Diana Chende

Diana is volunteering at Aziza's Place from September to December 2009. A trained teacher, she has been instrumental in developing standards of learning at Aziza's Place. Diana stayed in the AP volunteer apartment and is a great resource for where to get the best baked goods in Phnom Penh! She is our first volunteer from Romania and currently resides with her husband in England. Among Diana's biggest accomplishments is her glorious finish at the Angkor Wat 1/2 Marathon on December 6. Great job!


How did you find Aziza’s Place?
One of the teachers at my school in England recommended Aziza's Place to me.

What brings you here? What is your motivation to come?
2009 has been a challenging year for me on both personal and professional levels. I decided it was time to stop and take stock of what was happening around me. I wanted to do something that made me feel useful again, something that made me feel like I was taking control of what was happening to me. Ultimately I wanted to give something back in sign of appreciation that I have come through all the trials this year has brought with it.

What are you doing or did you do at AP?
I am teaching English. I teach a beginners' class in the mornings and the advanced level in the afternoons. With my advanced group I've been reading a novel for the past month. This is the first time ever they read a whole book in English and I am pleased to say they have embraced the project and have been very enthusiastic about the whole thing.
I also just spend time hanging around with the kids, helping them with homework, listening to music with them, watching films at the week-end...


What preconceived ideas of Cambodia did you have before that have been changed since being here?
I tried to keep an open mind before coming here. I had never been to Asia before so I really didn't know what to expect. I had heard stories of scorpions or cobras somehow ending up in people's homes. That was my main fear. I can safely say that I've been here almost 6 weeks now and have not seen anything of the kind. Any other preconceptions were diet related. I consider myself relatively brave with trying new things but fried rats and deep fried crickets and other bugs are just not my thing. I'm still firm on that one but proud to say I have enjoyed a lovely bowl of frog soup the other day.

What advice would you give to new volunteers?
Spend as much time possible with the kids, outside the confinement of classroom and lessons as well. They are such wonderful kids, with vibrant personalities and full of original ideas. I have learnt a lot from them.

About you:

What did you do before coming to AP?
Before Aziza's Place I was working in the biggest highschool in Kent, England. I was doing a teacher's training course.

What are your plans for after AP?
Go back home, resume my teaching course, spoil my husband a little bit.

What is something unique about where you come from? How is it similar or different from Cambodia?
I'm Romanian so something unique that everybody knows about would have to be Dracula. Otherwise quite a few things could be considered unique - our lovely mountains, the peasants and their traditional folk costumes, the Danube Delta...
Similarities with Cambodia would be the hot summers and having survived a dictatorial regime. Differences would be the cold-cold winters with lots of snow. I just found out that the ski slopes are opening back home and I am still boiling over here...

What’s your favorite memory at AP?
Playing football with the kids and getting caught in the mother of all rains - getting home absolutely soaked. Taking the kids to play bowling. It was so funny watching them learning how to play, sliding on the polished floor, clapping and cheering just as enthusiastically a gutter ball or a full strike. Watching MAMMA MIA with the kids and having everybody sing along.