Tag Archives: Siem Reap

Senhoa Work Experience

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Senhoa| 8 Comments

9 months have now passed since our darling Lotus Buds embarked on their Senhoa vocational and educational training adventure. Currently, the girls are revising all that they’ve learnt to ready themselves for the next and last phase of the Senhoa Jewelry Program- Work Experience!

Work Experience is the natural step after months of learning the 5 Keys to Success (Resilience, Organisation, Getting Along, Persistence, and Confidence) and the 16 Positive Habits of the Mind.

For 6 weeks, the girls will be placed in the real world in different Social Enterprises, NGOs, and businesses to start testing the grounds of what it’s like in a professional working environment. The girls will be guided by their on-site supervisors and the Senhoa team to ensure their peace of mind and slow-building confidence. One day a week, the girls will come back to class, as per normal to share their on-going weekly tasks and to ‘gather round the water-cooler’.

The girls of the Senhoa program have very limited life-experience and are easily intimidated by the vastness of the community outside of the shelter and their homes. The purpose of this experience is to expose the girls to different work fields and industries for personal development as well as their ‘professional’ development. We want to demonstrate and give a little taster to the girls, what it would take to become a productive member of society.

In their placements, the girls will work as shop assistants, kitchen hands, art-work assistants, house-keepers, administration assistants, teaching assistants and more! It wasn’t easy getting the girls gigs. It is a lot to ask from businesses and organizations to take on young, inexperienced, survivors of human trafficking on top of all their own busy day-to-day schedules. All of this is only possible thanks to the amazing managers, directors and business owners of Siem Reap who have agreed to take the girls onboard.

A very SEN-cere ‘Thanks a Bundle!’ to:

- Linda Lam of Wanderlust
- Deborah Lea Knight from Wild Poppy
- Beck Scougall of The Villa
- Mario Mariapan from Hotel De La Paix
- Alissa Caron of PDI
- Will Haynes-Morrow from Temple Garden Foundation
- Loven Ramos from 1961

For your generosity of time and opportunities!

With big, fat hugs and kisses from,

The Field

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Normerica: Canadian Compassion for Cambodia

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Senhoa| Leave a comment

I have spent a bit of time on our blog writing about the staff and volunteers who have shaped and changed this organization. Today, I would like to dedicate this post to our donors, who are the lifeline of our work and without them; we would not be able to fund our programs. In particular, I want to focus on one very special group of donors – Normerica Inc. and its employees.

Senhoa girls with a banner they made during Arts & Craft for the Normerica team.

Mr. John Kimmel is the inspirational CEO of Normerica Inc., a company whose goal is to enhance the wellbeing of pets, people, and the environment by providing earth-friendly, premium quality, and innovative pet products (www.normericainc.com). Mr. Kimmel and his employees have supported Senhoa not only through generous donations from the company, but also through employee fundraising events like “Jean Fridays”. During our Global Giving challenge, the employees of Normerica were instrumental in helping Senhoa secure a place on www.globalgiving.org.

The Normerica team at their Toronto Head Office. On the wall is the banner from our girls.

Words cannot express enough our gratitude to the Normerica team. We are privileged that you have entrusted us with your resources and we promise that we are and will do everything in our capacity to deliver your compassion to those in need. We are working tirelessly in the field and at Head Office to reach as many service users as we can and to make a visible difference in the lives of vulnerable women and children.

Again, on behalf of the Senhoa staff, volunteers and service users, I want to send a deep and sen-cere “Thank You” to the team at Normerica Inc.

Thank you Normerica!
With love from The Field

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Sustainable Sewing

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Senhoa| Leave a comment

Suhr-so-dai! Hello again from Cambodia! Even though it’s meant to be Head Office’s turn at reporting the goings-on, too much is happening over here to wait another whole 2 weeks! A month ago now, we have a special visitor scheduled for Senhoa. Leading up to his arrival, I received a bombardment of emails from management encouraging and reassuring me that I’d do a fantastic job at hosting THE Thien Le. I was scratching my head: who?

Thien Le is one of Toronto, Canada’s most prominent designers, specializing in exclusive couture for the individual woman and man. As I read up on him and clicked through his runway shows and collections, I started laughing at my ignorance when I finally Googled him; I, the most un-savvy label fashionista, was hosting, punching and joking around with a fashion celebrity.

Senhoa Head Quarters had used its connections and charm to rope in the Canadian/Vietnamese designer to train the girls in Battambang branch of our partner shelter to make bags and kimonos as merchandise. The Battambang branch of our partner shelter has a sewing vocational training program. Senhoa proposed this small project to provide the girls with training in sewing and pattern making, as well as design good quality merchandise to make and sell in the United States and abroad, and to promote the work of both organizations.

Thien was a bundle of enthusiasm, squealing with delight (‘Oh My God, this is so COOL!!) from the airport in the open air tuk-tuk on which we picked him up. He was so excited to be in a new country to offer his talents to those who can benefit so significantly.

Our special guest was welcomed warmly with songs and dance by the girls which he received both shyly and graciously. Thien was given the tour of the shelter, our office and the classrooms, and see the Senhoa Program in action. I beamed with pride as they animatedly chatted to him about what they’ve learnt so far and how hopeful they are about their futures.

When training commenced the next day in Battambang, Thien dove straight in and showed the girls how to silk screen, how to cut fabric with accuracy, how to utilize fabric sparingly, how to adjust machine tension according to fabric thickness and other tricks of the trade. Thien was deeply impressed by the girls’ keenness to learn and how quickly they picked up his lessons. By the end of the 4-days, the girls had worked together in teams of four to make samples of the reversible Love Rescue Heal tote, and sophisticated kimono wrap.

Everyone cooperated so promptly that Thien even had time to cut and restyle most of the girls’ hair! (‘Wow, seriously, I need to bring over a TEAM to deal with this.’) Even mine! (‘You look like a girl, again!’)

 

We are so privileged to have Thien generously give his time, pro bono, to share his knowledge with us in Cambodia. This newly developed relationship between Thien and Senhoa has great implications for future merchandising and fundraising to create wider awareness of the Anti-Human Trafficking movement.

Thank you, Thien Le, our Fashionable Friend! We hope to see you again in the Kingdom of Wonder to work some more Wondrous Magic.

Check Thien out at www.thienle.com

With Hugs and Kisses from the Field.

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Volunteers Abound

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Senhoa| 8 Comments

Senhoa continues to astound me with its serendipitous events. The most recent series has resulted with an awesome team of volunteers!

Lets rewind a month. At the time it was only me and my exponentially improving Outreach Worker, Kimang. With the start-up of 3 partnerships, development of a life skills curriculum, lesson delivery, jewelry making, and the well-being of 17 teenage girls, very little time was left to get ‘official’ stuff done. Sure, it was ‘done’…but not ‘officially’. We needed help.
So one day, whilst sipping my 4th coffee that morning, I received a Facebook message (Oh, Hail Facebook!) from an estranged highschool colleague:

‘Hey! Long time no see! I heard that you’re working in Cambodia now and I want to do the same. Know anywhere I can volunteer for 6 months? I’ve got a Bachelors in Business and I’m Cambodian.’

As I wiped the coffee spray off my computer screen, my heart jumped out of my chest and kissed her profile picture.

Welcome, Emily Chhen, to Senhoa Cambodia!

High Schoolers unite! Emily, my new right-hand girl

Meanwhile, it was still a good 4 weeks until Emily’s arrival. We were still juggling 8 people’s jobs between us. Then on the 3rd of January, I was at brunch hosting some supporters from Australia describing to them the jet-speed progress of Senhoa.

‘We really want to find a way to help. What do you need?’

‘Honestly, the biggest thing we need now is man-power.’

Nearly as soon as those words left my mouth, my phone vibrated and I excused myself from company. (Normally I wouldn’t be so rude, but I felt a sense of excitement behind this call) It was from Jenni, the missionary worker for our partner shelter with whom I work very closely.

‘I just got a call from Youth With a Mission and they have 3 girls who want to volunteer for 2 months and they want to start tomorrow!’

I looked up to the clouds as they parted with beams of sunlight radiating through.

Haaaaaalelujah!

Thank you to Katie (Canada), Taylor (USA), and Joy (USA) for literally being angels sent from above.

Now with so many sets of hands and brains, our weekly schedules look like this:

By having the roles more spread out, it:

Opens me to develop more comprehensive curriculum and lesson plans, answer emails more thoroughly, attend more meetings with partner NGOs and other associates, train staff and volunteers, record in more detail the progress of the girls, and most importantly more time and brain space to plan out the big picture for Senhoa in Cambodia.

Allows Kimang to build stronger relationships with the girls and their families, dedicate more energy to learning Khmer, English and how to teach lessons.

And all this is supplemented by Marvelous Emily who will be in charge of administrations and accounts.

Phew!

So far it’s been an absolute pleasure having new team members on board and it’s given us a great taste for more! We’re still on the lookout for more volunteers to donate their time and services to the worthy cause that is Senhoa. Please don’t hesitate to contact info@senhoa.org if you are interested in our projects in Cambodia.

Over and out,

From The Field

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Crowded House…of LOVE!

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Senhoa| 1 Comment

Picking up from where HQ left off; the girls are in! On the 29th of November, three of the seven Senhoa community girls moved into the official CCPCR Lotus House. The joy and awe in their faces at their new home was priceless.

The discovery of this perfect place of residence happened a month ago when CCPCR’s manager, Mr. Thy made a trip specially from Phnom Penh for the house hunt. We had arranged with a realtor familiar with our needs and requirements to meet Mr. Thy and took us on a whirlwind, one-day search. Bing, bang, boom it only took 3 houses to find the perfect sanctuary for girls in transition.

The realtor showed us a two-story house a stone’s throw from the conveniences of town. Boasting 5 large bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, 4 communal areas, a kitchen and its sink, we decided unanimously that it was more than well enough equipped to house up to 15 young, hopeful women.

Leading the way for the House, we are very proud to have on board, Nary Ny, the newest member of the team taking on the role of Project Manager and Social Worker for the Lotus House. Nary has extensive experience working within the realm of humanitarianism, ranging from Shelter Manager to Child Rights Promotion Coordinator to Program Manager. Highly qualified (clearly!) for the position, Nary will support the young women in the house, helping them transition from rehabilitation to sustainable freedom.

The very presence of all these women under one roof has already lifted the vibe of the house, instantly turning it into a home. This new home for many is still under development in terms of furnishings and décor, but it will only be a matter of time. The girls have already reported sleeping better, breathing easier, and a growing feeling of self-worth.

Thanks for joining us again!

With love from,

The Field

PS. Pictures soon!

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