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Operation Smile - 12-17 March 2010
In mid-March, JWOC partnered once again with Operation Smile – an organization that provides free operations to poor children living with Cleft Lips, Cleft Palattes or other facial deformities, whose families cannot afford to have these life changing procedures. The Operation Smile mission in March 2010 was an international mission, with Doctors coming from around the world to help over 100 Cambodians.
JWOC was able to organize for ten children from Siem Reap to take the trip to Phnom Penh to see the visiting doctors. While not all of them were able to have operations this time, all of them consulted with the doctors and learnt more about the nature of their deformities and their future options. A number of the children we took this time suffer from large birthmarks on their faces and many of them will have to wait until they are around 17-18 years old before a skin graft can be attempted.
However, four life changing operations were performed on 14th March for the children JWOC took to Phnom Penh. We are very happy to report that the one year old girl, Socheata, who was unable to have the operation last time JWOC went in December due to health problems, had a very successful operation this time and now has a wonderful smile! The doctors were able to help the two others with lip problems and one with a facial birthmark.
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The trip was organized and coordinated by our wonderful staff at JWOC. Graduate Intern and Clean Water Project Manager Sokhorn (who also went on JWOC’s first trip in December 2009) and Microfinance Project Manager Boret, took the children to Phnom Penh this time and made sure that everyone was looked after, kept safe and fully informed of what was happening throughout the trip.
JWOC plans to help as many children as it can every time Operation Smile visits Cambodia. If you are interested to help make this possible please donate now! It costs JWOC around $100 per child (and guardian) to give them this life changing opportunity. The next mission is in May 2010 in Pursat Province.
February 2010 - Children studying with JWOC get involved with Siem Reap's Annual Giant Puppet Project Street Parade
Thirty children from JWOC spent two days at workshops held by Giant Puppet Project Staff in Siem Reap to build a Giant Monkey which was paraded on the streets on Saturday 27th February 2010. This community arts project is held annually to help local disadvantaged children foster self expression and confidence through art. The puppets also highlight the biodiversity in Cambodia and serve as a reminder that we must look after our environment if we do not wish to lose it.
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The thirty JWOC kids took a trip to the center of town to show off their work in the parade which moved through the center of Siem Reap on Saturday night. It finished up at the park outside the Raffles Hotel where there was entertainment for the children. It was a really successful night and a great time was had by all!
Christmas 2009: This Christmas, JWOC was lucky enough to have a visit from Santa! Children in all our classes in Cambodia had a firsthand taste of the excitement of Christmas and all received presents they could use at school and something fun too. If you would like to follow in Santa's footsteps and give to JWOC this holiday season please click here...
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Traditional Dance Performances: The holiday period saw JWOC’s traditional dance class receive its first official performance bookings! During the course of two evenings, visitors to Cambodia and local JWOC and Journeys Within staff were treated to performances by twenty of our student dancers, under the guidance of scholarship student teacher Kaghchna. The Christmas Eve performance was held at the Kemara Angkor Hotel and on Christmas Day, another performance was held at Journeys Within B&B. As well as being wonderful to watch, these performances were an important step for the dancers in taking their skills out of the practice room and onto the stage!
6 December 2009: Congratulations to our Microfinance Project Manager Michèle for completing the Angkor Wat International Half Marathon! Here is a letter she wrote after the race to say thanks to all of you who supported her for the Microfinance Project at JWOC…
Hello Friends of JWOC,
I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the amazing support received on behalf of the half marathon and JWOC Microfinance Project! I’m happy to report that the race was a big success, with good weather, spirited running companions, and the beautiful backdrop of Angkor Wat and Cambodia accompanying me throughout the 21 kilometers. With a finish time of 2h03min., I am extremely proud to have had the opportunity to “Race for Change” by running for JWOC’s microfinance project, and all of the encouragement and support received definitely helped me get through the last few kilometers of the race!
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While the race may be finished, poverty in Cambodia unfortunately still continues, presenting new obstacles and challenges to the country’s inhabitants on a daily basis. Help us to continue empowering small business owners in the Siem Reap community through a microfinance loan at JWOC – donations are always welcome and much appreciated. Click on the Donate Now! link to make a contribution to the microfinance project today.
Thanks to everyone again for your on-going support the microfinance project at JWOC!
Michèle Malejki
JWOC Microfinance Project Manager
MF Assistant Project Manager Boret congratulates Michele at the finish line
If you want to learn more about JWOC's Microfinance Programme please click here and if you would like to support the Microfinance Programme please click here to donate!
30 November - 4 December 2009 - A life changing experience
On the last day of November 2009, Sokhorn (JWOC School Project Assistant Manager and Intern) and Steve Srey (JWOC Volunteer) took 4 children with cleft lips and palates to Phnom Penh to see Operation Smile. Upon his return to Siem Reap, Sokhorn and Steve wrote about how it went...
Every year, Children in Cambodia are born with cleft lips and palates, but because of the limited access to health care and the lack of skilled surgeons, the children are seldom afforded the opportunity to receive medical care. In addition to potential self esteem issues, a cleft palate can significantly affect a person’s ability to speak and eat. Recognizing how much corrective surgery can improve a child’s life, Journeys Within Our Community sought to partner with Operation Smile in order to provide medical treatment for four Siem Reap Children. The goal was to safely transport the children from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh where each child could receive a medical evaluation and the Operation Smile Doctors could assess whether each child could receive surgery.
“Operation JWOC Smile” was able to take four children to Phnom Penh - Yung (11), Sokcheata (9 months), Many (12), and Longdy (17). Of the two boys Yung lives in a local Pagoda and Longdy works with his mother in Angkor Wat, selling food. Of the girls, Sokcheata was found abandoned in the forest and was adopted by her ‘mother’ Run Reurn and Many lives in a village near to JWOC’s community center.
After the initial blood tests and screening three of the children were able to proceed to surgery but unfortunately Sokcheata was not big enough to sustain the anesthesia and so will wait for the next Operation Smile mission in March 2010. Surgery for the others was scheduled for 2nd December.
Because the families seldom have the opportunity to visit Phnom Penh and because they did not have to have surgery until 2nd December, JWOC took the families to see some of Cambodia’s cultural sites. The families were taken to the National Museum, the Royal Palace, and Toul Slang, and all the families were happy for the opportunity to see these sights. Upon completion of the sightseeing, the kids were taken to eat ice cream. Nearly all of them never had ice cream so they were thrilled!
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The surgeries for Yung, Many and Longdy were a great success and we are thrilled to report that they are now back in Siem Reap recovering and looking forward to a new beginning in their lives thanks to the doctors, staff and supporters of Operation Smile. JWOC was also honoured to receive a certificate of appreciation during the closing ceremony for is efforts and its partnership with Operation Smile.
Journeys Within Our Community continually seeks ways to help the plight of the local people, and especially children. Seeing the children with the cleft lips and palates, JWOC sought to provide them access to medical treatment through our partnership with Operation Smile. In the end, three of our children received medical treatment, while the fourth child will receive treatment in March. The families were extremely appreciative and they expressed gratitude for helping their children. This experience working with Operation Smile and the great success we were able to achieve to change the lives of these children will provide JWOC with a wonderful foundation on which we can build by helping more children follow in the footsteps of Yung, Many and Longdy in the future.
8 November 2009 - JWOC welcomes 23 new scholarship students!
We are excited to announce that JWOC has taken on 23 new scholarship students who came in for their first day today. During the meeting the students found out more about JWOC and their scholarship, signed their contracts and had their first training session. This meeting is the first in a series of induction trainings and workshops before they begin their volunteering. We have a great group of students this year and we look forward to working with them during their time at JWOC.
Our new scholarship students in November 2009!
Thank you to all of our generous sponsors who made it possible to take on so many new students. The next intake of scholarship students at JWOC will be next fall in time for the 2010/2011 academic year.
15 October 2009 – JWOC is celebrating Global Handwashing Day!
The 15th October 2009 is Global Handwashing Day and JWOC is celebrating with a poster competition, prizes and games in all of our children’s classes.
On Tuesday 13th October, children spent their classes at JWOC designing and drawing posters to remind their friends and families when and how to wash their hands properly. We had over 100 entries from our different classes!
On Thursday 15th October, the winners were chosen and their pictures laminated to be put up around JWOC to remind everybody to wash their hands. After receiving their prizes all the children played games and did activities relating to hygiene before sticking up the winning posters in prime locations at JWOC and our other school at Wat Chork. Take a look at the winning entries and runners up below.
If you want to learn more about our schools project click here. If you would like to donate to help us continue to offer free education in our schools please click here. You can also have a look at the Global Handwashing Day website at www.globalhandwashingday.org
6 September 2009 - JWOC Scholarship Student Graduation 2009!
On 6 September 2009 a JWOC Graduation ceremony was held in the Community Center. It was an opportunity to celebrate not only the graduates hard work at University but also their invaluable volunteer contribution to JWOC and their own community. Each graduate received a certificate of appreciation from JWOC and a special "JWOC Graduate" t-shirt. Before the ceremony all the JWOC scholarship students gathered to receive training - the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years in team building skills, and the graduating 4th years in CV and Cover Letter writing. The celebration continued into the evening with a dinner, karaoke and dancing party at the community center.
JWOC is currently looking for donors for its next intake of students. If you are interested in finding out more about this programme please visit our scholarship student page. The deadline for the next intake is the end of September 2009.
August-September 2009 - Fundraising for next class of Scholarship Students has begun!
We are proud to announce that this summer 17 students will be graduating from the Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) Scholarship Program in Cambodia and Laos. As many of you know our scholarship students are the backbone of our organization. They allow JWOC to run on an extremely low admin budget because they help with the day-to-day running of the projects. With so many students graduating we are now looking to the next JWOC class. From August 1 through September 30 we will be raising money for a new class of JWOC scholarship students in Laos and Cambodia. We have a goal of 21 new students to start University in the fall under the JWOC Scholarship Program, joining the 48 students continuing with their education. Please read our letter to JWOC supporters below and to find out what you can do to help click here…
"Replace Hopeless by Hopeful..."
We are proud to announce that this summer 17 students will be graduating from the Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) Scholarship Program in Cambodia and Laos. As many of you know our scholarship students are the backbone of our organization. They allow JWOC to run on an extremely low admin budget because they help with the day-to-day running of the projects. I burst with pride when I see our students teaching in our language school or heading off on their motorbikes to scout for new well locations. My favorite days of the last six months were when I turned off my computer and headed out with one of our teams to collect loans or visit a village getting new wells. With that said, I think we often focus on the value that the students bring to the other projects and we sometimes don’t look at the value of the JWOC Scholarship Program to the students themselves. These students have studied, volunteered and, yes, been an integral part of all of our programs. For them it is an opportunity to change their destiny. “This is the great opportunity in my life because I didn’t expect to have a chance to attend university as I have no financial support. No someone can help me, but JWOC.” --Vorng Vang, JWOC Scholarship Student graduating August 2009. Of course having so many of our students graduating is bittersweet. Many of these students have been with us from the start of the program and have been an integral part of developing our projects. We are proud though to see how far they have come and how JWOC has impacted their lives. “I never thought that a poor girl like me be able to help others who in the same condition or lower than me. But JWOC help me and give me the chance to help others, replace hopeless by hopeful…” --Somaly Ing, scholarship student graduating August 2009 With so many students graduating we are now looking to the next JWOC class. From August 1 through September 30 we will be raising money for a new class of JWOC scholarship students in Laos and Cambodia. We have a goal of 21 new students to start University in the fall under the JWOC Scholarship Program, joining the 48 students continuing with their education. For just $500 a year for four years you can change someone’s life and give them the opportunity to reach their potential and change their world for the better. Our sponsors receive regular updates from their students so it’s a great way to be connected and see the difference you are making. “Socheat is friendly and open, and really does represent the courage, strength and optimism of the Cambodian people. Her desire to do well for herself, her family and her country is truly an inspiration. To see the obstacles that she overcomes everyday to advance her education is just plain amazing. We have ongoing email communication, exchanging news, thoughts and information about our lives. It is so great to hear her excitement as she works toward achieving her goal of college graduation.” --Mary Brown, JWOC Scholarship Sponsor. Please help us as we continue to offer this chance to students who deserve an opportunity to live a dream they never envisioned possible. Go to www.journeyswithinourcommunity.org/projects/university- scholarships/ to find out more about the JWOC Scholarship Program and Donate today to help us reach our goal of 21 new students! All the best, Andrea and the JWOC Team
28 August 2009 - JWOC Olympics!
The "Big Holiday Activities" run by volunteers from Oxford and Cambridge University throughout the month of August 2009 culminated in the JWOC Olympics. Children from the surrounding community, who have been involved in a variety of activities at the Summer Camp during their school break, competed in four teams in a morning of sack races, water races, hopping, running, jumping and much more. The winning teams were presented with medals to the sound of the Cambodian national anthem. Below is a selection of photos from the JWOC 2009 Olympics!
August 2009 - Journeys Within Our Community Center Children's Summer Camp
The big school holidays are upon us in Cambodia. For the month of August, 11 volunteers from TravelAid (Oxford and Cambridge University in the UK) and our own scholarship students are running “Big Holiday Activities” for children from the local community. On four weekday mornings, over 100 children between the ages of 4 and 16 are taking part in activities including arts and crafts, karate, rounders, football (soccer) and many more. Our traditional Khmer dance teacher Kaghchna, is also running extra classes for students in the early evening to supplement her usual Sunday class.
August 2009 - Sewing Project
JWOC is excited to announce that our first sewing project in Siem Reap has now reached its conclusion! To read more about the course please click HERE
Alternatively you can click here to go to JWOC's Sewing Project page!
The New JWOC Rainy Season Edition Newsletter is HERE
Journeys Within Our Community Announces their May Newsletter Challenge
Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia, May 1, 2009 – With a new website up and running and exciting news coming up in the next couple of months Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) will be receiving a $1 donation for every newsletter sign up in the month of May.
Founders Brandon and Andrea Ross have challenged the JWOC board to match any newsletter sign up with a $1 donation and the board has readily accepted. In this Newsletter Challenge if 200 people sign up for the newsletter then $200 will be donated by the JWOC board to JWOC. If 2000 people sign up for the newsletter then $2000 will be donated!
Download the full press release.
The JWOC Community Center Grand Opening - 23 May 2009
With the assistance of JWOC Scholarship students and visiting volunteers from Loyola Marymount University in California, JWOC celebrated the official opening of its new community center, made possible thanks to the Collette Foundation and William and Lulu O'Connell. Here are some pictures of the day as it unfolded...
Journeys Within Our Community & VolunTourism
On TalkShoe.com with David Clemmons: Gerry & Judy Laird, voluntourists, Joanne Majewski, Alternative Breaks Coordinator for the Center for Service and Action at Loyola Marymount University, and Andrea Ross, Founder of Journeys Within Tour Company (JWTC) and Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC), will join David Clemmons to discuss the following: 1) How has JWOC integrated the tourism knowledge of JWTC with service to the local community? 2) When considering voluntourists' needs in juxtaposition to the needs of communities, how has JWOC been able to maintain a balanced perspective? 3) As voluntourists (Gerry & Judy) and past voluntourists (Joanne), what advice and constructive feedback are you providing and have you provided to JWOC before, during, and/or after your trip? Listen at talkshoe.com.
Download the interview in MP3 format (21.3 MB).
Journeys Within Our Community Celebrates a Month of Milestones
Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia, March 17, 2009 – In March 2009, 19 new students, supported by private donations through Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC), started or were able to continue university in Siem Reap Cambodia. These students were chosen based on need and aptitude and join a program already boasting 45 students attending university in Cambodia and five in Laos. In the same month, JWOC scholarship student Narla Phay graduated from Build Bright University in Cambodia after attending under a JWOC scholarship.
This is a month when the organization sees both its biggest starting class ever and its first graduation, highlighting the strength and potential of this amazing program.
Our new Cambodia Scholarship Students cheer for their success
Narla Phay, JWOC's first graduate
