June 09 Update!
 Dear Friends,
So much has happened, and I am relieved to finally be taking the opportunity to share some of the great progress we have been making. Once again, I apologize for not communicating more regularly. On several levels, my e-newsletters make the events real for me, since they connect me to my community(s) outside of my life in Cambodia, and are a great opportunity for me to reflect on a life that all too often moves too fast.
Since I last wrote we had a few milestones; Aziza School had it’s 3 year birthday on May 1 (and 3+ years since I went to Cambodia), Lakeside School turned 1 on June 1, and June 24th was the 4 month mark since the of many of our students families from the Dey Krahorm slum.
Three years brings with it an opportunity to reflect on our accomplishments and a chance to share with all of you what we do. We also have the challenge of growing pains as we take on initiatives in all directions, and a longer list of great opportunities to invest in our student’s futures.
Two noteworthy accomplishments that I am proud of are (#1) the community involvement that we see with our student team leaders, who are the primary force behind the operations of the schools. These students are amazing, and as they volunteer they get work experience and extra opportunities to learn. The other accomplishment (#2) is our medical clinics and dental services, which we offer weekly, not only for our students but for the whole community. We treat and educate a lot of sick people, ease their suffering, and prevent disease from spreading or their problems from getting worse, which is the root of much poverty. The medical training we have been offering to our older students and staff, as well as other NGOs, is designed to have them be a front line resource for their community (aka barefoot doctors), complete with certificates, taught graciously by Dr. Annie Chen-Green from New Zealand.
These results are on top of our regular classes of English, computers, and leadership we provide to over 200 students at our 2 schools. Our focus is not only on skills that we know will bring job opportunities, but also on life skills and holistic education. We have many great partners and volunteers who bring our students art, photography, soccer, dance and yoga. One great partner is Kundalini Yoga Cambodia, who has trained 2 of our students to be yoga teachers. Read about this great program and our opportunity to support our student to become a certified teacher of kids yoga.
The Eviction: Village Earth previously sent my letter of some of the events and trauma we were experiencing after the eviction, and I have now posted a student’s letter regarding her experience of the eviction; see the Student Letter posting. Reflecting back, little good came of this for the people we work with, but there are many instances of human triumph, and I am convinced that nowhere is the human spirit stronger and more resilient than in the slums of Phnom Penh. Our photography teacher Maria posted some moving pictures and comments on her blog (a true work of art). http://blog.onphotographycambodia.com/2009/01/27/bassac-river-front-in-phnom-penh-cambodia-before-2-am-24th-of-january-2009--after.aspxIn the aftermath of the eviction, many of us fought hard to serve those who were too traumatized to take care of themselves and their families. Our student team leaders had an excellent opportunity to demonstrate their leadership skills, and worked very hard to help their community. While we only helped a small portion of the people that were evicted, Aziza School was an emergency response center, and it was a time where I worked harder and with more focus than I ever have. Many, many thanks to the people who have donated so we could help people in crisis.
My friend Nader, who passed away in March, was a big help during this crisis, and will be missed.
An unfortunate reality is that you rely on me to paint the picture of what our students are like, and I truly cannot find the words to express what beauty and greatness they possess. I wish I could just open my mind and you could see what I see. We hope that you will “invest” in them, and their potential.
Our little organization isn’t as small as it once was, and we produce results more than ever. To do what we do requires the compassion and commitment of you, and we hope that you can give, find others to give, hold a fundraiser, or do what you can. We need people to invest in the futures of young people with great potential. Let me know how I can assist you.
Thank you,
Drew & the Aziza Team
Aziza Yoga Program
  We have many great partners and volunteers, including the Kundalini Yoga Cambodia, who has trained 2 of our students to be yoga teachers (www.KundaliniYogaCambodia.org). It’s not so much the yoga style that’s popular in the west with strenuous contortionist poses, but rather a series of stretching and strengthening with controlled breathing designed to bring mental clarity and inner peace. The classes are well received, and the feedback is that the students feel refreshed and the yoga helps them with stress; a reality of life in the slums. While we can’t counsel every student and the many challenges they face, we can encourage them to come to yoga weekly and have an opportunity rest their minds, which we feel will give them an opportunity to see solutions to their problems. We also see our yoga students as seeds of positive change for the community. We have some great opportunities to further our yoga program, including; 1) a women’s yoga class, in a rooftop yoga studio, complete with snacks after class ($25 per month), 2) have our student, Sela, who has been taught to be a yoga teacher (he’s now our yoga teacher), become certified to teach children’s yoga ($200), and for Sela to travel abroad for his 1st time to attend a yoga festival in Bangkok ($400). While these may seem like large amounts of money, we believe these opportunities will enable Sela to have a career as a yoga teacher in addition to being a great teacher for our organization. Please donate to support our yoga program! Drop me a note if you want your donation to support our yoga program; drewmcdo AT msn.com
Lakeside School: 1 Year Anniversary!
  We opened Lakeside School in June 2008, in another slum of Phnom Penh, Beoung Kok. The school was started when 3 of the Aziza staff, Sokchea, Sokim, and Sreang approached me and said they wanted to start a new school. I said I didn’t think it was a good idea, since we were so busy and I felt scattered with so many of our students needs unfulfilled. As you can see, they won me over, but only by doing all the work to find the community, the house to rent, and the hundreds of logistics to start a school. It was a great sign of local involvement and passion, and I am grateful for their efforts.
I became involved as well, and had to help persuade the commune leader to let us come and help the youth in their community. I also needed to kick start some of the initiatives to keep things alive as the community transitioned and we lost students due to the forced eviction of part of the area. In time our own house, immediately on the edge of the lake, was evicted. We were notified around the 10th of March that we needed to be out by the end of the month. It became a nail-biter as the end of the month drew closer and we didn’t yet have a suitable house, but then we received some great news and were able to move into a bigger house just behind the previous house. The new location and improved space has made us stronger and more popular in the community. The students and staff worked hard through a very hot weekend to paint it and give it charm, and it looks great. Our art teacher, Nawath, continues to work with our students to create art throughout the school and make it an expression of our student body.
It would take pages to even highlight the accomplishments and interesting stories over our first year, so I’ll just recap a few:
When the water level of the lake rose after the rainy season in October, our floor became 4 inches (10cm) of water and lake life. We temporarily moved to a pagoda, but the head monk decided we hadn’t gone through the right channels and he didn’t like our female students being around the monks, so we were kicked out and weren’t even allowed to finish the first evening’s classes (while I appreciate Buddhism and have had many positive interactions, I’ve now met 2 monks with power who seem to be less than enlightened, but that’s just my opinion). It turned out that the students preferred staying in the flooded school anyway. This way they didn’t need to walk past drunk men to get to the pagoda, and didn’t seem to mind the humidity, which seemed unbearable to me. An above-water walkway was set up in the aisle with bricks and planks, and students kept their feet above the water on the desk’s supports. After a week the water went down and things went back to normal.
In December, it seemed like the right time to start a computer lab in the school. The time had not been right until then because we didn’t have control, hadn’t organized our students, and didn’t have students involved in the operation of the school yet. We didn’t want to buy computers until we knew that they would be cared for. The culture of the school is more important than anything in my opinion, though the culture won’t be right unless everything else is in place. The laws of cause and effect are as present in poor communities as anywhere, though perhaps somewhat more forgiving. After Sokchea taught his level 1 and 2 leadership class, he started a Team Leader student group, and they were fired up and ready to take control of their school. And it is a beautiful thing, to see them meeting, finding solutions to our problems, making requests that we do more to give them education and opportunity for their future. How can I say no? So, with the Team Leaders ready for action, we needed to start a computer lab to give them responsibility. Sam and Anne at Chibodia provided funding, and Chris Merritt lent his technical expertise. In time it turned out to be one of the more successful endeavors we have been a part of. When the lab opened, only a few students had even touched a computer. Now many are quite competent and are advancing quickly, volunteering as teachers, and will soon be sending emails as they are now learning Internet and email. The majority of our advanced students are female, and they are incredible. While the Aziza School students are like family to me (I know them and accept them for their strengths and weaknesses), the Lakeside kids have captured my heart and I almost don’t know what to do. It made me realized that I need to use my skills to help them; raise money, get new ideas, push the staff, and get results. Lakeside School is a bustling success, and has all the weekly activities as Aziza School; a medical clinic, dental, yoga, art, aerobics/dancing, a kids Apsara dance group (Cambodian classical dance), youth group, 35 hours of English, and sporadic leadership trainings, guest speakers, and field trips. Having a 2nd school is very efficient, and doubles our effectiveness with only about a 30% increase to our budget. As for the future of the school and the kids will depend in part on our ability to raise money and invest in their futures. Please consider us for a donation or become a fundraiser!
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