Bike Race Training Update: Week Four

On the 30^th of   September 2012, it was the fourth session of the bike race.

We were cycling to Dam Daek and we took 1 hour and 25 minutes for  38 kilometers .We had three groups. There were fast group, medium group and slow group. On that day I loved to cycle because the weather was very nice, it was not hot. My teammates and I really enjoyed it very much and we were cycling very hard.

When we arrived there we took a short break and we bought some foods and drinks. Then we were cycling to our teacher’s sister’s home. We had lunch around 10 o’clock, it was a really good time to have lunch together. After lunch some of my teammates and I  left so early because we were busy, some of them stayed. They would spent more times to have a long relax there because they were so tired.

My teammates and I were cycling back home and we arrived home around 1o’clock. At the end we would like to say we love this session very much and we will practice hard with other sessions . The next session is the fifth session and we are going to have a long way again to Sau Sadam.

Written by Keo Sopheak

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Commitment, Dedication and Perseverance – The Angkor Wat Bike Race

It is not often that we can provide you with news combining both the students in the Young Adult Program, and those who live at the Young Adult House, but here it is!

On December 1st, 14 of our Young Adult students, and two of our staff members will be riding 100km around Angkor Wat to raise funds for our food program at Anjali. This effort, of course, is not just to raise much needed funds for our $2,000USD a month food program. In order to be well prepared for the 100km journey, our students must partake in the below training plan. By setting a goal, and working towards it, the students will learn about perseverance, dedication, commitment and teamwork. It will be amazing to see the progress which will be happening over the next few months.

Date	Distance	Destination	Lunch/Bike Rental
9th Sept	About 1 km	Jogging around town
16th Sept	20km	60 Road Angkor Wat Check Point
23rd Sept	30km	PURE! Dream Centre via. Road 6
30th Sept	35km	Baray	Lunch
7th Oct	40km	Bakong	Lunch
14th Oct	About 2 km	Jogging around 60 Road
21st Oct	45km	Prah Dak Village	Lunch
28th Oct	50km	Sau Sasdam	Lunch
4th Nov	55km	Angkor Wat	Lunch
11th Nov	60km	Dam Daik	Lunch
18th Nov	70 km	Angkor Chum	Lunch and Bike
25th Nov	65 km	Kralanh District	Lunch and Bike
1st Dec	100 km	Angkor Wat	Lunch and Bike

The first training session is happening this weekend, with Sopheak leading a jog around town. We are hoping the ‘Team Anjali’ t-shirts we have ordered will be ready by then!

If you wanted to sponsor Team Anjali, you can do so here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/anjali_angkor_bikeride.

Stay tuned for next weeks update, this is going to be quite the journey!

And then there were four!

The Young Adult House has been a bit quiet as of late, with only four boys currently living there.

As many of you would know, Pheaktra is now a certified electrician thanks to his training at Grace House, which sees him earning a stable income. In addition to this full time job, he also has an evening job at a local guesthouse, where he is responsible for general maintenance and being on the reception desk from 5pm – 10pm.In order to save his money to buy land for his family, Pheaktra decided it was time to move on from the Young Adult House. Although we are sad to see him go, we are very happy that the house has served it’s purpose – as a transitional home. Throughout his year and a half at the house, Pheaktra has learnt a trade, he has discovered how to live independently and healthily, his confidence has increased dramatically, and his relationship management is much better. Following in Sophal’s footsteps, Pheaktra is now the second student to graduate from our Young Adult House. This isn’t the last we will see of him, however, as he is in training with the other young adults for the Angkor Wat Bike Race!

The second student to move out is Ruon. Given that Ruon is only heading into Grade 10, we have decided it is best for him to live with his Aunty who lives only a few hundred metres from the Young Adult House. We aim to keep our students in a family environment, and work closely with those families to educate them and support them with any issues they might have. When he reaches Grade Twelve, Ruon will be able to come back to the Young Adult House, where it will continue to serve its purpose as a transitional house from teenagehood to adulthood. Although it was a bit hard for Ruon to understand that this decision was in the best interests of him and other potential Young Adult House students, he now understands the reasoning behind students not living there until Grade Twelve.

We are currently discussing ways to help students from other NGO’s at our Young Adult House, but these things take time. So, for now, it is just Rith, Sopheak, Seut and Sandy left for now!

Young Adults Get A New Library!

Our Young Adult Boys are always enthusiastic about learning new things, however lack a dedicated study area at the Young Adult House. This has now changed, thanks to some sponsors and the hard work of some Young Adult Program students and staff!

Over five days, three staff members and numerous students scraped the walls of the previous paint job, cleaned the room, painted four coats of blue and green on the walls, and laid down a floor covering. Once again, we are very proud of the teamwork demonstrated by our Young Adults – they really are maturing every day!

The library will be used by the boys staying at the house, and in the near future we hope to open it up to the other Young Adult Program students as a place to study on the weekends.

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