Posts

Posted on

Careers Exploration Day

On the 2nd of May, I was very excited to join the ISPP Careers Exploration day. It was about one and a half hour long event which each of us get to rotate into different careers classrooms and listen to speeches. There are total of 12 speakers and I only got a chance to select four of them to listen so out of the 12, I chose Ms. Tean Ly, ​Head of Global Subsidiaries and Financial Institutions Group at ANZ – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Mr. Charles-Henri Chevet, General Manager Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, Mr. Bill Smith – lawyer Deputy Co-Prosecutor at the Extraordinary Chambers in the
Courts of Cambodia and lastly Nanda Gasparini – Cultural Anthropologist Independent Consultant. There were my two favorite speakers which were Ms. Tean Ly and Nanda Gasparini.

At that day the first person I met was Ms. Tean Ly, the ​Head of Global Subsidiaries and Financial Institutions Group at ANZ – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. Her life was such a pleasant that she got so many support from her surrounding, thus that she also having so many opportunities in her life which not many of us have. So her life journey continue and she decided to move into Cambodia which was her parents original homeland. She told us that she learned a couple lessons along her life adventure from doing job in bank and her earlier job in other sector. An example of a lesson she learned was learning how to use excel. During her last minute of talk, she gave us one piece of advice which said, find someone who have the skill that we want to learn from and ask them lots of questions, build a strong bond and good relationship with anyone we meet and try to make it last long.

Another one was  Nanda Gasparini – Cultural Anthropologist
Independent Consultant; she also have an interesting life story. During her speech she told everyone that, we must be and need to be that person who always said yes to the opportunity that has given. We never know what will happen in the future but while we are having chances to pursue for our future careers, take it as an experience better than left those opportunity out from our hands.

This experience have helped me personally, to learned and understand that no matter what happen in life, find people who are skillful in the sector we want to be and built relationship, be that “YES” person and always try my best, so that one day that handwork will pay off a worth full consequence. Which make sense that, my future is depend on me to find my own best-fit. 

Posted on

Creative Writing about Khmer New Year

It was in the middle of the night, my grandmother hosted a dance party at her house located in the middle of nowhere and was surrounded by a massive maze where nobody could never be able to escape. People come in and out from nowhere dressed up fancy. There was a big crowd of people dancing right in the center of the house while some are flirting together. I was too shy to get out from my sit but right at the moment, I saw a guy who wears a long nice suit and dressed up differently out of all looks at me and approaches me. I was frightened and I turned my face downward facing the floor with my eyes open staring at his footsteps one by one. Right at the moment, when that guy arrived me, I put my both of my palm on my face but thing ends up differently; he was actually trying to get me to be a dance partner with him. It was scary the first time to see him but I decided to dance with him. While dancing, he started asking me different questions about my life and so on he asked me this question, “Have you ever want to get out from this maze?” I knocked my head slowly as a sign of telling him yes. He said he wanted to get out of the maze since he was 10 but he couldn’t find a way to do it yet. He looked at me with his sharp eyes in such begging way for me to get out of this maze with him. I don’t know what comes to my mind and what has happened but I told him I will try to find a way to get out with him. It was the same night, right after the talk, he holds my left hand tightly pulling me forward and he started to run to the door. After five days both of us had found our way out of the maze. The world was completely beautiful better than the inside that we always been seeing. I really enjoyed my life outside world; a year later, the guy who came with me has vanished. I always try to search for him but 2 years later my grandmother went into my dream, and told that he was just a shadow of someone who lives in the outside world and was ordered to get into the maze to help me get out and see this beautiful nature. 

This story was inspired by a cool looking guy who I saw at the pagoda when I went to watch people dancing. His style of dressing up just completely blown my eyes and his dancing skill was really cool to see, and he was also the only one guy that stands out the most in the crowd so I was just sitting and staring at him the whole time he was dancing. So I think this can be taken and turn into a short and simple story.

Posted on

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Workshop

Human Immunodeficiency Virus is what people called HIV. This virus has been known and heard all over the world and has spread from one to one within an ideal period of time. Not many Cambodian have learned or know anything about HIV/Aids, therefore our team decided to implement a four hours long workshop in order to spread the words toward Cambodian teenagers because about only 40% of them learned about HIV/Aids. 

Mission Statement: “Cambodian youth combating HIV/AIDS discrimination through normalizing conversations, dispelling common myths, and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention, and treatment.”

 

 

“People don’t die because of HIV, they die because of the diseases that enter the body because of AIDS,”

 

The workshop was broke down into 4 different sessions: 1. General information about HIV/AIDS including some activities. 2. Prevention – Transmission/Prevention 3. Treatments 4. Stigmas/Discrimination.

I was one of the session leaders and was a part of Transmission and Prevention session. It was a very sensitive topics to talk about and every teams whom came in always afraid to share their ideas, so I was apart of encouraging them and making them feel warm and welcome. As one the representative of the HIV/AIDS workshop organizers, I am so grateful for every participation time and the words that share from their heart and I was pleased that everyone were open and honest about this sensitive topic and were willing to share. 

*Just because these populations are “high-risk” for contracting HIV, this does not reflect on their behavior or who they are as people.*

Lastly, I am hoping that by having this workshop we will be apart of making change toward the percentage of Cambodian youth education about HIV/Aids.

Posted on

Grizzly Open Ultimate Frisbee Championship 2018

On 17th and 18th of March, Bee-force have traveled all the way to Malaysia for their first international tournament (Grizzly). Eight of the senior girls were there played hardly for the tournament. Everyone did such an amazing job, and I can see how much improvement they have after played in this tournament. We have six games in total, with six different teams and out of the six games, we WON one of the games. We beat them by 7 to 4.  

This is my third time to play the international ultimate tournament and each and every time I take on the new experience I learned different things in which have help to get prepare and become a better ultimate player. I love all of the games I played at Grizzly because I have tried my best to help my team, even though we lost but we play really hard in which I felt good about the accomplishment I made for myself and my team overall. 

The experience that we get from this trip is what leads us to keep on practicing and further learning to improve our skills and techniques for playing. Also I have assisted three times which I felt pretty happy about my personal achievement.

 

Posted on

Discussing the issue of HIV/AIDs with KHANA

On the 12th of March, my team and I visited a place called KHANA. We met two guys one named Rathana and one name Sokchomroeun. They talked to us about what they do to be apart of helping people living with HIV(PLHIV) in Cambodia. Our goal of meeting with them is to know about their organization as well as talking to them about our idea of creating a workshop as a way to raise awareness for Cambodian youth. 

This organization was established in 2000. The full name of KHANA is Khmer HIV At National Alliance. Their organization is start to help those people and empower those who have HIV to take care of themselves, taking treatment and helping them in their community. 

There are different groups of people that they targerted to work with such as: 

  1. Female entertaining workers ( Smart girls club)
  2. MSM (M Styles club)
  3. Transgenders (Srey sros club)
  4. IV vaccine drug  user (Cm-put – Mit orbrom Mit)

We talked with them about one hour and a half. By the end of the talked they gave us such good feedback and ideas in which we could add on to our workshop planning. Without this organization, PLHIV would be less hope for living but now everyone is happy to be living and smile once again.

Posted on

A Discussion with a Cambodian-American Woman

«សំបុរស្បែក ការរើសអើងជាតិសាសន៍ និងបញ្ហាភេទ៖ អនាគត» A phrase that Peuo Tatyana Tuy mentioned during her talked. 

During March 10th, I was pleased to go to a have a discussion talked with a Cambodian-American lady about the effect of using lotion and the chemical relates of lotion.  She explained how before she hate the way she look but once she realized that all of those lotions are bad for a person skin she started to give value back for herself and started writing poem about her life. 

She was born in Battambang during 1979 but she was 
sent with her family to Texas. She grew up on the US 
side of view and she love the way she gets treated from 
her family, friends and her surrounding. But one day she 
visited Cambodia, to visit her relative in Battambang. 
They started saying she look black and not looking 
white like her mother or her sister. She then started to
use lotion for a while. When she got back America, she
look on to the internet and search the brand name of 
the lotion. She figured out that it contained so much 
chemical that could destroy her skin cells, therefore she
decided to stop using it and she believe that she love the 
way she look.
."Facebook:Peuo Tatyana Tuy"

We continue on asking each other, why does people uses lotion? Many of us answered that because of people judgement and that people are scare of them being judge from the outside that they don’t look white and that should be able to look white and beautiful. This discussion keeping on talking of how bad the whitening lotion can lead us to death. In this case, those lotions are the lotions that being made by individual without brand and recognition from the government.

This experience help me, personally to understand care about myself beauty and that I should be happy with what I have and I should love the way I look. What people say is just words and if I don’t take it too personal nothing is going change, therefore don’t take others words to serious. Love the way you are because you are beautiful. 

 

Posted on

Women International Day – Science Fair Talk

During 8th of March which was Women International Day, I was invited to one of the representative for Liger to talk about my project of Marine Conservation at Cambodia Children Fund. Sovannary and I were the two presenters and we spent about 3 hours on preparing for this fair. My expectation was that the audience will be in the same as me or may be a little older than me but what was turn out was that many of them are so little and it was very hard to talk to them about the big issue of illegal fishing and the idea of doing the algal farming as an alternative livelihood for fisherman in Cambodia.

Even though, the presentation wasn’t work the way we expected it to be but it had turned out pretty well. Both of us did really well while at the same time I felt so happy to be a female representative to talk about my project in which I could spread the awareness to Cambodia new generation to not throwing more plastics into the ocean.  

This experience lead me to become a better presenter within more presentation skills plus the way I am able to communicate with my audience no matter what their range of age is. Also, I am proud to born as a girl because I can see that girl power is important and they need our help in order to make this world a better place for everyone. 

 

Posted on

Visiting New Hope For Cambodian Children

On the 2nd of March, my exploration group visited NHCC organization which located in Kampong Speu province which its mission is to help those children who have HIV positive to have place to live, food to eat, place to learn and to have a better family where everyone is welcome.

All the children living in this organization are HIV positive. However, this place is where they can build themselves up  to become the changer of their country. 

We met Kathy, the founder of the organization. She took us around the campus and tell us stories in which it was a great time spent for learning the experience of people living with HIV. 

The area was in a total 8 hectares. Students there were growing plants to sell to the middle men and to get money to buy what they wishing for.  

"All children here, is raise to become bosses!" - Kathy

One of the story that affect me the most was to hear from a girl named Kolayan. She is a 14 year-old-girl which her birthday was on the 5th of February. I said a Happy Birthday to her and I can see how happy she is to hear it. I asked her a question, which I also asked her the permission to ask whether it is appropriate to ask or not and she said it okay and I can ask. Therefore, I asked her a question which was, “Do you afraid of your surrounding when you go back home to visit your family?” I was so shocked to hear her answer and she told me that. “I am not afraid anymore because I rarely visit my house and when I go home once in a while, people thinks that the HIV have gone from my body already, then they just don’t care and I also don’t really care about it as well because I think that just let what they thinks keep going and because I don’t think they need to know or analyse whether I am an HIV positive person or not .” Her words surprised me because my thought was that she going to said she afraid but she was telling me that she wasn’t at all and that’s what I want to hear because those positive words are what cheer those people up to be strong.

I believed these kids are strong and through helping them
to learn to get good education, those kids will find 
their passion one day, in which they should know that
they an important part for the country development.
Posted on

A Story of Valentina Tereshkova

This is Valentina Tereshkova, originally a textile worker from the ancient of town of Yaroslavl, also known as the Hero of the Soviet Union. She is currently 80 years old, and was the first woman to travel into space with Vostok 6 mission, during June 13, 1963. Valentina was born on March 6, 1937 in Soviet Russia. In 1953 Valentina attended and graduated with distinction from Zhukovsky Military Air Academy. When she was 22, she was very interested in parachute jumping, a skill that prepared her for the cosmonaut (Russian Astronaut) selection. Nikita Khrushchev, the Leader of Soviet Premier, selected four women to be trained for one special program called woman-in-space in the Soviet Air Force. With hardwork and passion and love for the program, out of the four women, Valentina was the only woman who completed the space mission and earned the opportunity to travel into space. In 1977 Valentina received a doctorate (Highest degree awarded by the university) in engineering major.

“The first woman to travel in space, she called out, “Hey sky, take off your hat. I’m on my way!” as the craft took off.” She was only 26 years old when she completed her mission in 1963, taking 70.8 hours to orbit the Earth 48 times. Meaning that she has taken 48 times to travel in the path that revolving around the Earth in which under influence of the gravitation. As she returned from the space mission of flying from the Earth 20,000 feet above and down, Nikita Khrushchev (the Leader of Soviet Premier) gave her the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union because of her braveness to be the first woman to travel into space, orbiting the Earth 48 times while the first man to travel into space, Yuri Gagarin, only orbited the Earth 36 times. With that being said, before she even took off from Earth she also provided hope to inspire Russian girls, “They too could rise, through the Soviet system to greatness.”

Consequently, because of her commitment in the space mission, she was chosen to be a member of the Communist Party and as the representative for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) for which she participated in many international events, as well as United Nations Conferences for the International Women’s Year in 1975. From 1966 to 1974 she became a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1974 to 1989, and during 1986 to 1987, Valentina became the head of the Soviet Committee for women. During 1969 to 1991 she was  one of the members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. After many active years in space and politics, in 1997, she retired from the Russian Air Force and the cosmonaut corps by presidential order.

Valentina constantly got support from various men in her life, for example, her dad(Vladimir Tereshkov, the war hero), Nikita Khrushchev(the Soviet Premier) and many other men involved in her career, which helped motivate her to become as a cosmonaut at young age and is what allowed her to become the representative for USSR. The support she received wasn’t just from men, but also from women who were on her side to cheer for her. Everyone surrounding her played an important part in helping her get into a STEM field, and these people are a great model of supporters who don’t don’t discriminate and limit those women from pursuing for their greatness.

The support that she received from everyone surrounding her is a perfect example of a community helping the other female engineers or younger generation, especially girls but also boys, to see the worth of doing what we love to do. People will always get different reward and love from different people, but by approaching somebody who wants to help, who is invested in what we do and has faith in us, is one way that may lead us to the success destination. Valentina wasn’t born in a  rich family where she could have anything she demanded,  but she was born in a family filled with love and support, which helped bring her to the success she got as a cosmonaut, engineer and politician.

Author: Sovannou Pich

 

Work Cited:

NASA, NASA, starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level1/tereshkova.html.

Bridger, Sue. “The Cold War and the Cosmos: Valentina Tereshkova and the First Woman’s Space Flight.” SpringerLink, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1 Jan. 1970, link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230523432_12.

Revolvy, LLC. “‘Valentina Tereshkova’ on Revolvy.com.” Trivia Quizzes, www.revolvy.com/topic/Valentina Tereshkova&item_type=topic.

“Valentina Tereshkova.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 1 Mar. 2016, www.biography.com/people/valentina-tereshkova-022516.

Photo Source: https://ukamsat.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/valentina-tereshkova-image-credit-rsc-energia.jpg

 

Posted on

Meeting with UNAIDS Cambodia

During 13th of February, a group of students including myself, went to UNAIDS in Phnom Penh to find out more information about Cambodia current status about HIV/AIDS. We met a lady named Vladanka Andreeva who is the country director of UNAIDS in Cambodia. 

Source: http://www.unaids.org

We spent about two hours discussing this issue and listening to her presentation about the work of UNAIDS. UNAIDS was established during 1996. The goal for UNAIDS is to accomplish the public health threat by 2030 using their sustainable development goals. 

From what we talked, Vladanka told us that about 71 thousands of Cambodia’s population is currently living with HIV, and out of that number 35 thousands of them are women. 81 % of them are needed treatment in Cambodia.

Source: Population living with HIV – http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/cambodia

There are 5.1 million in Asia and the Pacific and 1.8  million of them are women. Unprotected sex are most likely to be the big cause of aid. UNAIDS is progress towards the goal of 90-90-90 targets, which they are trying to get no baby born with HIV positive which they can have a legal barrier. 46.9 million USD has been funded by the international to Cambodia.

UNAIDS also create, what’s called a Community Based Project HIV which is from: 

  • Peers to peers 
  • Education program
  • By travel to the place

December 1st is the World Aid’s day. Aids is not a disease that can cure but it is a kind of syndrome.

Regarding to our talk, this type of disease remained one of the scariest diseases that everyone in Cambodia and the whole should know and need to taking care of themselves from getting it. If a person is having an HIV positive this mean that, the person can spread this HIV to others and in which he or she really needs to be careful and get treatment every day in order to stay healthy and live longer. A person living with HIV, aren’t mean that they are not a human, therefore, discrimination is not what everyone should react to those who have it.

This meeting was such a great experience where we learned so many new information and that that information is what helps us to better understand on Cambodia HIV current status data numbers. This also helps us to get prepared for making our final product for this exploration.