Annual Report - Cambodia 2010
Contents
Introduction 6 Little Dreamers 8 Publications 10 Project Review - 2010 12 Service Trip Overview 14 Project A - Toilet Construction
15
Project B - School Construction
18
Project C - Teaching 22 - Photo-discovery 24
Financial Report 26 Acknowledgements 28
Introduction Project Little Dream is a registered charity in Hong Kong, founded by 15 university students in December 2008 (Registration & Number: Certificate of Incorporation 1343559, TaxExempt Charity Ref. No.: 91/10714). We aim to promote quality education for children living in developing countries, through providing resources for hardware construction and manpower. Also, we aim to increase our volunteers’ awareness of poverty on a global scale, providing the opportunity of exposing themselves to a different cultural context. Two service trips were organised in the past two years, with over 100 volunteers taking part, two village schools have been constructed. These opened up the doors of studying English to 350 Cambodian children.
Target Beneficiaries - since 2009 Khmer Communities
Volunteers
Apart from construction work, which includes building village schools and refurbishment of the New Futures Orphanage, our work also involves English teaching and Art projects.. They were initiated by pre-trips in summer and the careful planning before our trip before Christmas arrives.
One of the goals that Project Little Dream aspires to achieve is to increase our volunteers’ awareness of global poverty and provide them with a hands-on experience working in Cambodia. We promoted our recruitment via Facebook and emails. Volunteers recruited had highly diversed and international backgrounds.
290 380
f
264 54
students benefit from our new-built school in Takeo villages (by 2010) students were taught in our English classes (by 2010) children benefit from our bathroom building projects (by 2010)
children from NFO were using our newbuilt dinning area
p
91
volunteers were recruited to participate in our projects 2009 & 2010.
49
days working and experiencing under the Cambodian sun. (In Cambodia 2009 and Cambodia 2010)
Little Dreamers - 2010 Chairperson James Mak
The founding members of Little Dream consist of 15 students from 10 universities around the globe. This year, we form the executive committee with 4 executive members, 6 departments and the Project Committee of the year 2010, with their respective course of responsibility.
(Geography, London School of Economics and Political Science)
Vice-chairperson Denise So (Medicine, University of Hong Kong) Secretary Howe Mao (Medicine, University of Auckland, New Zealand) Treasurer Tommy Poon (Accounting and Finance, University of Durham) Department of Fundraising Joseph Lam
(Finance and Entrepreneurship, Indiana University, U.S.A)
(HK) Vivien Tsui (Medicine, University of Hong Kong) (US) Godfrey Gieuw (Finance and International Relarions, University of Virginia, U.S.A) Human Resources Clara Chung
(Geography, University of Oxford)
Logistics Management David Leo (Mathematics with Economics, University College London) Jessica Ng
(Economics, University of Nottingham)
Public Relations
Gabriel Pak
(International Relations and History , London School of Economics and Political Science)
(HK) Hidy Chan (Medicine, University of Hong Kong) (HK) Luke Lee (Medicine, University of Hong Kong) Publications & Design Alex Lau (Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University) Jacqueline Cheung (Product Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University) Research & Development Francis Wong (Architecture, Chinese University of Hong Kong) Weili Dong (Civil Engineering, Imperial College London)
Project Committee 2010 President Joyce Mak (Psychology, University College London) Vice-President Jenny Siu (Engineering and Business, University College London) Treasurer (HK) Marius Man (Accounting and Finance, University of Durham) (UK) Veronica Yung (Accounting and Finance, University of Durham) Secretary Kelvin Lo (Accounting and Finance, University of Durham) (UK) Timothy Kong (Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London) Recruitment John Mak (Li Po Chun United World College, Hong Kong) Mabel Fung (Li Po Chun United World College, Hong Kong) Programme Affairs Sheena Wong (Mathematics and Philosophy, University of Oxford) Jason Tse (Shrewsbury School, UK)
Publications The steps towards completing our projects involve countless memorable moments we wish to share. During the service trips, we kept our blogs (both in Chinese and English) updated with photos and happenings of our days in Cambodia.
Chinese:
http://www.utravel.com.hk/blog/pld/
English: http://projectlittledream.wordpress.com/ Photos taken at the trip were organised, giving a photographic account of our projects. In addition, an Official Website has been built to provide a fuller picture of both our organisation and projects. Photo Gallery:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/projectlittledream
Official Website:
http://www.littledream.org
Within the past two years we have gained a fair amount of media coverage regarding our projects, ranging from university newsletter, newspapers and radio interviews. This has effectively enabled us in reaching a wider audience. These can be found under the “Press� section of our website. Press: http://www.littledream.org/news-press.php
明報 Ming Pao - A26 [15 Jan 2011]
Cambodia 2010 - Project Review
Service Trip Overview Having conducted two pre-trips in summer 2010, situation of project sites were carefully assessed, logistical details were finalised and materials for construction were ordered. It was decided that Project 2010 would be divided into two periods of 11-days.
Volunteer Recruitment With a clearer concept of the manpower required, the recruitment process commenced in September, in which up to 50 applications were received. 34 volunteers of highly diverse backgrounds were recruited. Volunteers are mostly undergraduates, currently pursuing their studies in Hong Kong, UK, USA and Canada.
Project A - Toilet Construction, Prey Run Village Purpose Project A took place at Prey Run Village, where we designed and constructed our first village school last year. With our local partner, New Futures Organization (NFO) it is equipped in providing basic education for nearby villages within a 16-mile radius, which consists of 210+ children. A high rate of student population growth took place unexpectedly. In order to accommodate the hygiene and sanitation needs of both children and staffs, in Project 2010 new toilet cubicles were constructed.
Volunteers’ involvement Local technicians and builders supervised and assisted us in completing the cubicles, while volunteers themselves took part in most of the construction process. Period One volunteers started off with levelling the piece of ground, where the toilet cubicles would be built on. They were taught how to mix cement, sand and water together in putting together a good concrete mixture. A foundation was laid alongside pipes and pumps, while bricks were carefully aligned in forming the frame of the cubicles. At the same time, holes with specific dimensions were dug, where sewage tanks were made to hold wastes that would be cleared out later on.
By the time Period two volunteers arrived, they started applying cement to walls of the cubicles. Some volunteers helped in getting rid of weeds nearby in order to clear out channels for wastewater and sewage to be properly led to the sewage tanks. Right next to our village school was a water pump, where children and villagers used regularly to extract
clean water. However, wastewater produced started to accumulate, potentially harbouring bacteria. So extra sand and soil were ordered to fill up the pool of wastewater. Further, we incorporated health and hygiene concepts and rules into the teaching curriculum (which will be mentioned below), encouraging students to dispose wastes properly and wash their hands regularly. In order to maintain our first village school at desirable conditions, layers of insect repellent were applied to the wooden structures, preventing local insect colonies from damaging the materials.
Beneficiaries Not only do the school structure and the toilet cubicles provide a comfortable yet hygienic environment for students to study in, it also serves as a community centre for local villagers to hold meetings and celebrations themselves.
Project B - School Construction, Kh’na Rong Village This year’s school construction project, the 2nd school built by PLD, was executed in Kh’na Rong village, a village with a population of around 100 households, 30 minutes north of the centre of Takeo. The main challenges that we faced this year were not due to any conflict of ownership, in fact, the landowner was one of the most genuine and hospitable middle-aged lady we met during this service trip; it was the accessibility of the construction site that dragged the building process, and the hazardous impact of termites on our wooden timber-dominated school. The school’s site could only be reached via a 50cm wide footpath, which meant any delivery of furniture, sand, concrete, timber, hay, and heavy tools were dropped off 200m from the school and were manually carried by our volunteers through the rugged footpath. Neighbouring termite mounds were identified as jeopardizing, but this was resolved by collaborating with chicken owners of the village, whereby their chicken acted as a natural pesticide.
PLD was assisted by 3 local engineers and construction workers, who didn’t only provided us with invaluable local knowledge and techniques, but also collaborated with us on the logistics and procedure of construction. Every volunteer contributed to the school from the very first construction stage: clearing excess vegetation off the site, manually delivering construction materials and tools as already mentioned previously, laying concrete foundations and brick walls, installing structural timber beams and columns, thatching the hay roof, anti- detritivore varnishing on all timber structures, installing and painting blinds, constructing frames for enclosing hay walls, and painting and delivering 140 tables and benches that were made by a hired workman. Tiles were laid professionally by a local worker since precision was key. The entire process, from vegetation excavation to the delivery of furniture spanned over 22 days, and most of our pre-trip predictions of process-duration varied due to unforeseen positive and discouraging circumstances, such as higher productivity from volunteers or delays in material deliveries, but any delays were offset immediately by ad-hoc and risk-weighted action plans. The final floor plan of the school was the same as our blueprint, but various columns and supporting planks were added to support the roof.
An exciting project that developed simultaneously to the construction was an installation designed by our architecture-degree volunteer. This installation was a hanging structure of a series of 14cm x 8cm wooden plaques suspended by fishing wires. These plaques suspended at different altitudes formed an abstract water droplet and subsequent ripples, which conferred to PLD’s notion of the ripple effect. Plaques were decorated by our volunteers with permanent marker pens, and the construction method of this 2m x 2m x 1m installation was assisted by local bamboos and left over timber. The NFO funded Kh’na Rong Village School, which was initially a barn, accommodated only 46 students. Our new school has attracted more than 100 children and students, who lacked the basic means of attending the state school that is 4km away from their village. PLD, NFO, and the landowner had conceded that the village school could be transformed into a community centre for village-wide events or trading activities during non-class hours, and this has achieved PLD’s aim of directly and indirectly providing social and economical benefits to our Khmer beneficiaries. We believe it is noteworthy to mention that our presence, whether it was through constructing or teaching, had a significant positive impact on villager’s lifestyle and behavior. We have noticed that villagers developed awareness on hygiene and waste management, such as basic steps of recycling and waste disposal.
Project C - Teaching Project This year, 2- hour long daily English lessons were conducted at Prey Run Village, where PLD built our first school. 4 volunteers were chosen each day to conduct these English lessons, and the teaching topic was only announced the night before the actual teaching day. Topics included body, exercise, animals, hobbies, emotions. This was one of the challenges we tailored for our volunteers because on logistical considerations, PLD did not have the time and resources to research and customize a syllabus for the Village School’s English syllabus, hence teaching requirements were sourced through consistent communication with the attending English teacher during the service trip. Moreover, university volunteers’ personal developments are one of our priorities and assessment criterion, and we believe through such intense, adhoc teamwork and management experiences, volunteers would be able to enhance their communication and interpersonal skills. The English classes encompassed a variety of English Second Language visual, verbal, and kinesthetic practices and activities. Volunteers created many interactive games and competitions that were often complemented by songs, some of which were created spontaneously. Students also had the opportunity to be broken up into smaller groups for greater teaching attention offered by our teaching volunteers, a key learning experience they often lacked since village school’s teacher to student ratio was 1 : 90, and during harvest seasons, 1 : 110.
- Photo-discovery project This photo-sharing project was a nouveau art/personal development venture that our Director of Publications had established. Every 2 days, all volunteers were given a word to which their photograph, which was taken during their service hours, must relate. These words included Little, fairness, fear, identity etc (On the right shows two examples of the photo story from our volunteers. Theme: Fear). Their photographs did not only instigated deep, personal, and philosophical discussions within scheduled small group meetings, but also formed the basis of the PLD photo journal, a visual publication that would show the achievements of PLD since our establishment 2 years ago, and a medium to spread our visions and values to the wider public, especially prospective student volunteers. Every discussion was hosted by a committee member, who would eventually guide the conversation to a self-evaluating and discovery topic that we hoped to substantiate the reasons of volunteers’ involvement with charitable work.
‘I would like to try’ - Jacqueline Cheung I think talking to a stranger was one of the greatest ‘fear’ of all when I was small. I took this photo because this reminded me of how I used to fear making English conversations with foreigners. But I admire her courage. She doesn’t know a lot of English, but she tries nevertheless. ‘What is your name?’ she asked. I said, ‘My name is Jac, and yours?’ . She shook her head. But with a smile, she asked again ‘ Where are you from?’. This photo was taken in Prey Run Village, Takeo, where the village school was built in Project Little Dream, Cambodia 2009. The school currently serves 220 students.
‘Fear is a choice, no choice no fear’ - Timothy Kong Ants fear of being stepped on; we human fear of insects that will fly on us. But if we choose to, we can move away. Or if we have no choice, we should not fear. This photo was taken in the on top of our dinning table, centre of New Futures Organisation, Takeo, where volunteers would have their breakfast and dinner everyday.
Project Little Dream Financial ReportFinancial - Cambodia 2010 Report for Cambodia 2010 Volunteers And Officers Income and Expenditure Actual (HKD) Fees Collected From Volunteers And Officers Participanting fee Extra charges for lunch packs Volunteers And Offices Expenses Flight Food Accommodation Transport (NFO<->Sites) Transport (Airport<->NFO) Hotel in PP Equipment First aid Printed matters
Budget (HKD) Variance (HKD)
Note 1 Note 2
212,076.00 10,629.05 222,705.05
188,416.00 188,416.00
23,660.00 10,629.05 34,289.05
Note 1 Note 2 Note 3 Note 4
156,660.00 28,332.98 12,804.68 8,634.64 4,670.40 1,533.45 913.61 517.64 214,067.39
133,000.00 22,308.00 20,716.80 2,589.60 2,754.00 1,872.00 3,180.00 1,325.00 530.00 188,275.40
23,660.00 6,024.98 (7,912.12) 6,045.04 1,916.40 (338.55) (2,266.39) (807.36) (530.00) (25,791.99)
8,637.66
140.60
(8,497.06)
Surplus Projects Expenses
Actual (HKD) Project A - Toilets Construction Toilet Labour Cement Sand Tools Varnish Lighting Pipes Tiles Bricks Others Concrete foundation Toilet accessories Water pump Water-Tank Roof
Note 5
Note 5 Note 5 Note 5 Note 5 Note 5
6,622.50 2,724.40 793.97 778.40 638.40 404.77 319.14 271.46 155.68 140.67 1,945.72 14,795.11
Budget (HKD) Variance (HKD) 3,550.00 900.00 125.00 675.00 750.00 675.00 1,050.00 800.00 4,200.00 5,500.00 1,900.00 2,400.00 850.00 23,375.00
6,622.50 (825.60) (106.03) 778.40 513.40 (270.23) (430.86) (403.54) (894.32) (659.33) 1,945.72 (4,200.00) (5,500.00) (1,900.00) (2,400.00) (850.00) (8,579.89)
Project B - Village School Construction Columns & Beams Labour Wooden blind Roof Chairs & Tables Tiles Tools Varnish Wood Plywood Cement Bricks Sand
Note 6 Note 6 Note 6 Note 7 Note 8 Note 6 Note 6 Note 6 Note 6
Actual (HKD) Budget (HKD) Variance (HKD) 11,045.50 2,450.00 8,595.50 4,605.22 (594.78) 5,200.00 3,736.32 1,200.00 2,536.32 3,273.03 8,100.00 (4,826.97) 3,182.53 (4,067.47) 7,250.00 2,272.93 2,900.00 (627.07) 2,097.04 450.00 1,647.04 1,877.56 150.00 1,727.56 1,840.92 1,840.92 1,206.52 1,206.52 1,069.60 3,200.00 (2,130.40) 1,026.93 700.00 326.93 1,000.67 1,000.67 -
Chairs & Tables Tiles Tools Varnish Wood Plywood Cement Bricks Sand Transport Teaching Equipment Wooden Tags Lighting Others Bamboo Nails Toilet facility Windows
Note 7 Note 8 Note 6 Note 6 Note 6 Note 6
Note 7 Note 6
3,182.53 2,272.93 2,097.04 1,877.56 1,840.92 1,206.52 1,069.60 1,026.93 1,000.67 724.38 714.33 658.00 588.49 444.81 389.20 237.27 41,991.24
7,250.00 2,900.00 450.00 150.00 3,200.00 700.00 1,000.00 400.00 1,500.00 170.00 11,700.00 2,700.00 49,070.00
(4,067.47) (627.07) 1,647.04 1,727.56 1,840.92 1,206.52 (2,130.40) 326.93 1,000.67 724.38 (285.67) 258.00 (911.51) 444.81 389.20 67.27 (11,700.00) (2,700.00) (7,078.76)
Project C - Teaching & Art Project Teaching Material Books Poster Stationery Total Projects Expenses
Note 9 Note 9 Note 9 Note 9
Actual (HKD) Budget (HKD) Variance (HKD) 117.07 500 (382.93) 800 (800.00) 150 (150.00) 1,100.00 (1,100.00) 117.07 2,550.00 (2,432.93) 56,903.41
74,995.00
(18,091.59)
Notes: Notes: 1 The variance of HKD23660 was the difference between budgeted and actual cost of flight tickets. We
1. The variance of HKD23660 was the difference between budgeted and actual cost of flight tickets. We expected expected the cost would be around HKD3800 per person. However, it turned out to be HKD4476 per the cost would be around HKD3800 per person. However, it turned out to be HKD4476 per person. As there person. As volunteers there were 35officers volunteers andtheofficers booking with us, the(HKD4476 total difference was x 35 = were 35 and booking flight with us, thethe totalflight difference was â&#x20AC;&#x201C; HKD3800) (HKD4476 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; HKD3800) x 35 = HKD23600. HKD23600.
2 When we first estimated the costs on food, lunch was not included. However, when we arrived in 2. Cambodia, When we first costs on food, lunchbetter was not However, when we arrived Cambodia,and we we estimated found outthe that it was actually to included. have pack lunch prepared for our involunteers found out that it was actually better to have pack lunch prepared for our volunteers and officers. The pack lunch officers. The pack lunch costed USD2.5 each and was sold at USD3 each. costed USD2.5 each and was sold at USD3 each. 3 The decrease in accommodation cost was because the price for double room was reduced to the same as room thisinyear. 3. single The decrease accommodation cost was because the price for double room was reduced to the same as single 4 Weroom this year. did not expect the transport cost between NFO and the sites would be much higher than last year. It is due to the fact that all the projects were outside NFO this year. We did not expect the transport cost between Takeo town and the sites would be much higher than last year. It is 54. The toilet facilities built this year were totally different from the ones we built last year, in terms of both due to the fact that all the projects were outside Takeo town this year. structure and costs. Therefore, there were no figures for concrete foundation, toilet accessories, water pump, and roof. 5. water-tank The toilet facilities built this year were different from the ones we built last year, in terms of both structure and costs. 6 Similar Since to thisthe is atoilet ruralfacilities, village site of anofurban area, manual systems handwas washing and from flushing was built theinstead structure the village-school built thisforyear different that last year.
instead of fresh water systems. Therefore, there were no figures for concrete foundation, toilet accessories, water The main difference was the use of wooden blinds instead of windows and the improvement in the durability pump, water-tank and roof. of the roof.
6. The structure of the village-school built this year was different from that last year. The main difference was the use of wooden blinds instead of windows and the improvement in the durability of the roof. More columns were used to create an outer and inner area to prevent water from coming in during raining season. The height of the building has also increased to improve ventilation. 7. In Cambodia 2009, 40 sets of chairs and tables were made. However, in Cambodia 2010, less chairs and tables were made because there were less potential students around this village-school, compared to the Cambodia 2009 one. 8. The cost of varnish was increased because a special paint was used to prevent the wooden structure from termite. 9. Much less was spent on project C because some material donations for teaching and art project were received.
Acknowledgements On behalf of the Khmer children from Prey Run Village, Khâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;na Rong Village and New Futures Orphanage, volunteers, we would like to express my heartfelt gratitude the selection panel of Hsin Chong - K.N. Godfrey Yeh Education Fund for Joint Student Projects who have supported us since our first project in 2009. Without your support and participation, the schools would not have been able to come to life. Looking ahead, we anticipate there will be more projects to come in villages of Takeo and soon reaching out to other parts of Southeast Asia. we hope this report contains adequate information on Cambodia 2010. Should there be any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would love to hear your comments, suggestions and questions, or to assist you in any way you require.
James Mak, Chairperson, james.mak@littledream.org +44 07760420620 / +852 9833 8005 Hidy Chan, Public Relations Officer (HK), hidy.chan@littledream.org +852 6227 3722
Useful Links Project Little Dream Official Website www.littledream.org New Futures Organization www.newfuturesorphanage.com