Raelan Barbosa

How did you find Aziza’s Place?

While traveling in Phnom Penh I decided that I wanted to do some volunteer work.  A friend I made directed me to AP and I loved the organization instantly!

What brings you here? What is your motivation to come?

I am travelling for one year in South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. I have become particularly attached to Cambodia and love Phnom Penh. I have wanted to have an extended travelling experience for years and just recently finally had the opportunity to do so. I hope to meet new people, learn about the culture in this part of the world and have some amazing new adventures and experiences.

Maxime Rovere

Maxime came to Aziza’s Place in August 2011.  He spent a month enjoying teaching basic French, English and Computer classes with the House Moms, and a lot of sport outside with the children!  The children and staff enjoyed Maxime’s energy and the older boys especially loved having some competitive spirit added to the volleyball court.  We wish Maxime all the best in continuing his studies of Finance in France.  

   

How did you find Aziza’s Place?

Thanks to Amjad Ghori, in London, summer 2010

What brings you here? What is your motivation to come? 

I wished to be useful and take part in Amjad's personal project.

What are you doing or did you do at AP?

I spent time with fantastic kids. I've tried to teach them some basic french :).

What advice would you give to new volunteers 

Listen, look, enjoy! It's gonna be an amazing experience.

What did you do before coming to AP?

I'm still student, in a French Business School, based in Lyon. But months before I came, I used to work in a Bank -corporate finance department.

What are your plans for after AP?

Ahah, time to go back to school :). 

What’s your favorite memory at AP?  

So many - Couldn't say, sorry ! 

Leila Antakly

Leila and the girls all dressed up for family night.

Leila came to Aziza's Place filled with energy, inspiration and ideas for working with the children. Leila taught three English classes at AP and also the staff English classes. She provided inspiration by guiding, encouraging and providing expertise for the older children's film projects. She encouraged the children to identify and pursue their passions and abilities and opened their perspectives to the wide-ranging opportunities available to them if they are willing to work hard. Leila also used her skills in networking and connecting with people to fundraise among family and friends from around the world. Leila returned to Beirut after three months of volunteering at AP. We thank her for her input and dedication to the children at Aziza's Place and wish her all the best!

How did you find Aziza’s Place?
I found Aziza's Place through a friend of mine who came across it on idealist.org.


What brings you here? What is your motivation to come?

It has always been a dream of mine to challenge myself by going somewhere far away and explore something very new. I also wanted to volunteer and work with children, so when I read the posting on idealist, I knew right away this was exactly the kind of experience I wanted.


What brings you here? What is your motivation to come?
It has always been a dream of mine to challenge myself by going somewhere far away and explore something very new. I also wanted to volunteer and work with children, so when I read the posting on idealist, I knew right away this was exactly the kind of experience I wanted.

Hayley Carter

Hayley trying her hand at traditional Khmer music, with

instruction from Chanty.

From November 2010 until January 2011 Aziza’s Place was honored to have Hayley Carter come on board as a volunteer. Hayley provided incredible support to the AP team, using her Human Resource skills to support the staff during a time of management transition. She taught the three levels of English to AP residents, guiding the children to create interesting projects and a collated case study of South America, and also taught English classes to the house-mom’s. With her warm and down-to-earth personality Hayley quickly and easily fit into the AP team.  She headed back to the UK in February to continue working in the field of Human Resources. She is missed by all of us – we look forward to seeing her again sometime soon!
 

How did you find Aziza’s Place?

Through Outreach International

What brings you here? What is your motivation to come?

I wanted to do something different, step out of my comfort zone for a while and see some of the world, but have more focus than travelling. The idea of doing this whilst being able to help in my own small way just felt right.

Marcela Granados

Marcela Granados came to Aziza's Place with energy and excitement about teaching our students mathematics.  The children didn't take long to be inspired and enthused about thier extra maths tutoring during the two weeks she was here.  Marcela joined in with all of AP's activities including the Water Festival events on her first day here, and arranging a delicious feast of fajita's one Wednesday evening.  Thankyou Marcela!   

Emma Horsfall

Emma Horsfall brought fun and games to AP as she taught our beginner English classes to Ream (pictured left), Channy, Lina and newest student Sreynak.  There was always a lot of laughter coming from the front room as the children enjoyed learning new English words, phrases, drawing colorful pictures, watching English DVDs and learning new English songs. 
Emma was in Phnom Penh for six months and volunteered at AP while also working at another NGO.  She has headed home to the UK to complete her teaching qualifications.  Thankyou Emma for bringing your love, your hugs, and positive energy to everyone at AP!  We wish you all the best for your new adventures ahead.        

 

How did you find Aziza’s Place?

Through the Pari Project.

What brings you here?

A job placement with the Pari Project What is your motivation to come? A job, change of scenery, a life changing experience.

What are you doing or did you do at AP?
English teaching of Lina, Channy, Ream and Sreynak.

Kaylie Wallace

Kaylie came to Aziza's Place to spend her summer volunteering and experiencing life in Phnom Penh.  With her bubbly personality, energy and enthusiasm, she made a new best friend in Channy as they studied English together (see  left).  Kaylie also taught English to the staff and lent a hand in various adminstration projects.  Many thanks for your work Kaylie - we look forward to seeing you when you return!           

How did you find Aziza’s Place?

Amjad Ghori is a lifelong friend of my father!  I didn’t have to look very far to stumble upon this amazing opportunity.

What brings you here? What is your motivation to come?

I study Global Development and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia, where I am currently in my third year. I knew I wanted to gain some experience abroad, and ideally, through an NGO or non-profit in a developing nation. I followed my dad’s advice and contacted Amjad, who quickly offered me the opportunity to work at AP for the summer. I didn’t think twice and started booking tickets and making plans! The fact that my mom was able to join me for two weeks made the experience even more special and meaningful.

Megan Wong

Megan (far right) with Momphat and volunteers
Kaylie and Kepi.

Megan came to Aziza’s Place for a six-week program of volunteering. She brought to Aziza’s Place many smiles, much energy, enthusiasm, and love for the children! Megan was able to invest valuable time into teaching English to the housemom’s and the learning of one of our youngest residents with one-on-one English teaching. Lina’s English improved immensely during Megan’s time at AP, and the two became strong friends. Megan returned home at the end of July 2010 to complete university studies in music. We wish her all the best! 

Lani Warsh

Lani Warsh arrived in Phnom Penh in January 2010. She took on an Intern role with AP for four months. As the first in this role she did a fantastic job at implementing our Community Outreach program and building strong relationships with the families of AP residents. She started some great networking with other organisations and NGO's to interlink with AP and our families. She also opened up the worlds of our intermediate students in English class by teaching them about different people and cultures around the world. Lani was a caring and dedicated volunteer who worked at AP with energy and enthusiasm to make things the best they could be, and who could always be spotted zooming around Phnom Penh on her bright red 'pizza-delivering' bicycle!

Stephanie McMahon

Stephanie volunteered at Aziza's Place from October 2009 until January 2010. She brought energy and creativity to AP and to her E2 classes with projects like the gingerbread house creations seen earlier in the blog. With the help of her Mom, she also ingeniously managed to bring snow to Cambodia. That's impressive! Stephanie had the opportunity to do some further traveling around Asia from which she has many stories to share. She was last seen heading towards her next stop in India, before eventually heading home to San Francisco.

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!

Cath Waugh

 
Cath, a native New Zealander,  began volunteering at Aziza's Place in June 2009 and will be volunteering until at least July 2010. All the AP kids and staff are already working on convincing her to stay longer! Cath lives in the neighborhood around Aziza's Place and is a great person to share her experiences as a long term resident of Phnom Penh. She has also traveled all over Cambodia and can tell you the best sights to see. We are eternally grateful to her dedication to AP. We can always count on Cath to walk in with a smile on her face.

Melanie Haaksma

"The most wonderful experience in my life, eye opening most of all. The love and peaceness you feel at Aziza's place are so real. Everybody is enjoying their work there and you feel that. It motivates me to do something in my country for the people in Cambodia as well. With so little material a lot can be reached."

- Melanie on her volunteer experience at Aziza's Place

Prem Krishnan & Kalle

Prem volunteered at Aziza's Place from June to August 2009. She took over as the E3 teacher and had a great time teaching the kids about fables from all over the world. During her volunteer time, she introduced the kids to the sounds and dance moves of Michael Jackson, a legacy that lives on to this day. Prem and her partner Kalle returned for a visit to AP in December 2009.

Ben and Maria Mays

Ben and Maria volunteered at Aziza's Place from January to July 2009. They lived in the volunteer apartment next door to AP and loved waking up to the smiles of our kids everyday. In December 2009 they returned for a visit. They are currently plotting how to return for a third time.






 

Davina Clay - Q & A

Davina volunteered at AP from February to June 2009. She taught our E3 class and was notorious for finding really interesting learning topics; extreme weather and the Titanic for example. She helped her students write their first autobiographies. Davina is currently helping establish The Aziza Foundation UK. Thank you for keeping connected to AP from home, Davina!

Davina's Fast Facts:
Volunteered: February - June 2009
Originally from: Bath, England
Living in: London, England
Occupation: sales representative
Fun Fact: Davina is glad she came in the dry season. She’s sick of rain (England).
 

Laura Newson

Laura's Biography
Volunteered at AP: February 2009
Home:Calgary, Canada
Fun Fact:She recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa with her father.

How did you find Aziza’s Place?
I found Azıza´s Place through my cousın´s frıend who sent me a lınk to a lıstıng of NGOs and volunteer organızatıons ın Cambodıa. From there ıt was just a matter of sıftıng through all of them to pıck out the best one!

Missy Washington

Missy Washington came to Aziza’s Place in October 2008 as a volunteer to primarily teach art and English. Over the eight months she was in Cambodia she morphed into an invaluable full-time staff member while expanding her role to include communications and promotional duties as the Communications Director of Aziza’s Place.

Missy Washington's Fast Facts
Age: 27
Originally from: Axton, Virginia (USA)
Living in: Los Angeles, California (USA)
Occupation: Artist
Fun Fact: She’s really good at Etch-a-sketch.

Jane Heng



Jane hanging out with Sreyphea

at the children's football tournament.

 Jane volunteered as an English and Art teacher at Aziza's Place in early 2009.  She has been involved in the lives of the AP kids ever since!  Jane is a talented designer and inspired the children to find their creativity and to have fun in their learning.  Jane headed home to Australia in March 2009 but we were excited to see her back in Phnom Penh in 2010.  She has been able to use her passion for design for work in the social enterprise sector in Cambodia, while still connecting with AP and supporting us where she can.  She is always a welcome guest at our monthly family nights.  We love you Jane!

Bonnie Cohen - Q & A

Bonnie volunteered at AP in February 2009. She comes from New York (USA) but is currently living in Bali, Indonesia. A fun fact about Bonnie, she is a Rabbi. A close family friend of Nader, Bonnie came to see the inspirational things happening at AP.