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October 2007
Holiday Gift Giving Ideas
Looking to give the perfect gift to someone who has everything? How about giving the gift of clean water to a group of families or sponsoring a university scholarship student in Cambodia in the name of a loved one?
Microfinance Project
40 new loans were given out in September and October, and JWOC added 29 new members to the Village Microfinance Fund.
Top left: Villagers attend a seminar on developing business ideas. Top right: Sreipech helps a woman complete her loan application. Bottom left: Has Piset discusses how to calculate profits. Bottom right: Scholarship students discuss the business ideas.
Help from Seven Bridges Middle School
“I showed the pictures of the new wells installed with the money I donated to my 5th grade students. From the first day of school I teach them that we study social studies for the ultimate purpose of saving the world. We must learn about other cultures, peoples, countries, governments, and histories so that we can come up with solutions to our world's problems. I asked them how many of their families have donated money, food, clothing, etc... Most raised their hands. I said, "you're saving the world." Then I showed them the well pictures to show them what I'm doing. Many of them want to donate money for wells. They joined our community service club, which plans to put a cardboard well in the school lobby to collect money to build a well. Also, some of my girls told me their girlscout troop plans to donate money for wells. I gave them your website. I've also included a link to your website on my website.
I hope all is well there. Keep up the good work.” - Tom Rubeo
September 2007
TravelAid Volunteers
August was a busy month for JWOC ! We hosted a group of seven students from Oxford University volunteering for four weeks. A tremendous amount was accomplished and here is a brief summary:
Microfinance
- Revised and improved the ‘Making a Budget’ and ‘Making a Business Plan’ presentations.
- Improved the microloan recipients’ assessment questionnaire and carried out several interviews.
- Collected all loan data and entered it onto an easily updatable excel file, which will be used for monthly and quarterly reports.
Clean Water Project
- Tested 11 existing wells for arsenic and coliforms.
- Scouted 8 new well locations.
- Updated Google Earth with the new wells’ GPS coordinates and the well spreadsheet.
Dollars for Scholars
- Assessed applications and performed an interview and screening process for all the new scholarship candidates.
- Selected and awarded 11 new university scholarships and integrated them into the various JWOC projects.
- Carried out additional interviews, enabling us to write a detailed biography for each student.
Language School
- Taught and assisted the English and computer teachers at Wat Thmei and Wat Chork for 4 weeks.
- Cleaned and improved the classrooms at both temples (put up posters, bought other classroom supplies).
- Supervised the construction of the new classroom at Wat Chork and financed the purchase of new computers, desks, and chairs
Public Relations
- Created a JWOC brochure describing each project in greater depth.
- Edited and improved the JWOC pamphlet.
- Submitted entries for the JWOC blog twice a week.
- Organized 3 fund raising events and entered JWOC into the rotation of charities who receive the proceeds from a weekly Pub Quiz.
July 2007
Project Updates
Clean Water Project – Dollars for Scholars students are now being trained to record and input GPS coordinates along with photos of completed wells which can be sent directly to donors. Look for photos of your well sent by Vorng, Narla, or Se!
Dollars for Scholars – JWOC will be offering 10 new university scholarships to female Cambodians in need of support. For more information on current university scholars, please visit our scholarship student biographies.
Village Microfinance Fund – Knowledge of business basics for small business owners is a problem JWOC is addressing by implementing a new training seminar for Cambodian villagers. The seminars include information about creating a budget, calculating profits, and saving for emergency situations. After villagers finish the course, university scholarship students then help the villagers complete their loan applications to receive a micro-loan from JWOC. With these new courses JWOC will be giving out many new loans in the upcoming months.
Language School – Six West Point cadets are volunteering at two of JWOC’s language schools, helping to teach English and computers to students as well as helping with other projects in the mornings.
June 2007
Marathon Fun Run
Firstly, I want to give a big Thank You for supporting my marathon and JWOC. The response was fantastic, and I am so thrilled that we managed to raise over $ 5,725. There are still some more donations coming in, so it will probably be even higher!
The marathon was long and slow, but nevertheless I finished, so I’m happy!
I woke up nice and early last Sunday morning at 3:30am to be sure I could eat some food and drink plenty of water. I applied the necessary tape and Vaseline to help prevent chaffing, grabbed a few baht, laced up my shoes and was ready to go. There were some other runners from Malaysia, Singapore, and Germany staying at the same bungalows as me, and when we met in the lobby at 4:30am there was much discussion of racing strategies. Everyone was shocked that I didn’t have a wrist watch and lacked a clear projected time for finishing. I told them that since it was my first marathon, I just wanted to finish the race in one piece. They laughed and before long we piled into a van and drove to the starting line.
When we reached the starting line, I thought we were in the wrong place, because the scene looked more like a discotheque with loud speakers, neon lights, and people everywhere. But sure enough it was the right place. The sky was black, but the vibe was electric. With five minutes until go time, people from over 40 countries were stretching and loosening up.
The first 5K was pretty slow, and I was terrified of not having enough energy later in the race, so I tried to keep a slow and steady pace. Despite running in darkness and with no sun, the humidity was high, and the air was sticky. When the sky lit up about 40 minutes later, there were some dark clouds in the distance that looked menacing. Sure enough, at the 10K marker it started to rain. Then it started to rain really hard. Then the thunder and lightning came. Everything I was wearing instantly became soaked, including my shoes which felt like lead weights.
Fortunately, the clouds meant no blazing sun, and it was a tropical rain storm, which meant a warm rain. After about 25 minutes, the rain stopped, but thanks to the humidity (wink) I was saturated for the remainder of the race. The two pairs of thin socks I wore proved to be a small miracle- no serious blisters during or after the race!
The course started through the city streets with motorbikes, cars, and trucks passing dangerously close, and I tried my best to run along the shoulder with all the other runners. It then made its way into unpopulated undulating hills with jungle all around. Fog from the nearby coast hovered among the rubber trees and rows of pineapple fields. It was gorgeous. The scenery was helping to distract my attention from my legs, which did not like the hills and from my feet which did not like my wet shoes.
Kilometer 12-30 were kind of a blur. I remember running along the ocean at one point thinking how lucky I was to be running in paradise. At another point I remember passing a novice monk following his elder collecting morning alms and watching me at my snail’s pace with a curious smile. As I reached the 30K mark at 3hr, 36min and fatigue was truly setting in. I found I was walking more now before and after the water stations.
It was tough getting to each of the next kilometer markers. There were only a few people around, and more often than not, I found I was by myself. It took a lot of positive self-talk to keep going. At kilometer 34 there was a set of rolling hills that I was totally unprepared for. This really took it out of me…. The course just kept going and going and going.
I reached Kilometer 38 and was greeted by some familiar faces cheering me on – Brandon, Barrett, Andrea, Callie, and Couper.
‘Run, John, Run,’ little Callie said.
I stopped for a minute for some hugs, and then kept running with Brandon and Barrett by my side. My cousins were great motivators telling me that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do most: walk. As the last of the race was approaching, more and more people appeared cheering me on. So I kept running, albeit very slowly.
I reached the finish line (42Km) with Andrea and kids there again cheering me on. I couldn’t help but smile and crossed the finish line at 5hr. 29min. It was a magical moment. I felt tired and weak, but elated at the same time. Months of training in Cambodia alone had been for this moment. It was surreal. I had visualized it many times in training, and it was finally here. I made it!
It was a great experience all around, and I am so happy to have done it for a good cause. The money donated will be used to continue the good works of JWOC helping with education, clean water, and business development for the needy in Cambodia.
I sincerely thank everyone so much for helping all along the way.
- John Walsh, JWOC Managing Director
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Summer Newsletter Now Available !
The issue includes:
Building New Homes, Giving New Hope: Epitomizing JWOC’s See a Problem, Solve a Problem philosophy, when a group of Cambodians lost their homes to a fire, JWOC stepped in to help rebuild their homes.
Connecting Cambodian Students with International Supporters: After starting a pen-pal relationship via email almost one year ago, California resident Loren O’Connor traveled to Cambodia to meet the Dollars for Scholars scholarship student, Heng Bunsung, he is helping to support in University.
Business Heats Up & Expanding the Microfinance Project: Newly trained scholarship students are now giving out more loans to women like Lay Eng, who is enjoying the benefits of fair interest rate loans to expand her small beverage business.
Clean Water Project: GPS & Well Testing: Using GPS technology and Google Maps, JWOC will be creating maps cataloging existing and future wells along with water testing results.
Cambodia: A Runner’s Challenge: Training for a marathon in the hot season in Cambodia: Are you crazy?
How To Help. The success of JWOC depends on the generous contributions of its supporters. Learn how you can become a JWOC Supporter.
April 2007
Village Microfinance Fund- Frequently Asked Questions
We have added a FAQ section for the Village Microfinance Fund. Hopefully this will help answer some of the questions surrounding the project.
Running for JWOC
John Walsh, Managing Director of JWOC, is currently training in Cambodia in preparation for the Phuket Marathon in June 2007. John will be running to help raise funds for JWOC.
GPS Mapping
Starting this month, JWOC will utilize GPS technology to map existing and future water wells throughout Siem Reap Province. We will be exploring the use of technology to create maps for both donors and our own records. In the future we hope to have maps throughout the region detailing all JWOC wells, conditions of the villages they are in, health statistics, and new locations in need.
March 2007
Congratulations to the new scholarship students! JWOC is proud to have 11 new students apart of the Dollars for Scholars Project. The new students are attending Angkor University and Build Bright University in Siem Reap, Cambodia and pursing various fields of study including English, Management, Accounting, Hospitality and Tourism.
As part of their scholarship, each student is giving back to the community helping with various JWOC projects. We are now training these ambitious and talented students to be Village Microfinance Loan Officers, Language School Teachers, and Well Scouts.
Water Well Price Increase
Due to the increased price of materials, JWOC is increasing the cost of donations to the Clean Water Project. The new cost of one well is $100, with an optional sign for a cost of $25.
February 2007
JWOC projects are now in full swing. Following a good building year in 2006, we are very excited to watch the growth of JWOC and the development of our projects.
One project in particular that has tremendous potential is the Dollars for Scholars Scholarship Program, which gives high achieving students the opportunity to go to local Cambodian universities. Each scholarship student is required to give back 5 – 10 hours per week to the community by helping with a JWOC project of their choice. This gives JWOC a wonderful resource to help development all our other projects, and gives an invaluable opportunity to each student.
With more scholarship students, we are able to increase the number loans we give, language and computer classes we teach, and water wells we drill. In January, JWOC held interviews at local universities in Siem Reap and selected 11 new scholarship students. By the end of 2007, we expect to have around 40 scholarship students joining the team.
We have been very busy with other projects as well. We are supporting two new language schools – one at Wat Chork and another at Wat Prasat Thram Neak in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Our scholarship students have been helping to teach beginning and intermediate classes in Japanese and English. We will also be making needed repairs in the classrooms so we can install more computers and start more technology classes.
The Clean Water Project is well underway and we are currently drilling many new wells. In December 2006, we received donations for over 35 new wells! We are doing our best to install the wells as soon as possible.
For the Village Microfinance Fund, we are training new loan officers to manage new micro loans that will be given to women starting new businesses in Siem Reap. The power of the small loans makes such a tremendous difference in the community empowering new business owners that we are excited to be giving out more loans.
JWOC in the News
Reservoir of Good Will, Well-Digging Visitors Part of Growing Trend: Volunteer Tourism
By JOHN F. GREENMAN
January 14, 2007
SIEM REAP, Cambodia – P. Sopany, an entrepreneurial woman in a squatter’s village near here, peers into the opening of a shallow, dug well.
“Water from here is not beautiful,” she says.
The well is flush with the ground, framed by weathered boards. An irregular sheet of corrugated metal serves as a cover. Looking into the well, the water is grayish brown with bubbles on the surface. There are mosquito larvae and tadpoles.
Not beautiful indeed.
Sopany and her neighbors estimate that drinking water from this well sickens adults ten to fifteen times a year, the children more often. But it is convenient, accessible and free; it’s what they have.
We are in her village today to offer what we hope is a better alternative.
I’ve volunteered to help bring clean water to this small village in northwest Cambodia, one of the 20 poorest countries on Earth. My role was funding the well – they cost $100 each. A local crew, I was told, would handle the labor. But I might be allowed to help.
This is called “volunteer tourism,” a growing segment of the tourism market, fueled primarily by well off Baby Boomers like me. We want to visit poor countries like Cambodia, but are uneasy about vacations in Third World countries that feature luxuries and amenities far beyond the reach of local citizens.
Vacationers look for more than just sightseeing
By JANET FULLWOOD
Sacramento Bee Travel Editor
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
When Bud Philbrook and Michele Gran got married in 1979, their idea of a honeymoon was a barefoot cruise in the Caribbean. But a few weeks before the wedding, Gran decided she didn't want to do that.
"It was the time of the Vietnamese boat people," Philbrook recalled on a trip through Sacramento earlier this year, "and she said she didn't want to play on water while people were risking their lives for liberty." So they canned the cruise and, at Gran's insistence, spent a week of their honeymoon in a rural village in Guatemala, assisting an international development organization with community projects.
They also spent a week in Orlando. But when they got home, guess what? Their friends weren't interested in hearing about Florida. They wanted to know about Guatemala, the people in the village -- and how they, too, might be able to arrange a kind of mini-Peace Corps experience.
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