Here is an update from Seth Kirby, who is running the Birmingham marathon to raise money for Golden Futures. You can support his fundraising here. Hello again! It's been a while since my last update. I've been making significant progress with my training which I've been slotting around my PhD studies. Back in early March my training was averaging between 15-20km a week. This included a slightly longer run of just over 10km at the beginning of the week, followed by an hour long football five-a-side session on Thursdays and Parkrun (most weeks) on Saturdays. I generally train in and around my local green spaces which are Jesus Green and Midsummer Common in Cambridge. As we head into spring and summer it has been pleasant running along the River Cam and watching all of the University of Cambridge college rowing clubs practice their moves, especially in the run up to the Boat Race! After a short break in the South of France over Easter (where I managed to fit in a couple of shorter runs along the Canal du Midi), my training programme has stepped up and I've increased my running distance. I'm still in the routine of doing Parkrun at the weekend and I've recently done the Graves Parkrun, and Manor Castle Parkrun in Sheffield, as well as my local one in Cambridge. You can keep track of all of my runs via my Strava account. Although my training has gradually increased to 20-25km a week I am maintaining my performance and remaining injury free (long may this continue!). A couple of weeks ago, me and my partner completed in the Wings for Life World Run. Wings for Life is a global charity event where everyone starts running simultaneously across the globe. Luckily the UK edition just happened to be held in Cambridge! All of the entry fees and subsequent donations go to supporting spinal cord research projects worldwide. The format is fairly unique, giving you the chance to run as far as you possibly can until the "Catcher Car" chases you down. Sounds simple doesn't it? It was terribly hard work! I was over the moon to reach the 28km mark - finishing 367 out of nearly 3000 runners in the UK. Don't forget you can donate to my fundraising page. If you know someone that would be interested in these marathon posts, please do be kind enough to share! Until next time, Seth Sean SENGHEAK graduated from the Royal University of Law and Economics in October 2016 with a degree in Finance and Banking. Here she is pictured on her graduation day.
“First I want to say thank you to Golden Futures so much, that make me have this day I’m very very happy. Finance and Banking is very important subject, and [you have to study hard to be successful at it].” Sengheak now works for a relative’s driving school company and, having got married in January 2017, is enjoying married life! Doch MNORSEN graduated from SETEC Insitute in September 2016 with a degree in Management and Information Systems. Here he is pictured on his graduation day with his wife and daughter. He explained:
“After my graduation, I feel that I am grown up enough to challenge in the outside world. I feel confident to talk with different people, and people respect me as a well-educated person. In Cambodia they [are] very proud of someone who graduates with [a] university degree because in the provinces not many families can afford to send their children to study in universities. What I enjoyed most about my degree was learning how to solve problems with modern, changing technology. It’s like magic! We can make things that we thought were impossible happen - for example the Internet. Now I am working in the Operations Team for an international private school in Phnom Penh.” All of us at Golden Futures are so pleased with what Doch Mnorsen has achieved. Thank you to everyone who's supported us - it's allowed us to help Doch Mnorsen through university and to move on to his next challenge in the Operations Team! Friday the 14th April 2017 marks Maha Songkan the first day of the New Year celebrations in Cambodia. There are three days of celebrations in Khmer New Year - Maha Songkan, Virak Wanabat, and Leang Saka. Maha Songkan is the day of creation. Virak Wanabat is the second day of Khmer New Year and is a time for families to exchange gifts and think about those less fortunate than themselves. The third day of Khmer New Year is Leang Saka when traditionally Buddhists wash statues of Buddha with perfumed water. This action is symbolic of washing the bad away.
Take a look here if you’d like to find out more about Khmer New Year. We would love to see pictures of you celebrating Khmer New Year so please share them with us on Twitter or Facebook. Finally, we’d like to wish all our friends and supporters in Cambodia a Happy New Year - suostei chhnam thmei! Hi everyone,
On the 15th of October 2017 I am going to run the Birmingham International Marathon to support Golden Futures. This is my first marathon and I'm looking forward to the challenge, especially trying to keep my training on track. I will update you on my training and progress. You can find out more about my fundraising efforts here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/sethkirby Cheers, Seth Nottingham University volunteers have begun planning for the 2017 visit to Cambodia where they will work with Golden Futures partners, helping disadvantaged young people make a good start in life.
Golden Futures is looking to the future as the role of their Cambodian partners develops. We are hoping that next year's volunteers will be able to help with this work. Hi again,
We are coming to the end of our 5th week at NFC and have begun scheduling university visits for the students in grade 11 or 12. On Wednesday 3rd August we visited Pannasastra University with 5 other students and we were welcomed by the Dean of the business school and Mak Vann, the director of education at the University. After a quick question and answer session with the professors, we received a tour of the facilities at the University. All loan applications were completed by the 5th August for the 3 students expecting to attend University later this year, we hope they will all be approved. Jess has managed to secure a translation company for the University Guide, so the guide will be completed by next Wednesday. During this whole week we have been teaching English twice a day as the German volunteer who usually teaches has now left Cambodia. On Tuesday 9th Anna presented her workshop, Budgeting, to the students at NFC. They seemed to benefit from this greatly and were able to calculate the case studies with ease. We have also begun interviewing Midway House students about what they are doing now and whether they are enjoying their University course. Will keep you updated Hi,
This is Tam, we are currently in our 4th week at NFC and have delivered a number of workshops in the past week. On the 26th July Anna and I visited Cambodian Children's Fund and presented the CV and Interview workshop twice to different groups of students. On the 30th July, all four of us went to ACE and after we gave our workshops to the students there, we visited one of their projects in a slum, which was very eye opening. Our final workshop of the trip will be held this Thursday, which will be budgeting for the older students at NFC. Jess has been emailing companies regarding work experience for some of the students at NFC. This week we should finish the University Guide and begin printing and distributing it, while completing the loan application forms for the 3 students who are attending University later this year. That's all for the past week, we will keep you updated. Hi,
This is Tam, one of the volunteers from the University of Nottingham and I arrived at NFC on the 11th July with Jess, Anna and Cailin. We began by interviewing the older students who are about to go to university and leave the orphanage. Following this, we found out which courses they were interested in and at which universities they wanted to study at so we could start to plan trips for the students to learn more about their courses. We met with the Director of NFC, Socheat, to confirm that these students were capable of doing their respective degrees and advised us on which route to take. Meanwhile, we started to deliver CV and cover letter sessions to the older students. They found this very helpful as one of them needs to write a letter of interest for some work experience that we managed to arrange. The University Guide is almost complete and we are in the process of finding a competitive price for printing as many NGOs have already placed orders. We have also had two meetings at translation companies in Phnom Penh to try and get the guides translated for free. We will update you with our progress! |
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