Saying goodbye to the Young Adult House

The last month a lot has happened regarding the Young Adult House. The owners of the house decided they want to sell the property. This meant that the last three students living there needed to move out. The decision had been made not to move to another Young Adult House right now. Luckily these last remaining students: Sert, Sopheak and Roun, all quickly found a new place to stay in Siem Reap.

Last week has been a strange week for them, because they had to move out of the house where they had been living for two years. Many things have happened in that house in those years. Let’s hope all the students who have been staying there will remind all the good experiences they have had together…

After the moving, it was time for cleaning! Many students from Anjali and even former residents of the house helped with this. The whole house has been cleaned, a wall has been painted, and the chicken coops have been taken down. In the photos you can see all the hard work everyone has done. Now everyone can enjoy their well-deserved holiday!

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A day at the Siem Reap climbing wall

On Sunday the 31th of March, the Young Adults of Anjali House went on a field trip. After having a huge lunch at a buffet restaurant (some students ate as much as five full plates!), they all went to a climbing wall in Siem Reap. A new and very exciting experience for all of the students! This is what one of the students, Sopheak, wrote about this day:

There was on 31^st of March, we  had a great time with our teachers. First we went to the Buffet Restaurant, which called Tonle Sap Restaurant. It was a very nice restaurant, because there were many kind of food and treats. We ate so much, because most of the food was really delicious. After that we went to another place, which called Sport Climbing  Federation. Everyone really enjoyed it too, because it was our first time to do that sport. It was really interesting, but there was a few students didn’t do it, cause they were scare of high so they didn’t want to do it, but they still loved it so much and they kept laughing when they saw their friends did it. We really had a great time that day.

For an impression of the climbing, check out the photos!

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Creative Writing Workshop 2013

The past month, Anjali’s students from the Opera House classes have been participating again in the Creative Writing Workshops, led by author Sue Guiney. It have been very exciting lessons, with amazing results. Thanks again Sue for doing this with the students! Below you find a report of this project, written by Sue herself.

Another year, another workshop. It’s hard for me to believe that the fifth Creative Writing Workshop, and the third one which I’ve led myself here at Anjali House, is now over. I thought I’d let the students and their Khmer teacher talk about the workshop themselves. First, here is what their Khmer teacher, Sitha, reported:

 For the last two weeks there was a creative writing workshop at the Young Adult House with our students from Anjali. Writer and workshop founder, Sue Guiney, led the classes, Melanie was the coordinator and I was a translator. It was an interesting class for the students because they had a chance to learn how to write poems and stories in English. First, they wrote poems and stories together and voted for the titles. Then they wrote their own poems and stories and read those to each other. The students worked very hard. Some of the students also drew pictures based on their stories. The class was conducted for two weeks and all the students said that they were so happy with the classes because it was a good occasion for them to improve and create some new ideas. Sue said that she felt happy too because the students were improved since last year. On Friday evening the students read their poems and stories from their new published magazine in the Shinta Mani Hotel.

Thanks so much, Sitha! This year’s issue is full of poems, stories and reports on the theme of travel and their visit to the circus,  illustrated by the students’ own drawings and photographs. And this time, it’s 50 pages long!

I was curious to see what the kids themselves thought about the work, and so I asked a few of them to write down some of their thoughts on taking part in the workshop. Here’s some of their comments:

I think the workshop is very good and it can help me be strong and happy and be a very good girl. It can help me when I grow up. If I will be a teacher I can help the children study about stories and poems. When I study poems and stories I can see my teacher called Sue. I can know how people live and what they eat and I can know what happens in their country or what happened with some people. I can change the way things are in my life and I can help other people. By Chy

 I think it is good and I know some things about other countries. Sometimes I feel happy and sometimes I feel scared. I think I am very smart. I think it is different for me (this year) because last year I didn’t know some words but this year I know a lot of words. Some time I can share some lessons with other people. By Vecheka

 The Writing Workshop can help us become smart. It makes me feel happy. It can make us do things in the right way. It can tell us about how people in the world live. It can tell us about their life. It can help my family. I can get brave. I can get stronger than last year. I can help people in the village. I want you to come teach again. By Daney

 Thanks to al the students and their teachers for their hard and inspirational work. And don’t worry, Daney. I will definitely be back next year!

 You can take a look and even purchase a copy of the magazine to download on our website at: http://www.anjali-house.com/

If you want to read more about the workshop, take a look at Sue’s blog: http://sueguineyblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/imagination-is-best-power.html

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Life in Phnom Penh

It has been a few months since the last update of the Young Adult Program. In the meantime a lot of things have happened: students have started studying, have changed their living situations and have found new jobs. From now on, we are going to keep you updated again on all the things that happen in the YAP!

For now, we start with a short update from one of our students, Sandy, who has been living and studying in Phnom Penh since last October. He has been living here together with another student from Anjali, Chanroth:

“My name is Sandy, I am a student from Anjali House. I used to live at the Young Adult House in Siem Reap for nearly 2 years, where I got a lot of knowledge and experience. I got education and I learned to live alone and to cook by myself.

Now I am living in Phnom Penh, because I wanted to study nursing and here is a good university for me. I am studying at the international university. It is a very good university, and we have teachers who have specific knowledge. It is a difficult subject, so I have to study hard every day. I often get assignments from the teacher, and this term I have ten subjects! However the teacher does not always have enough time to explain everything to us, so sometimes I have to copy the lesson from the teacher or from my friends. I have a good place to stay and my studying is going good. All the lessons that the teacher teaches I get 80% and the teacher always helps me if I have question.”

Next update coming soon!