Golden Futures has been receiving support from Students Supporting Street Kids (SSSK) for over ten years. Their long term support over the years has made a massive impact it what we've been able to do at NFC, and allowed us to make the decision to scale up our provision and work with other organisations as well. Last year, two volunteers from SSSK were travelling in Cambodia and wanted to visit NFC and see the work they have been supporting. Below are the comments the volunteers made about NFC, their projects, and how Golden Futures fits into them. It's a very gratifying read, and reaffirms my belief in the projects we are working on with NFC. Thank you Oliver and Rhianne, and thank you SSSK for your ongoing support!
"Our next stop was Cambodia and we were lucky enough to get in touch with New Futures for Children, based in Phnom Penh, which works closely with the Golden Futures charity to give street children a chance to gain funding to attend vocational courses and university after learning English and IT skills at the centre. On our arrival in Cambodia we made contact with Socheat, the NFC director, who made us feel welcome and allowed us to get involved with the English classes during the week of our visit.
The daily English classes, run by German year-long volunteers, saw the children learn new vocabulary and grammar before putting it into practice in a number of group and individual activities. While the ages and abilities of the children varied from class to class, their enthusiasm to learn and appreciation for the opportunity to do so was clear to see. Their passion was matched by that of the staff, one of whom had attended the centre himself as a child and had returned after attending university.
At the end of the week, we were invited to attend an annual football match with the children and some of the staff, organised by another of their sponsors from Singapore, where a lot of fun was had by all - despite somewhat struggling to keep up! We also had the opportunity to speak to some of the older live-in children at the centre and past students whose lives had seen a hugely positive impact from both the centre and the funding available from Golden Futures in enabling them to get out of the cycle of poverty and off the streets for good.
Seeing first hand the difference that the money we help raise has made to so many children was an eye-opening and rewarding experience."
The daily English classes, run by German year-long volunteers, saw the children learn new vocabulary and grammar before putting it into practice in a number of group and individual activities. While the ages and abilities of the children varied from class to class, their enthusiasm to learn and appreciation for the opportunity to do so was clear to see. Their passion was matched by that of the staff, one of whom had attended the centre himself as a child and had returned after attending university.
At the end of the week, we were invited to attend an annual football match with the children and some of the staff, organised by another of their sponsors from Singapore, where a lot of fun was had by all - despite somewhat struggling to keep up! We also had the opportunity to speak to some of the older live-in children at the centre and past students whose lives had seen a hugely positive impact from both the centre and the funding available from Golden Futures in enabling them to get out of the cycle of poverty and off the streets for good.
Seeing first hand the difference that the money we help raise has made to so many children was an eye-opening and rewarding experience."
