both sides of the road are rice fields laying in wait of the rainy season, oxen grazing, an occasional house or market. The ever present “gas station”, a cart with Johnny Walker bottles filled with the rich blends for the motorcycles and tuk tuks. We near the market at Pouk and motorcycles are racing past us with bamboo cages stuffed with piglets, or baskets with chickens hanging from their feet all around the perimeter. All on their way to the daily food market. We turn off the main road and head out to the village.

Here the homes are mostly wooden with tin or palm thatch roofs. The road is a raised hard pack red clay. Rain collection ponds on either side, the raised houses sitting a bit further back and the rice fields just beyond. At times the houses are spread out and at other times, grouped into compounds, behind split bamboo railings. We head off this road into what could only be called foot paths. Driving through what seems are peoples very yards. We arrive at the village elder or chief’s house first. Here we get an update on any news, then proceed to 6 of the 200 houses that received the ceramic filters to test their efficiency. When we arrive at the houses, the man of the house is always asked for, none of which are present, we continue with the women. Drawing water from their systems, marking the GPS locations and collecting names from each location. Everyone seems to like the new clean water system. They indicate the water is no longer staining red from the iron. These filters will last up to 2 years. New technology, no plastic bottles littering the landscape, no burning charcoal to boil the water. Environmentally a big step.

Upon closer inspection the homes have outdoor kitchens. Burning charcoal fireplaces, pots hanging on the walls, dirt floors or wood on the raised homes. One large room, often with a shelf for books. a wood slat bed, folded linens. A shrine or stupa with candles and incense at the entrance. Under the raised houses a concrete picnic table and benches for eating and relaxing. Hammocks are often strung to avoid the mid day heat. Clay water pots, the ever present motorcycle and bicycles, and rice in some stage of harvest round out the scene. There is no electricity, but some homes have a bank of batteries for power. Fishing nets hang even when no water seems present, as crabs and snails come into the fields during rainy season. An ox and chickens are often in the compound as well. Each home has an average of 8 people living within. Husband, wife, mother of the husband, and children, as well as any of the husband’s brothers. The village here seems almost suburban. Well laid out, leafy with trees, fenced in yards and very tidy. A primary school is filled with children.

We collect our water samples and drive on our way back to Siem Reap and the water testing lab to deliver the samples. Our route takes us through the Angkor temple complex and suddenly we are upon the ruins of the Bayon in the ancient city of Angkor Thom. It has been 10 years since I first saw it but it still takes my breath away. The Bayon, my favorite of all the temples is of a scale that is not entirely over whelming. Heavily carved, faces on all 4 sides of every spire or stupa. Just as quickly we are back into the leafy jungle. Siem Reap can enchant you in so many ways.

All images: martibrownphoto (www.martibrownphoto.com)

Holly Hetzel February 2010: Volunteer for several projects

2010-03-01T16:08:00.002+07:00

When I decided to take a journey to Cambodia with hopes of volunteering, I had no idea what to expect. With high hopes and low expectations I came to JWOC assuming I would be digging a ditch or sitting behind a computer, and hopefully helping in a classroom. What I found was so much more and I am truly grateful to have had the opportunity to play a small role.

Andy and Camilla, Andrea and Brandon, were able to design a schedule to allow me to experience many of their projects in action: Free Classes, Micro Finance, Clean Water and even a Parade with the kids. Each program I witnessed was well thought out and professionally managed to maximize the success and funding.

First I was able to ride along with Sokhorn who is the project manager for the “Clean Water Project”. We visited different parts of fairly remote villages and sampled the filtered water that is coming out of the family wells. Once we receive the water sample it is documented and placed in a chilled cooler and immediately taken to the lab to test for bacteria and toxins. This is not a particularly hard task, however it is exhausting in the intense heat and long, bumpy dirt roads...(I have become a whiz at being on the back of a motorbike and I’m considering one for home).

One of the things I love about Sokhorn (besides his superior motorbike skills!) is that he not only is able to effectively manage this project, but he also understands the value of respecting people’s homes and lives. He treats all of the villagers with a warm humility and kindness and it shows in the eyes of all who meet with him that they appreciate his genuine nature and care for their well-being. He even shares this wisdom with his volunteer Scholarship students..."That it is very important to show respect and be polite to all people"

Sokhorn and I were also paired together to look at a village 50km away to see if there was a need for a community well. After much investigation, we discovered most of the village had no access to clean water via a well. The villagers were collecting water from the mountain or out of an algae/mosquito infested pond and most were not even boiling the water they did get. The village has roughly 400 families, most of whom would have to walk several km to even get to the 1 community well that was not well situated. We were able to identify an ideal location after several GPS readings, photographs and discussions with the villagers. I hope that JWOC is able to get them this well as it would really change the health conditions of this large and very unhealthy village.

Lastly we went with a group of the volunteer Scholarship students to another village to do a hygiene follow-up assessment. They visit the homes within the villages that have partnered with JWOC on their Clean Water project, and where they have taught basic hygiene (brushing teeth & bathing) as well as water filter maintenance. This is great because it will really show the progress and success of the project. While on the road, the Scholarship students shared with me that they are so proud to be part of JWOC and know that they are fortunate to be given these opportunities to learn, but also give back to their community.

In addition to the Clean water project I was able to sit in the classroom with Somit and Sreylin. They are both, smiling, kind and full of excitement about the English language. It is amazing how the students are so eager to learn, but I think it is because these two are so eager to teach. I was able to interact with the students ages 4 to about 40 and all with different levels of English and confidence. The young kids come here to learn English grammar and conversation as well as Khmer, Dance, art, etc and also have a safe haven from their very hard daily lives. The whole team at JWOC understands that, and again, that is what is so special about this program...you are Teaching English, but also you are helping them to have the courage and pride to move into a better life.

Lastly, I was really lucky to be invited to help the kids with a Puppet Parade held in downtown Siem Reap. JWOC was flawless with their planning and were able to manage 27 kids, a motor coach, and a giant Gorilla puppet without a hitch. The kids had a tremendous time, and so did I. It was tough to see the kids head home in clumps of 2 to 4 on bicycles to their villages with only a few parents there to pick up their kids. Once again this is a reminder that JWOC provides more than a school, they also provide hope and a loving extended family to these kids who absorb every bit of love faster than the fruit snacks and lychee juice.

Thank you again for letting me be a part of this tremendous community and I hope that everyone who reads this blog has an opportunity to visit your amazingly committed and talented team and participate in what was a life-changing experience for me.

Best Wishes,

Holly

Shannon Ferrier - Clean Water Project (December 2009)

2009-12-05T11:49:00.002+07:00

Late November / Early December 2009: Shannon Ferrier, a JWOC volunteer, spoke to scholarship student Sarann and accompanied him during his weekly volunteering with the Clean Water project. Here is what she wrote about her experience…

This morning I met Sarann, a 22 year old scholarship student at JWOC. In return for his scholarship, he volunteers every Saturday morning with JWOC’s Clean Water Project. He is in second year at University, majoring in Finance.

Sarann comes from a large family- he has 8 brothers and sisters. When he graduated from high school, he worked as a security guard at the airport. After hearing about JWOC from a friend, he applied, passed the test and was accepted as a scholarship student. He leads a very busy life. Six days a week he goes to university from 6 to 9 pm and 5 days a week he volunteers with another NGO from 7.30 to 5 pm. On Sundays he studies, does homework and washes his clothes.

We left JWOC about 8.15 on Saturday morning—three of us in a tuk-tuk and most of the students doubling up on motorbikes. It was a 25 minute ride to the village of Branat. When we arrived at the village chief’s house we found several villagers waiting for us, and large reed mats laid on the ground where they could sit or squat. A table held a new ceramic water filter and a large bowl of water ready for the demonstration.

Attendance was taken. We were told that it’s very important that one responsible family member attend the demonstration. If the filters are not properly cleaned and maintained they won’t provide the clean water necessary for good health.

Sarann demonstrated each step and assembly of the filter – immersing the filter in water, scrubbing it with a rough pad, then carefully rinsing it in fresh water. All parts of the filter were washed, scrubbed and rinsed before assembly.

When the demonstration was finished, the students patiently repeated the whole procedure. They then asked for volunteers from the assembled villagers to step forward and repeat the procedure a third time.

While the demonstration was going on, the project’s assistant manager, a former JWOC scholarship student himself, watched the audience carefully. Later, he took aside two who he felt were not watching or understanding what was going on. When they were questioned, it was apparent that he was right. They were told to send another family member to the next day’s demonstration. They did not receive a filter that day.

At this point about 20 filters were carried out of the chief’s house where they had been stored. They were given to the villagers who strapped them into large baskets on their bicycles or hoisted them to their shoulders and headed for home.

In a few weeks the scholarship students will be back to inspect the filters, take water samples for lab testing and provide further instruction on personal hygiene – particularly handwashing and teeth cleaning. Even though the instruction was in Khmer, it was very easy to understand as I watched the demonstration.

I learned from Sarann that before he became a JWOC scholarship student and volunteer, he had known nothing about the importance of personal hygiene and clean water. He said this had been very helpful to him and that he had shared his knowledge with family and friends.

It was an educational and very inspirational day for me.

Lee Ferrier - JWOC Microfinance (December 2009)

2009-12-05T11:28:00.001+07:00

Late November / Early December 2009: Lee Ferrier, a JWOC volunteer, spoke to scholarship student Chankakda and accompanied her during her weekly volunteering with the Microfinance project. Here is what he wrote about his experience…

I accompanied Kakda when she went into the community as a project worker in the JWOC micro- finance project. Her duties this day were to meet the loan recipients, collect from them their required weekly payments, and to discuss any problems they were having with their businesses.

Kakda is a scholarship student in her 4th year at university majoring in English literature. She is a 26 year old qualified school teacher who wishes to pursue a career as an English teacher at a private school or university.

It is hard not to be impressed with her dedication and hard work. She is employed as a teacher at two schools from 7.30 am to 6.00 pm and attends her university classes from 6.00 to 9;00 pm, all of this 6 days a week. On Sundays she volunteers at JWOC.

Kakda told us that the project not only provides loans, but also holds workshops to help loan recipients learn good business practices and money management. They also learn to set goals and, in cases of group loans, to solve problems in group discussion.

We were scheduled to visit three recipients, but only needed to visit two, because the other had dropped by the JWOC community center to make her required payment. Her business was selling used clothing at a local market - the loan enabled her to buy clothes for resale.

We visited a "group recipient" - first time borrowers are required to borrow as a group and all must take responsibility to pay off the loan of the group. The loan payment was made without a hitch. The meeting, which included the recording of the payment and providing a receipt record to the borrower, was conducted in a friendly but business-like manner. In this case the borrowers were a husband running a hand laundry business, his wife running a small street-side café, and a neighbor working as a self-employed metal worker, who needed a small loan to pay for gas for his motorbike so he could go to job sites to do his work.

Kakda credits Michèle, the Project Manager, and Andrew and Camilla, the JWOC Directors, for the effective administration of JWOC, and the guidance and assistance they provide to the scholarship student volunteers - all in the pursuit of assisting the community. Kakda says she too is learning about money management, good business practices and the setting of priorities and goals. She plans to continue giving back to her community. After completing University, while pursuing her career as an English teacher, she wants to volunteer in the management of an NGO --- relying on her experience gained at JWOC.

I do not doubt for a moment that she will do it.

Travel Aid and the JWOC Clean Water Project - August 2009

2009-11-06T21:08:00.001+07:00

As volunteers, our role within the JWOC clean water project was to facilitate the work of the scholarship students and provide them with support during a new project. It turned out to be a rare opportunity to work closely with both the local students and local villagers, and many of us felt privileged to be in this position to be so involved in a grassroots development project.

We worked on a completely new project with three groups of households in Kvean Village which is located near the Angkor territory. In a way we were incredibly lucky as this meant that we were able to see the impact of our work on the village. The first visit to the village was for many volunteers their first ride on motorcycles! However, having overcome the initial adrenalin rush of placing our lives in the (very safe) hands of the scholarship students, passing sparkling emerald paddy fields and navigating the bumpy red roads of Siem Reap to the village; disturbing the ubiquitous featherless chickens and the odd placid buffalo, we arrived at the site where our work was to begin.

Having been briefed in scouting techniques by Andrew, we divided into groups to explore the village and scout for existing wells, taking note of their model, condition and locations. Our further objective was to find suitable positions to build new wells that could benefit the village. The wells that we saw ranged from abandoned holes in the middle of fields to working hand-pumped pipe wells funded by Japanese charities. Although many wells were in poor condition, what struck me the most was the pride with which the villagers demonstrated the workings of their well. They also didn’t seem to mind us taking notes, photographs and GPS readings while scattering animals and children in all directions.

From working at JWOC, the drive and dedication of the teams there to create change as effectively and quickly soon became clear. Within 2 weeks of our initial visit, all the information gathered enabled JWOC to employ a local well man to repair all the broken wells in the village, and new wells were constructed where they were most needed and accessible. Visiting the village every weekend meant that we were able to communicate directly with the villagers with (huge amounts of) help from the scholarship students. Although many in the village already had access to water in some form, there were those who clearly benefitted from the JWOC’s speedy work. In particular, there was a family with two very young children and a pregnant mother. When we arrived, they were drinking and washing using dirty grey water out of an exposed hole well, which completed negated any of the mother’s efforts to keep all their water containers and utensils meticulously clean. By the time we left however, the family were enjoying the benefits of a new and deep hand-pump well that spilled clean water. Although we could not communicate in language, it seemed clear from his smiles that the father was overjoyed as he showed us that it worked. This personal level of work that JWOC carries out does not appear to be a one-off.

In addition to the well maintenance and building, JWOC also worked sought to distribute ceramic water filters to the village and planned to carry out training in hygiene and teeth-cleaning with the village community. In order to assess the necessity and impact of such work, we went out to Kvean Village with the scholarship students to engage the villagers in surveys relating to personal health, hygiene and lifestyle. Not being able to speak Khmer was frustrating as we were not able to connect with the villagers on the level that the scholarship students were able to (although the odd paper crane seems to cross multitude of language barriers with children), and though we asked highly probing questions ranging from the frequency of teeth-cleaning to diarrhoea, and asked for demonstrations of hand-washing, we were welcomed with nothing but patience and tolerance. The JWOC scholarship students seem to play a huge role in making both the villagers feel comfortable and the JWOC approach non-intrusive.

Another key task that we as volunteers participated in during the clean water project was in designing a training presentation with the scholarship students which would be given in villages prior to handing out water filters. As the scholarship students often found it difficult to remember all the details of the long filter preparation process, we worked together to produce a cohesive training presentation which used prompt cards to aid the presenter and demonstrator. This appeared to work! We managed to work out a presentation which hopefully engaged the audience and which the scholarship students agreed would help future generations of JWOC students to present in villages.

On the 2 days of water presentations, we all congregated at JWOC at 7am in order to practice the presentation routine with the JWOC students before the real thing in the village. That weekend, the rigmarole of soaking, drying, washing and more washing of water filters was presented with success and water filters were handed out to each household in the 3 groups of Kvean Village. As we walked around the village to check the progress of preparing the filters, I noticed one family had soaked their filter with that evening’s vegetables for dinner. Multi-tasking indeed!

Working on the clean water project at JWOC really showed how much more effective such work is when local volunteers are engaged, and how efficient such an organisation can be. Although many in the village still live in difficult conditions, within a few weeks JWOC were able to provide access to clean water. This process can clearly be replicated in many more areas of need around Siem Reap. In the month that we volunteered, JWOC allowed us a privileged insight into how such programmes are carried out and we hopefully helped (a little). Thank you to Camilla, Andrew and all the JWOC scholarship students for your tireless work, and for making us feel so welcome while working at JWOC.

Jennifer Tsim

TravelAid at JWOC Free Classes - August 2009

2009-08-29T14:15:00.002+07:00

One of the main roles of the Travelaid team was to help the many scholarship students at JWOC with their free English teaching classes. JWOC helps coordinate 20 English classes throughout the week. Classes of around 25 students are held in 3 separate classrooms (2 at JWOC, 1 at Wat Chork). With an eleven strong team, we were lucky to have both a weekday class (four, one hour classes a week) and a weekend class (2, 2 hour classes) each.

Before arriving at JWOC, we were all really nervous about the English teaching – despite all attending a TEFL course! To our delight, we soon discovered that we wouldn’t actually be teaching on our own, but assisting the permanent teachers here, the Khmer scholarship students. We were encouraged by Andrew and Camilla to help the Khmer teachers make the lessons more student focused. In government schools here, children learn their English largely through copying sentences from the board and repeating set words and phrases. The most genuine English conversation they can share is with tourists who rarely venture out of the centre of Siem Reap or from the Angkor temples. We wanted to make the classes much more interactive with fun games and role plays to help get them using their English in more natural conversations with each other and find new, exciting ways to help them remember vocabulary and sentence structures.

I think the Travelaid team all had different experiences with their classes depending on the confidence of the teacher or the age of the class. Many of us with adult classes found that students were incredibly motivated and would often ask us questions that we struggled to answer. I’d often have to ask other members of the team for ideas on how to explain the many ridiculous rules we have in English! The ‘adult’ students, ranging from 13-25, find four hours (on top of school studies and work) in their week to focus on their English and hopefully improve their job prospects not just in the tourist industry but in finance, law and management. I’d struggle to believe that teenagers in England would voluntarily give up so much time and be as enthusiastic and focused as these guys are. Their enthusiasm to learn made the experience of teaching incredibly rewarding and encouraged us all to dedicate many more hours thinking up new ways to make the most of our lesson time and our teaching much more effective.

I personally found teaching the younger kids a lot harder. They were still very used to being talked at and many seemed to struggle much more when asked direct questions or were encouraged to write on the board or talk in English in front of their peers. They loved the games though especially when divided into teams and made to compete against each other to first discover the correct spelling of a new word or complete gaps in a sentence for example.

The majority of our team found the scholarship student teachers incredibly receptive to these new approaches, many scholarship students had already used games in classes. However there were a few teachers who, perhaps being a bit more shy or stretched for time, took a bit longer to come round to suggestions for their classes. It was tricky sometimes to encourage the teacher to actually conduct the game themselves rather than getting the volunteer to lead the game as one segment of the lesson before they returned to the usual style of teaching for the rest of the lesson. We’ve been working to ensure that our efforts here will not die off the minute we leave Siem Reap. The aim was always to find methods of teaching that the scholarship students themselves believed to be effective and would feel confident to continue after we left. We had neither the experience nor the intention to take over the class, teach for a month and then head home with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Some members of our team have built up an activities ideas folder which we hope students will return to occasionally when planning their classes.

Some of us were also very fortunate to have our very own class at the weekends. This was sadly due to one of the scholarship student teachers being involved in a motorbike accident (apparently a really common occurrence here in Cambodia). At first, we were incredibly nervous to be leading a two hour class, but quickly found our adult students to be very welcoming and helped us along even when we couldn’t answer their questions! We tried to focus on practicing pronunciation and writing since these seemed to be the two areas where students really struggled – punctuation and many of our English sounds are completely new to the Khmer students so take lots of practice. We also took time over areas we thought to be most useful, such as food and drink which we thought would be relevant for those working in restaurants. Stumbling blocks soon arose when trying to explain the concept of toast, jam or pasta! Once we leave, another volunteer will fortunately be here to carry on the classes until the scholarship student teacher recovers fully.

Many members of our team also found it beneficial for the lessons (and really lovely for us!) to spend separate time working with the scholarship student teacher. Many of the scholarship students have had little opportunity to practice their own English outside of the classroom. It was so nice to take time to sit and chat about family, our ambitions and the differences between our lives and cultures. The students are largely of the same age as us and at a similar point at university, making decisions about where they want to work and what they hope to achieve. We started an afternoon drop in session for any students (whether scholarship students or not) to come and chat with us and practice their English. Some of our team started daily, one hour, individual classes with their teacher where we would work on the pronunciation of certain sounds and practiced by reading aloud newspaper articles and stories. We also had lots of opportunities to see the students socially such as at Sunday, movie nights, during our extra curricular activity sessions during the week or whilst working on the well or microfinance projects. As the teachers got to know us as a team outside of the classroom, they seemed a lot less self conscious during their lessons, more relaxed and more confident to enact our ideas for the lessons.

The scholarship students here at JWOC really are incredible. They put so much time and effort into their lessons and improving their own English alongside their degrees which range from English Literature (reading Shakespeare and Austen!) to Law, Finance and Management, it was such a pleasure to work with them and feed off their energy! We were all really relieved and encouraged by how receptive the students were to us. I’m not sure how keen I’d be if someone walked into my classroom and started voicing their opinions! But the students were always so open and warm, allowing us a snapshot into their lives which has made this experience so much more personal. They have given us so much advice about bargaining in the town, which temples to visit and food to try. We were lucky to share a real Cambodian BBQ with some of the teachers and a few of us went out clubbing to a full on Khmer club and drove to watch sunrise at Ta Prohm!

I think we’ve also all been overwhelmed by how hard the Khmer people work here; often putting in 3 hours of work in the field before breakfast, working in hotels and shops to provide an income, studying at university and still turning up at JWOC with the kind of smile and enthusiasm that we volunteers worked to muster over our toast every morning. The atmosphere here is one that encourages strong friendships and devotion to the education of the students that return here day after day. I think we will all struggle to say our goodbyes.

Hannah Perry

West Point Cadets Volunteer AIAD experience in Siem Reap - Neil

2008-07-24T09:45:00.001+07:00

In the summer of 2008, I spent three weeks in Siem Reap with Journeys Within Our Community. Working as a member of an eight-person team, I volunteered with a number of JWOC projects, including the Clean Water Project, the Village Microfinance Fund, and the English Language schools provided by JWOC at Wat Thmei and Wat Chork. The Journeys Within Our Community program afforded me the opportunity to explore a foreign country, immerse in a culture far removed from my own, and meet an exciting and motivated group of people, while at the same time participating in a rewarding and productive volunteer project. During my time with JWOC, I participated in one of the most innovative and exciting projects I could have imagined, a complete immersion in the nearby Veal Village for a forty-eight hour period. Our group was split up into two groups of four, with my group assigned to Veal Village and the other group assigned to nearby Tropeangses Village. These villages exist on the extreme edge of sustainable poverty, they are truly struggling to survive and provide a better life for their children on a daily basis. Each group was synched with an interpreter, and provided with bottled water and a food resupply plan. Within the villages, each group was further split, with two to three person teams pairing up with a village family for two days. My family, a multi-generational family of five, was extremely accommodating and gave me new insight into the mindset of the local people.

While living in Veal Village, my group was tasked with conducting oral hygiene training, an extremely rewarding project as we distributed toothbrushes and toothpaste provided by another JWOC contributor, and taught the village children how to brush their teeth, hopefully instilling a beneficial life-long habit. In addition, with the help of our interpreters, we walked throughout the village, talking to dozens of families and almost one hundred school-age children. We conducted a survey designed to gauge interest in free English classes at the new JWOC Community Center, the classes being one of JWOC’s many exciting upcoming projects. The results of the survey allowed us to glimpse the importance of education for the village children, many want to attend classes, but currently cannot because of the costs associated with government schools and their responsibilities at home. By providing free classes nearby, Journeys Within Our Community will aid these children by helping them escape the cycle of poverty currently existing in Veal Village, and I felt like I really was helping JWOC help the kids succeed.

In addition to an interesting and rewarding volunteer experience, JWOC provided a great overall Cambodian experience. The staff and all of the personnel were extremely helpful, Jesse and Melissa were awesome to work with, providing direction and resources while still allowing the eight of us to work together to solve complex problems and work to improve the JWOC projects. The scholarship students, interpreters, and especially the monks at Wat Chork were all incredible, and working with all of them made the trip one of the best experiences I have had. I’m excited to see what is in store for JWOC in the future, with such a solid foundation I believe they will continue to be extremely successful in providing benefit to the local community and volunteers alike.

- Neil Mittel

July 2008

West Point Cadets Volunteer AIAD experience in Siem Reap - Sung-Yong David Kim

2008-07-24T09:37:00.001+07:00

JWOC has provided me the opportunity to not only travel to Cambodia, but to help others in need. The experience has been both exciting and eye-opening. Everyday I would learn something new about the people or the culture of Cambodia. I came to Cambodia not knowing anything about the people or their history, but after the missions set out before me by JWOC, I was able to interact with the people and learn so much more than I expected.

Some of the missions I participated in was surveying young "recycle" children and to raise an interest in a free education program for these children. I spent the afternoons aiding local university students in teaching English at a local school. It was amazing to see how the students were always eager to learn more, even the university volunteers. To them English is a necessary tool for success as the need for English speaking Cambodians are never-ending. The best mission yet was to live and immerse myself amongst a squatter village. I spent 2 days with a host family, and spent the mornings and evenings surveying the village looking for ways to improve the living conditions and lifestyle of these people. It was definitely a challenge as I was not used to sleeping and living in such poor conditions. However, through that experience, I felt a stronger urge to help the people as most of them work from dawn till dusk yet they only make a total of 3-4 dollars a day. Their meals are very meager and the children play in sewage. One cannot help but feel sorry for the people. Yet, the people live their lives with such perseverance that they were inspiring.

However, JWOC also made arrangements for me to view the breathtaking temples and learn the history of Cambodia through very knowledgeable guides. The accommodations at the Bed and Breakfast was a little unexpected as it is very modern and in no ways uncomfortable. I was able to try the Khmer food and visit the local markets. My travel in Cambodia was at no point dull as there was always something to do and something new to experience.

West Point Cadets Volunteer AIAD experience in Siem Reap - Owen

2008-07-24T09:18:00.001+07:00

I came to Cambodia through the summer academic trips program that West Point has. I knew that I wanted to do a service trip in a faraway foreign country. I would say that I was a little disappointed with the amount of work which we got to participate in, but some of the blame for that could be placed on my own lack of initiative.

One experience that I found very valuable was the 48 hours that we spent in a poor local village. It was interesting to be able to catch a greater glimpse of the life of the people in this village, who do not even have a right to the own land on which they build their homes. I was inspired by the level of dignity and grace that some of the families brought to what appeared to us a desperate situation. Getting to know those families has been my best experience in Cambodia.

I also enjoyed teaching at the language school. The dedication of the students to learn English and improve their lives was impressive, the grace and cheer with which they went about it was inspiring for me.

This is the fifth time that I have had a voluntourism type experience, and I love it every time. I think that the people of Cambodia are the most genuinely kind people of a country that I have ever met. JWOC really seems to be making an impact on the local community, but what is more important is that despite having found ways to help people on a large scale, they still have a touching personal feeling for individual hardships that individuals and families go through, and do their best to help people live joyful lives.

West Point Cadets Volunteer AIAD experience in Siem Reap - Andrew

2008-07-24T08:59:00.001+07:00

I came to JWOC with very little understanding of Cambodia as a whole, what the situation was like in Siem Reap, or what to expect from the volunteer program here. After spending more than two weeks working with JWOC and its various programs, I will say that it is one of the most interesting and valuable experiences I’ve ever had. Coming from a military background, I didn’t quite understand how an NGO did business or how one could impact a community in need. Teaching English classes at Wat Chork, seeing micro finance in action, and embedding into the Weal squatter village for 48 hours broadened my horizons and afforded me a greater well of experiences on which to fall back.

Journeys Within Our Community is a very effective organization that is continually expanding its outreach into Siem Reap and other Southeast Asian countries. I was impressed with both the permanent staff and the corps of volunteer scholarship students that aid the programs. The amount of difference that a small donation to JWOC can make in Cambodia is astounding. Resources used effectively are allowing many Cambodians crammed into the edges of emerging tourist destination Siem Reap to break out of the cycle of poverty that gripes the majority of the populace here. I honestly feel that my time helping with JWOC’s programs has made a difference in many people’s lives and that JWOC as an organization will continue to do so in the future.

West Point Cadets Volunteer AIAD experience in Siem Reap - Jackie

2008-07-24T08:50:00.001+07:00

Honestly, my trip to Cambodia would have never happened if it weren’t for Angelina Jolie. I have been her biggest fan for as long as I can remember and learned of her many trips to the country. I made my first trip to Cambodia a volunteer vacation through JWOC and absolutely loved every part of the trip. I couldn’t believe just how beautiful the people and the country were.

I would have to say the best part of my trip was having the opportunity to be fully immersed in the Cambodian lifestyle. For three days and two nights, I lived with a single mother and her two daughters in a poor village. Besides immediately becoming attached to the family, I also fell in love with the rest of the community. Every single person was welcoming and their actions during my stay were all so genuine. Starting from five in the morning, everybody was awake and smiling; children were running around ready to get on with their daily lives. It was such an interesting glimpse of how different their lives were compared to my own and I was completely shocked to see the degree of motivation and dignity within each family. I’ve never experienced anything like it.

The numerous activities JWOC arranged ranged from visiting the infamous Angkor Wat to teaching English classes. Although living with Cambodians who were just struggling to get by day-by-day was only a minor part of my travel, it had the biggest impact on me. This trip made me realize just how big of an impact little actions can make on people’s lives. Overall, my travel to Cambodia is definitely one of the few trips that I would like to experience again. I love it!

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Lorena

2008-06-27T11:51:00.001+07:00

Joining Journey's Within our Community for two weeks was one of the best experiences I have had in a long time. From the moment our plane landed in Cambodia, I immediately knew I was in for a different experience. For two weeks, we visited several of the JWOC projects and got to know the scholarship students overseeing the various projects: Clean Water, Language Schools and Micro-Finance program. I was so impressed with the scope of programs that address such crucial areas in Cambodia. One of my favorite volunteer placements was teaching at Wat Thmei. Working alongside the teachers, we got to read stories, practice grammar and pronunciation. The best part of classes was just getting to know the kids, sharing our stories and hearing about theirs also. Before we knew it, we were alternating words in Khmer and English. I really looked forward to going to Wat Thmei in the afternoon. One of the students won the hearts of all the volunteers. She brought us personalized bracelets with our names on them. She said it was a gift for us. Witnessing the grace and dedication of the students was the best gift I could have received. For me, it represented that JWOC time and resources were invested in the right place: the people of Cambodia, the youth that can pass on the information and work ethic for future generations. My experience volunteering through JWOC has undoubtedly changed me and I plan to keep in touch with the organization. I'm excited to see how it will continue to develop.

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Alexis

2008-06-27T11:38:00.000+07:00

My name is Alexis Costales and I came to volunteer with JWOC along with 11 other Loyola Marymount students, staff and faculty. In a total of two weeks time I was fortunate to meet the crux of JWOC and see first hand what smart and genuine effort can produce. Three mornings were allotted for special projects. Richard Fox, a professor at LMU, and I were asked to conduct a survey in order to look at the school attendance of primary school age children(6-13) in two villages JWOC works in. I remember hearing about this opportunity prior to coming to Cambodia and immediately felt great interest in taking on the task. It was hard to estimate what the survey in Veal and Tropeangses villages would actually entail. Monday, May 19^th, was our first day of administering the survey; we were to cover most if not all of Veal Village. Chhin Se, our translator for the first two mornings, was so important to not only the survey itself, but to Richard and I for his commitment and patience with the process. Also, I would like to thank Phay Narla for his help on the third and final morning in Tropeangses village. I have always argued and desired for the application of my studies to the work and volunteering I do in Los Angeles and past experiences abroad. This education survey was unique and the direct application of my academic studies. Looking back I see a rare instance when I felt completely of use to a group of people I formerly imaged as being beyond my help. I did not anticipate the amount of work needed as well as the importance the survey would have with me personally. I now have faces and stories that represent the primary education report. They are faces and stories of the families that motivated Richard and I from the beginning and will continue to motivate us to work for worthwhile, just and necessary projects for the betterment of others in the future. The findings of the report pointed out some of the serious problems and challenges facing the families in poorer villages in Siem Reap. I am grateful for the opportunity, but more importantly, I am proud and hopefully to have worked on such a ‘special’ project for JWOC and the community of Cambodians they seek to work for and be with.

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Brock

2008-06-27T10:58:00.000+07:00

During our time in Siem Reap, our group had the opportunity to work on JWOC’s recently acquired property which will be the future site for their community center. The center is located next door to the Journey’s BandB. When we arrived, the house (which is being transformed into a community center) and the land were in pretty bad shape because the property has been vacant for a while. One of the biggest problems with the house was the worn paint on the walls. Over the span of a couple of days, our group worked with JWOC scholarship students sanding the walls of the entire building and also applying primer to the walls. After the primer dried, we were able to paint three of the rooms in the building which resulted in a noticeable aesthetic difference. Other minor tasks included clearing cobwebs from the house, cleaning the ventilation, and weeding the yard (which afforded us the opportunity to see a variety of critters that live in the Cambodian soil). Even though we won’t have the opportunity to see the project through to completion, we feel that the work we put into the property moved it closer to being ready for use. It was also quite enjoyable to work side by side with the scholarship students, learning bits of the Khmer language, and joking throughout the day.

Jesse and Melissa explained to us that the community center will serve a number of purposes. The center will provide an office for the micro-finance project, serve as a place for community members to gather, provide housing for volunteers, and will also be home to a café which will give locals vocational training. The center will allow JWOC to increase its capability to work with impoverished individuals from Siem Reap. By providing educational opportunities and offering credit to the poor, JWOC is fighting poverty with a holistic approach. Assisting with the renovations of the community center allowed us to participate in this fight, even if it was only in a small way.

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Dre

2008-06-27T08:57:00.000+07:00

Journeys Within has given me an incredible opportunity to travel much differently than I have before. I have been fortunate to understand the culture from the Khmer people themselves. Rather then being limited to the privilege of guided tours and hotel views, I have been introduced to the real side of Siem Riep.

One of my favorite moments of this trip, and probably one of the greatest moments of my life, was when I was taken to see the water wells of the Clean Water Project. I was taken by one of the university scholarship students riding on the back of her motorbike. Having never ridden on a bike before, I thought I would be a bit apprehensive about getting there. Yet, not one moment did I feel unsafe. Feeling the cool air as we rode for about an hour on the countryside was an amazing sight that most tourists don’t get the chance to see. I couldn’t believe that just days before I was sitting at home in the U.S. We drove far from the main town where tourists tend to stay. Although the village that we went to had rarely seen foreigners around their area, they still welcomed us with open arms and big smiles.

I was able to see about six of the water wells that JWOC had installed within the last month. Providing clean water to communities that normally drink and cook with water invested with bacteria and waterborne disease, JWOC has given new life to these people. The scholarship students as well as the staff are so dedicated to not only the work they do, but the people they serve. Their open hearts are evident in their commitment and it’s no surprise Journeys Within continues to succeed. I hope they continue to change the face of tourism.