This was 2011 at The Goodwill Center Sihanoukville, Cambodia

First of all, all the staff and children of The Goodwill Center want to wish all our donors and friends a Happy New Year 2012 and a Happy Chinese New Year of the Dragon! Thank you for supporting our Goodwill Center with your donations and, some of you, with your time. Without you, The Goodwill Center would not exist and would not be able to operate the way it does.

THANK YOU!

2011 again was a year full of new and exciting activities. Children and staff are all developing and making new experiences. They all are getting more and more creative which is really great to see!

 

February: Visit of The Flying Seagulls

These are some of last year’s highlights:

The English circus group The Flying Seagulls (www.flyingseagull.co.uk) came to visit us in February. They gave juggling, spinning plates and music workshops, played funny new cooperative games with the children, and had a marvelous performance at the end of their three days with us.

 

March: Painting of the center

In March, we finally decided that the center needed to be repainted. It is now painted in dark and light blue. At the same time, Markus from Sweden did a great job repainting the slide and the swing. The wall around the yard had been repainted a few months prior, with some really nice pictures being painted on the wall by our neighbour, Choub, so that now the whole compound looks fresh and new.

 

March: Class on healthy nutrition

Also in March, Veronica from Sweden gave a class on healthy nutrition for our group of teenagers. After having explained to them which food items a healthy meal should contain, we divided the teenagers into four groups. Each group got a certain amount of money and were instructed to buy ingredients in the market and cook a healthy meal for four people. When everybody had finished, we met at the center again, each group bringing their dishes with them. It was absolutely amazing to see what these teenagers were able to cook! Some of them have to cook for the family every day but they actually never considered cooking being a skill. It was an eye opener for them that they had a skill that others didn’t – there were some students in the class who had never been to the market to buy food on their own, and who had never cooked a meal. We all enjoyed the most delicious lunch together.

 

April: Introduction into Montessori methods

In April, Sylvia from England volunteered with a few classes on the Montessori approach to music and to teaching the alphabet.

 

April: Khmer New Year

Also in April, we had a wonderful Khmer New Year’s party with lots of games, a dance performance, a theater performance, and dancing around the traditional table with fruits.

 

July: Dancing

In July, three volunteer students from a London dance school worked with us for one week, teaching new dance styles to all ages of children for an hour each morning and afternoon. This was a great opportunity especially for our Khmer dancing teacher Nain, to get lots of new ideas for the dancing class that she is teaching. Nain usually gets her inspiration from Khmer TV which of course is not the same as from someone providing personal tuition. But not only her, the whole staff team had a great time together with the children.

 

August: Staff training

In August, we hosted another staff training with trainer Sokchea from Attituce Center of Education in Phnom Penh (www.attitudeeducation.com). This time, the training was about Effective Communication. Apart from our staff and some of our teenagers, staff of Future for Steng Hau , a German organisation who financed the training (www.zukunft-stenghau.org), as well as staff of M’lop Tapang Center for Street Children attended the training. All 30 attendees were amazed at how much they could improve their daily communications! For sure the children are benefitting from the staff’s new skills.

 

September: Art and Craft

In September, Christin, a German arts student, came to volunteer at The Goodwill Center with a paper project. She taught the children a simple method of making paper, and how to make the most beautiful pieces of art with this paper.

 

October: Beach trip

In October, our Swedish friends Eivor and Ann-Margret made it possible to take a group of almost 30 children to the beach. We hired an open truck which was fully packed with children and staff, and off we went to the Small Hotel’s beach bar where we spent a wonderful afternoon swimming or playing in the water. Afterward the children ate fried rice and drank fruit juice. Even though the children live close to the beach, they almost never go there. The parents don’t take them because they either don’t have the money, or they just don’t see the point. But the children enjoy playing in the water so very much!

We hope to be able to make more beach trips in the future.

 

December: Computer class

With donations of second hand computers and money fund raised by our Swedish friends Fredrik and Eivor and Roland, we were able to start a computer class in December with six students three times a week in the evenings. We will soon start a second class and add a few more computers so we can have 10 students in each class.

 

December: Christmas party

Like every year, in 2011 we again had a big Christmas party at The Goodwill Center, with Christmas songs, dance performances, a theater play, and lots of games. As a special surprise this year Father Christmas himself gave us a phone call when we were in the middle of the party and announced his visit! He came with a big suitcase full of gifts for those children that took part in a performance as well as for the center so all children can play with them.

To watch more movies and photos of the Christmas party and thevisit of the US sailors, click here:

http://www.sihanoukville-cambodia.com/sihanoukville-businesses/helpthechildren7.html

 

Visits of US sailors

In March as well as in December, a group of US marines came to visit the center and play with the children. Everyone had such a great time, staff and children. The sailors brought with them loads of school uniforms, books and balls which of course we have good use for.

 

Jigsaw puzzles

When we opened the center a few years ago, nobody knew how to complete a jigsaw puzzle. Now staff and children are becoming real puzzle experts! In August, the first 1,000 piece puzzle was finished, and in December, the first 2,000 piece one. Even the small children are now very patient in making puzzles, and some 5 year-olds have no problem in finishing a 200 piece puzzle all by themselves.

 

Lego, wooden bricks

The center is now quite well equipped with Lego, wooden bricks and Playmobil figures. At the beginning, the children would just build high towers, but now they are getting more and more creative, building the nicest houses on stilts, cars, and whole landscapes.

 

Creative playing

Cambodian children usually don’t play role play games. It is absolutely fabulous to see that they start to do so now, encouraged by our staff Nain’s creative ideas. One day, they play acted a wedding with every little detail there is in a traditional Cambodian wedding. This included;the morning procession to the bride’s house; the bride receiving the groom and all the traditional ceremonies with food offerings (wooden bricks, Lego, and rubber band were serving as food, nicely decorated on the spinning plates that we got from the circus); the evening reception party for guests and finally, at the end, the communual dance around a table laden with fruit. If you have ever participated in a Khmer wedding, you will recognize it all on the photos!

At other times, the children have recreated a general market, with all the different stalls a Cambodian market would usually have. There are vegetable stalls where leaves represent vegetables; small restaurants, again, with Lego, wooden bricks and rubber bands representing food items. One can also find money changers, coffee shops, hair dressers, and even a thief and a policeman were there too.

The children also started to creatively use the everyday items they find inside the school including books to build their little houses and play with soft toys as though they were babies.

From time to time, we receive a big bag of clothes that guests have forgotten in their rooms from a local guesthouse. The children always find something for themselves or their parents to wear, the rest being used for playful disguises.

 

Daily activities

Apart from the above activities, we are also of course having regular English classes, including homework supervision for those who cannot get support from their parents as most parents cannot read and write. Dental hygiene practise, basic Khmer reading and writing and colour painting are also covered.

We also supply some of our children with donated school uniforms and help with medical issues where the families involved cannot afford to pay the doctor’s fees. Every three months, All Ears Cambodia (http://www.allearscambodia.org/) is coming to Sihanoukville so we hire a tuk-tuk to take both children and adults with ear infections or hearing problems to M’lop Tapangcenter (www.mloptapang.org) where All Ears Cambodia operate from.

All these activities are possible only with your help and support. Again, thanks a lot!

We will keep you updated.