Update September 08
(this is the same text as the email sent September 22nd)
It has been too long since I sent an update. Too long, because I feel the donors deserve more regular updates, and because too much has happened to write about it all. It’s been 6 months since I last emailed, and it has been the most eventful, productive period in the projects 2.5 year history. We now know how to get things done, and do so on a larger scale. Most notably, we have opened a new school. Read about this on the blog story "Lakeside School" we’ve grown, and we’re working in a new community (and you guessed it, it is on the side of a lake).
The miracle of our existence has coincided with many random acts of kindness with generous donors and volunteers coming and blessing us, as well as some great local partners that have showed up to further our efforts and get results. We now have a desk in an another NGO’s office, Village Focus Cambodia, where the staff can meet and work in an environment less chaotic than the slum. Our staff meetings require a large table for the 10 mostly-part-time staff. We’re still small enough to not be bureaucratic, and our team can make contributions that have a bigger affect. It now feels like the project has a life of its own well beyond my involvement.
What sticks in my mind as I think about the last 6 months is the impact we are making on the students health as we intervene in health issues and education. The stories are numerous of the lives we’ve impacted with medical care, and all of our students have benefitted from our dental program. In June, we started a partnership with a great organization, Cambodian World Family, and in those first 2 months took over 160 students to the dentist. Few had good check-ups, and most had to have extractions and fillings. Watching the extractions, repeatedly, inspired me to get serious about dental health for our students. The problem is a phenomenon of the urban poor, and it is a challenge we are up to and will fight to improve their smiles. Read more on this part of our “school” at the blog entry ‘Medical Services For Cambodia’s Future Leaders’
There are a lot of other stories I have yet to tell, and hope to do so soon. Babies have been born, students got jobs (we’ve now placed 12 students with jobs, which help them to pay for their education in high school or university), and our leadership program has made leaders, who are making a difference every day in their communities. We’ve taken many educational field trips, which have provided precious experiences for myself and the students.
In August we took a bus of 45 students to Angkor Wat, Cambodia’s world heritage temple complex, thanks to some big hearted people at CKF. It was a magical experience, and all the students made it home alive 3 days later, though tired and a bit homesick since some of them had never been away before. On our last day, one of our older students, Savy, who is in a yoga teacher training, led the students in morning yoga atop a temple. After scrambling up hundreds of steeps stairs to the top, all the students were focused and engaged as they sat perched on the ancient stone blocks far above the ground for stretching, breathing, and chanting. Savy, Sela and Tonie teach yoga 2 nights a week in front of Aziza, and it is a program I am proud to say has succeeded and makes a difference for the community on a level that can’t be measured.
One 10 year old student, Da’vid, a rambunctious kid with an aptitude for break dancing, was believed to have had a reading disorder, which was to blame for his repeating the 2nd grade 4 times (yes, 4 times). This year he passed, thanks to our help with providing him a great tutor, Sok Ieng! We will continue to help him as needed, and he is very eager to study, but requires some extra care.
We were in a soccer tournament and won. The kids were really proud!
For all that we do, our operating costs are extremely low. One hundred dollars pays for 20 sick kids to get medical treatment. Seventy five dollars is enough for a class of 20 students to study English for a whole month. Fifty dollars can cover 2 weeks of our primary physical fitness program; aerobics/dancing at the top of Olympic Stadium, which generates more fun than you can imagine, every Sunday. Salaries and rent are extremely low, yet the quality is high and we have many results to show. To all the many who have made this possible, thank you from the bottom of my heart. We now face a time where we need to get more support if we want to keep doing these activities and building strong young people. Please DONATE NOW!
“The way to get things done is to not mind who gets credit for them.” Benjamin Jowett
“We just do.” Drew McDowell
Dear Friends,
I hope your lives are going well, and the rising cost of rice has not forced you to end your children’s education prematurely (or whatever hardship equivalent you may experience in your respective country)!
I hope your lives are going well, and the rising cost of rice has not forced you to end your children’s education prematurely (or whatever hardship equivalent you may experience in your respective country)!
It has been too long since I sent an update. Too long, because I feel the donors deserve more regular updates, and because too much has happened to write about it all. It’s been 6 months since I last emailed, and it has been the most eventful, productive period in the projects 2.5 year history. We now know how to get things done, and do so on a larger scale. Most notably, we have opened a new school. Read about this on the blog story "Lakeside School" we’ve grown, and we’re working in a new community (and you guessed it, it is on the side of a lake).
The miracle of our existence has coincided with many random acts of kindness with generous donors and volunteers coming and blessing us, as well as some great local partners that have showed up to further our efforts and get results. We now have a desk in an another NGO’s office, Village Focus Cambodia, where the staff can meet and work in an environment less chaotic than the slum. Our staff meetings require a large table for the 10 mostly-part-time staff. We’re still small enough to not be bureaucratic, and our team can make contributions that have a bigger affect. It now feels like the project has a life of its own well beyond my involvement.
What sticks in my mind as I think about the last 6 months is the impact we are making on the students health as we intervene in health issues and education. The stories are numerous of the lives we’ve impacted with medical care, and all of our students have benefitted from our dental program. In June, we started a partnership with a great organization, Cambodian World Family, and in those first 2 months took over 160 students to the dentist. Few had good check-ups, and most had to have extractions and fillings. Watching the extractions, repeatedly, inspired me to get serious about dental health for our students. The problem is a phenomenon of the urban poor, and it is a challenge we are up to and will fight to improve their smiles. Read more on this part of our “school” at the blog entry ‘Medical Services For Cambodia’s Future Leaders’
There are a lot of other stories I have yet to tell, and hope to do so soon. Babies have been born, students got jobs (we’ve now placed 12 students with jobs, which help them to pay for their education in high school or university), and our leadership program has made leaders, who are making a difference every day in their communities. We’ve taken many educational field trips, which have provided precious experiences for myself and the students.
In August we took a bus of 45 students to Angkor Wat, Cambodia’s world heritage temple complex, thanks to some big hearted people at CKF. It was a magical experience, and all the students made it home alive 3 days later, though tired and a bit homesick since some of them had never been away before. On our last day, one of our older students, Savy, who is in a yoga teacher training, led the students in morning yoga atop a temple. After scrambling up hundreds of steeps stairs to the top, all the students were focused and engaged as they sat perched on the ancient stone blocks far above the ground for stretching, breathing, and chanting. Savy, Sela and Tonie teach yoga 2 nights a week in front of Aziza, and it is a program I am proud to say has succeeded and makes a difference for the community on a level that can’t be measured.
One 10 year old student, Da’vid, a rambunctious kid with an aptitude for break dancing, was believed to have had a reading disorder, which was to blame for his repeating the 2nd grade 4 times (yes, 4 times). This year he passed, thanks to our help with providing him a great tutor, Sok Ieng! We will continue to help him as needed, and he is very eager to study, but requires some extra care.
We were in a soccer tournament and won. The kids were really proud!
For all that we do, our operating costs are extremely low. One hundred dollars pays for 20 sick kids to get medical treatment. Seventy five dollars is enough for a class of 20 students to study English for a whole month. Fifty dollars can cover 2 weeks of our primary physical fitness program; aerobics/dancing at the top of Olympic Stadium, which generates more fun than you can imagine, every Sunday. Salaries and rent are extremely low, yet the quality is high and we have many results to show. To all the many who have made this possible, thank you from the bottom of my heart. We now face a time where we need to get more support if we want to keep doing these activities and building strong young people. Please DONATE NOW!
“The way to get things done is to not mind who gets credit for them.” Benjamin Jowett
“We just do.” Drew McDowell
posted by drewmcdo at
2:08 PM
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