.. CCH in the Community Center for Children's Happiness, in its nature, is always reaching out to the wider world. Above, CCH Director, Mech Sokha, addresses a meeting at Phnom Penh Hotel of child rights groups sponsored by UNICEF and Plan International Cambodia. The conference examined the results of recent research on child rights awareness within Cambodia.
Sokha also acts as Chairperson for NGO CRC (NGO Committee on Rights of the Child), a networking group of 49 mostly Cambodian non-governmental organizations concerned with issues of trafficking, child abuse and child labor. Sokha is, of course, very well informed about these difficult issues, and is therefore often called upon to speak to NGO CRC meetings, which often concern themselves with information sharing among organizations, so that all may be as fully informed as possible about latest events in Cambodia pertaining to child rights.
In a similar vein, but with a different audience, Sokha (second from right) was a presenter at a function broadcast by Television Kampuchea (TVK), a government run television station. Sokha's topic: Implementation within Cambodia of the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child. Meanwhile, CCH staff and older youth attended a teacher training workshop to improve skills in tutoring younger CCH children:
Long time CCH staff member, Prak Sokha (left)
Srey Pao, CCH librarian and office assistant, studies the teaching material
Football!!! Not all community outreach is so serious, however. CCH now is fielding its own football team (soccer for you Americans). As you can imagine, this is quite a thrill for members of the team.
Coach Morng Bunroeun, himself a CCH graduate, university student, veteran of competition in Australia, and now the PE coach for CCH International Primary School, prepares for football team tryouts.
Tryouts
The CCH Football Team
Getting the field ready at a local high school
Warm ups!!
The game was organized by CCH's Morng Bunrouen, with teams from CCH and a local anti-trafficking organization called "Riverkids". The teams played to a friendly tie. A couple of weeks later, the CCH team got to play in a "big time" venue, at the National Football Center in Phnom Penh. Take a look:
Vocational Training Even further afield in the wide world of Cambodia, things are progressing well with the 8 young men who are receiving vocational training at the Don Bosco facility in Sihanoukville, sponsored by De Stortkinderen VZW in Belgium. You can see from the photos that the equipment is excellent, and the young men are proud of themselves. They also have excellent job prospects when they graduate in a year and a half.
Director Sokha with 4 of the young men
Showing Sokha the latest skill
Youth House Closer to home, but still with an eye to the wider world, the CCH Youth House is now ready for occupancy on the ground floor, and the first group of young people is now moving in. Purchase of the Youth House land and funds for building have been provided Canodia Fund of Canada, De Stortkinderen VZW of Belgium, and Friends of CCH in the U.S.
Lower floor finished. Second floor halfway done (waitng for funding!)
Professionals making the windows
CCH kids, under Sokha's supervision, learning to lay the outside tile walkways. Sokha is a licensed building engineer.
This is a co-educational effort
and fun, too!!
The new quarters
Moving in
Lockers!
Progress at the CCH 3 Facility In 2008 and 2009, combined donations from Eli Svanhild Riska Thorsen Group in Norway and several other donors in the United States allowed CCH to purchase about 1286 square meters of land immediately adjacent to the existing CCH 2 dormitories and the new CCH Youth House. Now, thanks to another large grant from the Eli Svanhild Riska Thorsen Group of Norway, CCH is able to begin construction of a CCH 3 dormitory facility. The dormitory itself will be 3 stories, and construction is scheduled to begin on this in mid-2010. However, as of February, site preparation has begun, including the building of a wall around the perimeter of the entire CCH 3 property.
The ditch at the right marks the border of the CCH 3 property, extending all the way to a street access beyond. The site is to the left of the ditch, extending out of the photo. The area between the ditch and the low brick wall at the top of the photo will be a driveway and parking area for CCH 3.
Installing the posts for the perimeter fence.
And Finally......... Just for fun, photos from the CCH new year's party:
Want to make a year end donation to CCH? Click here to find out how.
Content: Buth Sambath, CCH Photo journalists, and VZW de Stortkinderen English Editing and Layout: Elia Van Tuyl
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