Back in UK

Hello, avid readers!

I’m back in the UK now, so have probably spoken to you on the ohone already. Still, I’d like to let you know how things are going here.

There are a few things to consider before I get started. Our team is down from 20 to 18; we’ve lost a program supervisor to illness, and a malawian volutneer to bad behaviour (though we think she’ll be coming back after an apology and commitment to be better). Because of these problems, we’re stil in London, and will be here for nearly 2 weeks in total, though we were meant to leave for King’s Lynn just a day after arriving here!

This caused some emotional confusion after all the excitement and anticipation built up around phase two. As one volunteer said, rather poetically in his gruff welsh accent- “up feels like down and left feels like right”! But we’re over the initial troubles now it seems, and are actually really enjoying London.

It’s been really special showing the Malawians the UK. Only one has ever been out of Malawi (they went to Zimbabwe by bus when they were younger), so esculators, lifts, huge multi-storey buildings, fast trains, the tube, big red buses, our nice clean, finsihed-looking streets… all this is new to them. It’s so nice introducing it to them all, although we dn’t like the ideas they’re forming, as expressed by one, “The UK is a thousand thousand thousand thousand times better than Malawi”.

They’ve not been impressed by everything of course. We did a tour of London on Saturday, and although seeing the queen from about 3m on her birthday and visiting the missionary Dr David Livingstone’s grave were higlights, they weren’t so impressed by the naked bike ride we stumbled excitedly upon. “It was disgusting” was the comment of my counterpart!!! He thought that people with such disgusting bodies (his view, not mine) shouldn’t be allowed to show them in public! Others were more openminded, and enjoyed the chance to see what white people looked like underneath their clothes!

Immediately after this, we walked along the south bank near the London Eye, where there were all manner of street performers, again celebrating the eccentricity and individual freedom integral to British culture (IMO). I tried to explain the importance of this freedom and individuality to my CP, who very much enjoyed the street performers (though thought the circus act were definately using magic!). He aggreed freedom was very good. I then swung it round to the naked cyclists’ case. He thought freedom should have restrictions.

He he. Still it’s all good and they do seem to be enjoying life here.

One challenge is the GX allowance. £15 a week is all we have to live on, outside of food and accommodation costs. It’s actually quite good for me, cos it’s stopping me buying all the naughty treats which are inundating me as I wander around Ealing. I’m trying to be healthier, as I want to develop good habits for university. I guess it’s the same with the budget too- others are supplementing their allowances with their own money, but I’d rather learn to live on £15 a week, and know I can do it.

We’re staying in a YMCA at the moment, which is kind of a challenge, and kind of an opportunity, and kind of just fun too. I guess all three often go hand in hand anyway. The residents have all different backgrounds- some are here cos thye’ve got leanring difficulties, so need some extra support. Others are homeless, or recently out fo prison. I don’t know about other reasons, but I think none are here just through their own choice. So shared mealtimes can be a lively experience, when one doesn’t get as many eggs as the person in front, or someone sips someone else’s orange juice etc etc!!! But at the same time, nearly all the residents are really friendly and curtious to us, and all of them are at least harmless. It’s more interesting living with them anyway, and it ties into our program’s aim to teach us about development and social problems in the UK too.

Last night was the night I most felt I was back in England, doing what I love. You’re about to see how sad a person I am:

We went to the local church to watch a film about Climate change called “The Age of Stupid”. It was a really inspiring and powerful film, and was screened by a local group fromt he “Transition Towns” movement. The idea of transition towns is to make towns (and other local communities) energy efficient and sustainable as soon as possible- making sure the changes that need to happen happen now, and are driven from the bottom up. Me and a volutneer who went with me were really impressed byt he idea, and want to try and introduce it to King’s Lynn, especially since our theme for the voluntary work is “environment, climate change and food security”. It’d be a great impact to leave if we were successful.

OK, it seems the whole team has left to do activities on the park,a nd I’ve been left behind, so I’ll have to pop off! Thank you for reading and please leave me your notes or comments!

Loads of love,

Sally
xxx

A real Post!

OK ok, so this clearly wasn’t written for this blog alone. but it is an update! Enjoy it, it’s probably the last you’ll get from malawi!

Welcome to Malawi!

I’ve been here in Malawi, on the “Global Xchange” volunteering program, for nearly 3 months, which means that in a few days I’ll be flying back to the UK. I’ve got so much to share with you from the incredible time I’ve had here! All the components of the GX program are teaching me a lot, and also making this a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Let’s start with the all-important volunteer placements…

I’m working (with my Malawian counterpart) at a nursery school in a semi-rural, fairly poor village. When we arrived at the nursery school we found the following resources: a dirty but sizeable room, a small plastic table too high for children, and a bucket with two cups. There were also, thankfully, 6 eager and saintly teachers, who were all Mums from the community, volunteering without monetary reward and (here’s the downfall) without training or experience. Enrollment was 20 children, though around 200 live in the catchment area.

Can you imagine the challenges you might face trying to sustainably develop such a place? I was daunted. How could I improve a nursery and teach 2-5 year olds when I have no experience or training? How could I communicate with children and teachers with no common language? How could we run a nursery with no paper, crayons, paint, or toys? How could we create a good learning environment with no cleaning equipment, nothing to decorate with, no cement to fill the holes in the floor and no glass to mend the jagged broken windows?

Well, the answer is that we couldn’t. But we didn’t have to. Actually, it seems you never really have NOTHING to work with, and the key is to seek out and pursue every minute opportunity available to you. My incredible Malawian counterpart has helped me build up my confidence, and has eased communication by teaching me Chichewa (the local language) and translating for me. In the face of no resources, we found ourselves pummeling cassava to make glue and flowers to make paint, collecting plastic bottles, containers, boxes, bamboo and scraps of fabric from the tailors to make dolls, instruments, building materials and decorations… In the face of no resources, we became very resourceful! And actually, very soon we had decorated our classroom and provided “toys” for the children without spending a single penny. It was wonderful to see the change.

The next step was to make it sustainable. We went to the Town Assembly to find out why they weren’t supporting the nursery, and were given the phone number of the government worker responsible for nursery schools. We called her and arranged to meet in three days time. Two days later, I was napping in the nursery after classes when a huge shiny white 4-by-4 pulled up. The logo on the side showed me it was a Unicef car. I woke up as quickly as possible and greeted the Unicef and government officers responsible for nursery schools in Malawi! They promised us massive assistance, but first we had to move the nearby primary school from our building.
Our next, and most promising, move was to meet the local MP. In that meting, he agreed to build two primary school blocks so that Unicef can begin their work at the nursery. He’s also pushing our proposals for income-generating activities for the nursery, so that they can continue to function without regular donors. He has delivered 100kg of rice to make porridge for the children (many of whom miss school because of hunger). And he gave us a large immediate donation to buy essential items, and especially toys for the children. As you might imagine, we were walking on sunshine on the way home that day!

Things now are looking really positive. As I write, 75 children’s names are on the school register, and we see new faces every day. Together, Unicef, the Malawi government and the local MP have promised all the assistance, resources, classroom maintenance and teacher-training we need. GX certainly seems to have passed on to me some of the secrets of sustainable development! And it’s wonderful to have been given the opportunity to leave such a positive long-term impact on the school and its surrounding community.

GX is a great program, because as well partaking in such practical voluntary work, volunteers also learn about global issues surrounding development,. To enable them to be more effective global citizens in the future. Every week, two volunteers host a “Global Citizenship Day (GCD)”. Through these, we’ve learnt about topics such as climate change, poverty, HIV, community cohesion, community development and religion. GCDs are also a great opportunity to develop teamwork and leadership skills, which are central to the GX program and life beyond.

There are other avenues for developing our understanding of development issues. This has been the first time I’ve lived in Africa and, I suppose as expected, I’ve seen that development here is very low. There are decent main roads connecting towns, but the 85% of the population that lives rurally has no such facilities. There are health centers spread across the country, but standards aren’t great, and many citizens aren’t educated to use them. Only primary education is free, and even then many don’t attend because of poverty- they are too hungry, they have to stay home to care for younger siblings or sick parents, the distance is too far to walk and they can’t afford transport…

However, a speaker who visited us from a local NGO shared a very important point about poverty and development; he said that instead of just copying the West and building airports and tarmac roads, inviting multinational businesses, moving people from villages and agriculture to towns and industries etc, development should be bottom up- driven by the needs and wishes of citizens. Living in “the developed world”, where depression, suicide and general dissatisfaction levels are the highest in the world, we know that money can’t buy happiness and satisfaction. Development NGOs need to meet with communities, discuss their barriers to such life satisfaction, and together come up with the best possible solutions.

I would say that GX is a terrific program for preparing you for life and work. There are so many challenges (living with a total stranger, in another stranger’s home for 6 months, working as a team of 18 hugely different young people, language barriers, miniscule budgets, relying on just two program supervisors, living without beds and washing machines…), but with them come so so many opportunities. Because of this, depending on your nature, and also on the team and situation you’re in, GX could either be the worst or the best 6 months of your life. I’m only half-way through the program, but touch-wood… I think it’s going to be unforgettable for all the right reasons!

Love love
xxx

Helloee

I’m still not writing a proper blog, but will be soon (!!! You’re going to stop believing me aren’t you?). But just to say I’m alive and well, and very sad that we’ll be leaving Luchenza on 4th June (next thursday) and leaving Malawi on the 8th. I keep feeling very sad about this But I’m also extremely excited about the UK phase, and I think the Malawian volunteers are going to love it. We’re starting with 3 days to enjoy and explore London before heading to Kings Lynn for the next 11 weeks. I really will write more than this soon, but for now, thanks for the comments etc and speak to you soon!

Love!!!
Sally
xxx

I’m alive!

So don’t worry. I will, of course, write a proper blog as soon as possible!!!

Nearly a month in

Wow, time here is going so fast. I can’t believe I’ve done nearly a third of my time in malawi already! Yikes!

First, I’d like to thank you so much for your kind offers to send goodies to my nursery! I will look into this seriously. It may not be practical really, as sending things will be very expensive, and we need to do thigns in a sustainable way, so we’re going to try and get regular funding from unicef. I’ll look into it though. Thank you so much, you’re lovely!

My personal situation is still the same as before, so I thought in writing this next installment of “Yes, I am still alive”, I’d write a little more about the society etc here. It’s really fascinating actually.

Firstly, witches. And other spiritual beliefs I suppose. Either way, it seems that everyone in Malawi believes in witches, spirits, charms, curses etc etc etc. At first I was amazed,especially because many of these people who are ernestly telling me about these things are very intelligent people, and to me, I thought those sorts of beliefs were mainly in stories for young children. But people like a good story don’t they? And I also think that once you believe something, you look to prove it, rather than looking to disprove it. They always laugh at my questions, saying “Sally, you’re such a philosopher” or “Why do you ask so many questions?”. Anyway, I realised that these beliefs make life mroe interesting for people so I didn’t challenge them too much. But then they have some very serious, bad effects too. For example, little children can be accused of being trained by witches if they start to behave rebelliously. I’ve heared such accusations made, and thought, well, what does that mean for the child? Belief in the power of witches is also manipulated by village elders and headmen to stop people from disobeying them. If you do, the elders might remove all the bones from your body, lock you in a small pot, make a crocodile jump out of your cup while you’re brushing your teeth…

So yes, worrying to me. I can’t say I’m being very open-minded, but I’m not getting very good answers to my probing questions!

A positive I’d like to write about now: the culture of openness and sharing. If a neighbour needs somethign here, they simply go to their neighbour’s house and are given it. No questions asked. Sharing is a huge part of the culture here, and you can’t even really eat a packed lunch without sharing it with everyone around you. it’s a nice way of living. Of course, it only really works because people know it’ll be reciprocated, but it’s nice that that cultural mechanism is there.

OK, next!!! The other thing that amazed me was the number of people who want to move ot the UK. No other countries in Europe, just the UK. Loads of people keep approaching me, having a nice chat, then saying, “Erm, so, can you take me to the UK with you?”. Or somethign similar. They think it’s like heaven, and I’m trying to dispell that view. But at the same time, I’m beginning to be more aware of what a plethora of opportunities we do have available to us in the UK. It’s quite staggering really. I know they’re not all there for everyone, but things are still so much better. The fact that I’m going to Oxford next year seems like something of a joke when I speak to these people. We have huge social problems, but the opportunities are generally there. I wish we’d make mroe of them.

And now I’m going to make an apology, to everyone who I’ve not replied to by email. Yahoo is being incredibly awkward, and won’t load messages when I ask it to, so I’m relying on this blog for most communication! If you want to email me it might be worth copying it onto a comment on the blog too.

I’m just blabbing today, as you cna see, cos I have no idea when I’m going to have to be pullde off the internet. So, Nsima, you asked.

Well, shockingly to malawians, we don’t have nsima in the UK, but if you google it you should get some helpful pictures. it’s closest relative in UK food is probably if you were to get white cous-cous, then squeeze it togetehr so it wasn’t in balls anymore, but was just a bit lump. Then you tear bits of, mould them into balls in your hand, and use it to pick up the various relishes. It’s a messy business, but quite enjoyable! Not sure how nutritious is- it’s made of white maize and water.

Ooh, maize, there’s another topic. Malawians love maize! And many, if not most, families have their own maize fields, which help them to maintain food security at the household level. I’ve been harvesting maize, which is really nice and made me get all philosophical and ponderous! The maize cobs are hidden in a parcel of leaves folded around them. And sometimes, it looks like the whole parcel is mouldy and rotten, and it’s just going to crumble in a pile of nasty insects as you prize it open. But then sometimes, the most mouldy parcels have the biggest, brightest maize cobs inside, and it’s a lovely surprise. It’s a lovely setting as well, as the field has views across the landscape, over mountains and blue skies and dozens of other maize fields. It’s rather yummy.

I’ll be back…

So much to tell…

Well helloeee! It’s been a long time, I know, but no fears: I’m alive, well, and haaaapppy

I have a brilliant host family here. I have an agogo (grandmother) rather than parents, but ME OH MY, do I have an agogo!!! She’s amazing . She cracks a load of jokes that I can’t understand cos they’re in Chichewa (prompting me to work extra hard to pick up the language, which I’m beginning to have some real success with), and she’s really grounded to earth. She’s also a lovely lovely person. An example:

On the first night, I arrived at my home in the pitch black, rain peltering down and no electricity to welcome me in. I was tired and apprehensive, but still was quickly informed that I’d be doing the cooking for the family since I’m the only girl in the house (she lives with her son and grandson). I was a little overwhelmed by all this, though also glad I’d be able to help out. Over a week later, I have yet to cook a meal. I always wake up early, and go to the cooking area ready to help, and they always say, “Oooh, today it’s not possible. Tomorrow you can cook though. Yes, tomorrow you’ll cook for all of us”. And I get a little scared because of my limited cooking skills, but also am pacified because I can relax, without feeling I’m skipping chores.

Of course, at first, I believed her, but after a week of “tomorrows” I’m learnign that my cooking role is going to be very limited. he he he. Instead, I’m insisting on plucking maize at every spare opportunity, and helping wash up etc, both of which worry her no end because she thinks my “azungo” (white person”) hands are too soft for suchmanual work. I tell her they’re not, but to be honest they are starting to hurt! I’m hoping to get some nice working calouses I’ll be careful, don’t worry.

My counterpart is also really nice. He’s called Wanangwa. Yes, I’m paired with a boy, and he with a girl, basically because in the group we were the only two happy to be with someone of the opposite gender. It’s worked out pretty well though cos we have some great conversations, and he’s very good at looking after me. He also has a sense of humour. Note the absence of a positive modifying adjective in that sentence. Ha ha ha. But yeah, I’m happy with my counterpart, and all in all my home situation is excellent.

Work. More good news, eh?! I’m working at an ECD (early childhood development centre), which is basically a preschool. And this preschool is basically a room. I’m not even exagerating. In listing the resources we have, I usually mention the keys for the door, because aside from a small table that’s too high for the kids in one corner, and 4 chairs we’ve recently been borrowing from the primary school next door, that is IT. No paper. No pens. No toys. No sand pit. No water bucket for washing hands. It doesn’t even have its own toilet. And the teachers have very kind hearts, and some are good with the kdis, but none have ever been trained and they presently seem to just get the kids to sing songs or recite the calender etc. The kdis are basically repeating what they hear, as ask them any questions about content and they have no clue.

But we’ve got lots of exciting plans for them, and have already been running some great sessions. We’re recycling waste to make toys (plastic bottles, waste paper, cloth from the tailors etc) and are going to go round lcoal shops asking for anything they can spare, even cardboard boxes etc. And we’re also going to send a proposal to Unicef, who should help us out with toys etc.

I say we very ambiguously. I mean Ruth and I. Ruth is my volutner placement counterpart. She must be the best work counterpart possible. And loko- I know that by now you must be thinking that my enthusiastic nature has made me delirious, but the fact is that I’ve simply been very lucky. Other people are having a much harder time, and I’m feeling rather jammy. So as I was saying, Ruth is amazing. She has so much energy with the children, and she plans great activities for them, and also hm. She’s always pose when I do things with them. She’s always positive and fair-minded, and is also very bright, so we have great conversations, and if something’s troubling me, she’s just the perfect person to speak to. My strengths at the moment lie more in planning the sessions and thinking of materials to use and activities to try, whereas Ruth really shines in the execution. In that way, we form a great term, and if we can both learn to develop the other’s skills we’ll benefit so much from this placement, it’ll be awesome!

I think I’ll leave it at that for now. I have lots more to tell: about the… well, I’ll bullet point for you:

Religion (No God?! What?! Why?! Oh, but God is great! How peculiar!)

Spiritual beliefs (esp Mulange mountain and mystical bananas)

Percetions of white people (esp when they’re eating sugar cane as well as the locals, he he he)

The weather, which is not too but three hot.

Community culture- which lives up to all expectations and is just lovely.

All the wonderful people I’ve met.

Food (Nsima with strictly vegetarian relish, much to agogo’s concern)

And oh, a load of other things! But for now, much much love and my very best wishes,

Sally

xxx

Update

Helloey!
Well, I’m just bearing the price and slowness for now, cos I want to share as much with you int he time I’ve got. Which is about a minute.

We move into host homes tomorrow, so I’ll tell you about accommodation and daily life and all that other jazz etc later. Mum. Hee hee.
I’ve been doing lots of singing and dancing so far! The kdis we see in the street remember us from our trip to the primary school, so they always start shaking their bums and singing, cos it’s the dance we taught them! And like I said before, music is everywhere, and always happy, and everyone dances and shouts when they want. Mucho fun.

Wildlife and scenery. Well all is very green, and there are lots of these big beautiful trees adorned with masses of bright yellow blossom, which are just lovely. The roads are tarmacced which is a nice surprise. Mulange mountain is an awesom sight on the near horizon. It looms over you, all bluegreen and jagged and gentle. Like an awesome but sleeping giant.

There’s not much in the way of wildlife. Chickens, cows, goats, volutneers… he he he.

Erm, and like I said, this week’s been an anomally, so I’ll have mroe to tell you afterwards. We’ve just been doing team-building and welcoming and orientation etc. And I don’t have time to write long poingant blogs tday! We’re abotu to go and find out who our counterpatrt pairsare, and what volunteering we’ll be doing. I think I’m going to be with a boy, cbut he’s really amazing and nice so I don’t mind. Plus iot mweans I’ll get my own room, hurrah!!!

OK, I’m going to split. Thanks for your lovely comments. please keep them coming.

Loads of love
Sally
xxx

Neary a week in…

Hello!!!!
I’m in Malawi! It’s awesome. I’m having to be quick cos the internet is slow and expensive, but what to say…

Well, we have a totally fantastic team of 18. I really do like everyone very much. It looks like my counterpart is going to be a boy, as I’m the only girl who doesn’t mind, but it’s all good cos the boys are lovely.

We visited a primary school today, and the children were incredibly cute! and I’m quite keen to volunteer there, as it’d be really fun and there’s loads we can do to educate the children and ease the load on the teachers, who have class sizes of about 140. OMG. There’s also chance to work to reduce the stigma around HIV of my own initiative a little, which I’d really love. We’ll see.

Africa is awesome. Happy music plays everywhere, people chat to you, the weather is hot but usually not too hot. People have so much energy and are so outgoing, not like us reserved english folks. I love it.

And Malawi is a prettya wesome country. Their government actually seems rather good, and have loads of schemes in place to help the poorest people in long-term, effective ways, which is really surprising and encouraging for me.

I’ll have to leave it at that for now cos I have 48 emails. Yikes. Hope you’re all well! Love Sally
xxx

Malawi

I’m alive. The internet is horrendously slow (I’ve been loading this page for quarter of an hour!). People, weather and scenery all good and i’m very happy and excited! Love you! Happy Birthday Jess! Bye,
xxx

Sponsoring a Cambodian girl through university

This post is all about you helping out some wonderful people I lived with in Cambodia. If you have any interest in helping others, whether through one-off donations, fundraising, or long-term sponsorships, please read on! If you’re after the rest of my blog, you’ll find it below, or using the categories to the right of this page.

Thank you so much to the who have so far offered to sponsor the wonderful girls at PAGE! You are amazing. And I can assure you the girls all truly deserve it.

Seven girls are still in dire need of sponsors though. If you, or anyone you know, thinks they might be able to spare £20/ month to give one of them the incredible gift of higher education, and all the life-chances it brings, please keep reading! You can email me for more information too- just leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you.

Sponsoring a Cambodian Girl’s University Education

The girls at PACE

The Background

I spent October, November and December 2008 volunteering for a charity in Cambodia. The charity was founded by Buddhist monks, and is called the Life and Hope Association (LHA). It manages five complimentary projects, all of which provide education, security and love to some of the most disadvantaged young people in Cambodia.

One project LHA manages is called PAGE- Program Advancing Girls’ Education.  This project allows the poorest girl-students to complete high school by providing free accommodation, food, care and extra lessons. 14 girls aged between 13 and 21 currently live at the “PAGE house”, and if it weren’t for LHA’s support each one would have to quit school immediately and find work. PAGE gives these girls the second chance they long for, and thoroughly deserve.

I lived in the “PAGE house” with these 14 girls for one month, and in all honestly, I was bowled over by them. They are extraordinary young women. Their disarming lovingness, openness, generosity, perseverance, and sense of fun would fill anyone with awe and inspiration.  These girls will grow to be incredible women, and I was thoroughly heartened (though in no way surprised) to learn how strongly they all wish to serve society in the future; pockets of Cambodia will flourish in their hands.

These girls clearly need to be armed with degrees! Without degrees, they’ve no chance of becoming the teachers, NGO workers, politicians, doctors and managers they work so hard to become.

However, I was saddened to witness their anxiety over their futures; they know they can’t pay the university fees, and they know equally that without degrees their hard work and great aspirations will come to nothing.

£600 is enough to guarantee one girl a university education.  That’s about £17/month over 3 years. If you think you can help, and thereby give a totally wonderful Cambodian girl the chance to go to university (and enjoy all the opportunities that a degree would open up for her), please contact me. (Leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you very soon)

Basic Logistical Information

It costs £600 to enable one girl to complete her degree, which can be paid in installments for your ease:

£25/month for 2 years,

£17/month for 3 years, or

£12.50/month for 4 years.

Every penny of your donation will go straight to the girl and her education. This is quite rare in the field of charitable giving. The charity and myself cover any additional costs, such as admin, transfer fees, extra living costs etc. But we do really need your donation for academic costs, to give one of these wonderful, deserving girl enough support to allow her to complete a degree. I hope you share my opinion that sponsoring a girl in such a way is truly wonderful opportunity for both you and the girl.

If you would like to and feel able to cover all costs for a girl (a full scholarship, including living costs) this can also be discussed. It is more expensive, but would of course give the girl much more stability and peace of mind. However,  this level of commitment is not essential; the girls can support themselves somewhat by finding work, and should be able to continue receiving food and accommodation from LHA (though sadly this cannot be guaranteed over so many years). One-off or general donations are also hugely welcome, as the girls’ income will undoubtedly need supplementing at times- living costs are hugely variable, unexpected medical expenses may arise, and their living conditions are already very basic. Cheques can be made payable to “Life and Hope Association” (please contact me for an address/ account details).

There are 12 school grades in Cambodia, and some of the girls are still in very low ones. For example, he youngest girl is 13, and is in grade 4. Promising sponsorship early means more time to save up the money, and more time to get to know the girl you’re sponsoring as she progresses through school.  However, if you would like to sponsor someone who is going to university sooner, many will be starting in the next year or so, and so are really urgent cases for sponsorships! We should be able to arrange for you to sponsor one of those girls. Of course, there’s nothing to stop you sponsoring two, or more, girls if you want! Alternatively, if you’d like to help but can’t afford the full £600, any extra financial help for the girls will always be gratefully received and put to good use, as the girls’ living conditions are very basic, while their true needs are personal and always fluctuating unpredictably.

Basic Profiles of the Girls

All the girls are from very difficult, poor backgrounds. All study very hard- until 10pm most nights, and also help around the house without complaint (even though it means waking at 5-5:30 each morning to do chores). The girls are all totally lovely people- disarmingly open, generous and loving, yet still fully aware of how to have some serious fun! The additional, personal, information below is really basic, and there are some gaps, but if you want more detail please just ask me.

First initial of first name (for privacy). Age. Grade. What she wants to do in the future. Background  /  From my experience…

2. P. 19. 11. Charity worker and guide for Temples of Angkor. Modest but wonderful! Always ready to laugh, help out, and study hard.

3. N. 18. 11. Teacher. Super-woman who really should be PM of Cambodia. So kind, so bright, so mature, and still so modest.

4. S. 19. 11. NGO worker. Winning smile, great laugh, and very big heart.

5. V. 19. 10. Bank Manager. Outgoing and welcoming to all.  Studies very hard.

6. S. 17. 10. Doctor. Very smart and focused. Lovely, with a great sense of humour.

7. S. 18. 9. Doctor. Very sweet-natured and great fun. Very kind-hearted.

8. S. 15. 8. Hotel Manager. Seems to always be happy! Outgoing and very loving.

9. K. 16. 8. Manager. Very responsible, very kind, beautiful smile, and great dancer.

10. S. 17. 8. Accountant. Sporty and sophisticated, yet always ready to have a laugh and help out.

11. S. 17. 6. Business woman. Very genuine, loving and quick to laugh.

12. M. 13. 6. Business woman. Bright, charming, and the most helpful 14-year-old in the world.

13. D. 13. 12. Khmer Teacher. Orphan from street children centre. Astonishingly good dancer, very bright, splendid confidence and sense of style, very kind-hearted.