By Tanya Seeley | Founding Trustee
HOPE has now been sponsoring the Young Adult (“YA”) Programme attached to the the Sangkhem Centre for Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia, for two years. To date HOPE has donated $25,000 (see photo in December where the YAs presented HOPE trustees with a Recognition Diploma).
This programme is vital to ensure underprivileged children who have grown up in the orphanage have a sensible and practical transition into grown up life. This quarter we have asked Pok, an 18 year girl that HOPE trustees first met 5 years ago, to tell you about her story. When we first met her she was a shy quiet girl, but even then she wanted to be a nurse and help others, she was always helping the Centre’s carers to look after the small children or would be in the kitchen helping Cook.
Pok always had a big beaming smile on her face, despite being the only one of four siblings who had to grow up living in an orphanage. The last time I saw her (December 2010) she was a mature young women with drive, dreams and determination – now the Head Girl in the YA transition house (responsible for the rotas and managing the solution to any problems that arise), Pok chattered away in English and was telling me all about the work experience she was about to start at the childrens’ hospital.
But it is much better if you hear it from her……..Thank you for supporting HOPE, it lets us help Pok and many others like her in Cambodia, improve their own lives.
Hello, my name is Heap Pok. I’m 18 years old. I study in grade 12th at Samdach Ove High School. I have 3 brothers. They live in the country and they are farmers. They have family. My parents die when I was 3 years old. I came to live in Sangkheum when I was 7 years old. I live in Sangkheum where I can learn Khmer, English, Computer, Recreational dancing from Sangkheum and from my teacher.
When I ill I have a good teacher to take care of me so I happy to live in Sangkheum. But when I was 17 years old I left from Sangkheum to live in Young Adult House. I’m very upset at first because I think who cook dinner, lunch and breakfast for me and who take care of me when I was ill and who help me when I have a problem and I don’t want to leave my teacher and Sangkheum. But now it is very good for me because I know how to cook and how to live in community with other young adults. I am happy living in Young Adult House because they’re good and friendly with each other. Sometime we have a little problem with them but its ok because we can explain to each other. We can learn from them and we know how to live and communicate with each other. Some of my house mates are training in hotel or company, now we know how to cook.
I get up at 5.00 in the morning, I clean around the house and do dishes or plant the flowers in the front of our house. At 6.00am I start my school and I come back at 12.00. If I came home early I cook for all my friends, if I come back later my friends cook, and at 12.30 I’m volunteer at Angkor hospital in Siem Reap town until 4.00pm. At 4.10 – 5.30 I have computer class and at 6.00pm to 7.30pm I start English class. I am training at Angkor hospital 5 days a week, computer and English classes 5 days a week too. And at 7.45pm I’m a babysitter 3 or 4 times a week. Sometime I am very tired with all my study and my job training. Because I don’t have power in my body. But I like it because I want to find experience and know how to work. In the future I want to be a nurse because I want to help all the children and all the people when they ill. And I want to take care all the people in my country if I can do. Especially I want to help senior citizen in my country too. And I want to help development of my country. Now I can find some experience from other person and from old person, from friend and from my teacher. In the future I want to improve my life and know how to communicate in the society.
In my big dream I want to visit at some country like Canada, America, England, Australia,….. that I like but it not sure because I don’t have time or money and I’m a student, and can’t travel alone. One day…….
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