Open Arms Cambodia

Newsletter

Hi folks well after a whirlwind three weeks in Phnom Penh we are flying home today I must say it will be lovely to see our daughters and grandchildren again it’s been a long time and we have missed them , I often think that if we were young and had our family with us it would be a lot easier and we would stay in one place longer but it’s not how it is so we just do what is needed to be with both our families.

Merry Christmas

August Newsletter

Alabaster House

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newsletter

On a Personal Note

Hi folks I hope your all dong well and enjoying the cooler weather

This will be the last newsletter from me for this year the young ones will be sending them until the end of the year and I’m sure you will enjoy them.

As the leaders of Open Arms pop and I would like to say how much we have appreciated you all over the years thank you for your faithfulness to love pray and donate to us.

We will be away from Open Arms for approximately six months, we leave Cambodia for Australian on the 27th of July to spend time with our family then we will go onto Wales where I will attend a bible college. We will leave London on 29Th. of November and have three weeks in Cambodia then onto Australia for Christmas, this will be a great opportunity for the young ones to see how they cope.

We have safe people in place in case of emergency but the young ones with Deakson will run Open Arms.

God Bless you all. Grahame and Sandra

Family Home 

Jenna and Chiva have just completed their foundation course at Uni and passed all their exams they will start their majors in August both will be doing teaching, Chiva has joined the debate team and Jenna is top of the class for presentation they are both very social and have made good friendships, they are enjoying an active social life.

Lita Unfortunately has had to finish university just for now due to health issues but she is still handling the office doing all the finances and both she and Jenna are learning about Human Recourses at the moment and we are looking for ways to have them trained in this area.

Sreynait is doing a sterling job of managing the restaurant her managerial skills have surprised us she is on top of everything and keeps her team busy but happy.  She’s becoming a superb cook next year we hope to encourage some chefs to come and train her further the only concern that we have is that she has no social life at all.

Sreyna continues to manage the Salon and beauty school and is doing a wonderful job, two of her senior girls left at the same time both to start their own salons, Sreyna was happy for them but concerned about staffing but we decided together to just go with some young students and train them in the salon and it has truly been amazing they have all flourished in their skill and Sreyna is really enjoying being big sister to them and teaching them life skills.

Development 

Open Arms works with many other NGOs to ensure that the Cambodian young people get good quality training, Open Arms works alongside of Chab Dai and have signed a charter of excellence that is closely monitored by Chab Dai staff.

Open Arms trains’ underprivileged and rescued girls in Beauty Care, Hospitality and Catering, Computer, English, Life Skills and Bible Studies the women that come daily to Alabaster house are encouraged to participate in this.

There are currently ten young women and three men employed by Open Arms all of whom were initially trained in Open Arms training centres; Open Arms also employs four older women who look after the women at the drop in Centre in the red light district.

Open Arms is daily teaching its staff life style skills, management, Computer and English along with bible principles. 

Community Care 

Open Arms now offers people accommodation there are rooms available if a need arises, currently eight people are in safe accommodation Open Arms finds employment pays the rent and supplements food until they get on their feet, a social worker goes regularly to check on the rooms and whilst they aren’t up to a high standard of hygiene we are believing as time goes by they will improve.

A family of five caught our attention, mum and dad did recycling and the daughter came into training at the Beauty School they were living in the slums ,a need arose for a kitchen hand in the restaurant so we hired the mother  she has proved to be a great asset not only to the restaurant but her cheery attitude has affected all the team the family are now housed and going ahead , the daughter is now being trained in the salon and does the junior work she  receives a small salary, the father continues to work at recycling so the family are now in a good position.

A situation arose at Alabaster where we were alerted to the need to rescue a girl of twelve she was coming each day to have a bath and a sleep and told us an alarming story, we called the proper authorities and the situation was dealt with expertly and quickly the father had no idea how he was being used by the offender. We built relationship with him and he and the little girl are now housed safely he will work with Open arms as a maintenance man

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The Salon 

The beauty salon continues to be the major source of income for Open Arms; it has a good reputation in Phnom Penh not only for good hair styling but for great service and a friendly atmosphere.

To stay competitive the salon is now air-conditioned the hope is that this will increase business; the customers are enjoying the cool environment as are the team.

The staff level of the Salon has been reduced to make way for the students to do some hands on experience, on busy days two or three girls are selected to assist with the customers and given a wage.

Twenty girls are now being trained, the decision was made to reduce the amount of girls so that the standard of training could increase we normally train thirty most years.

Sreyna the leader is now playing a more hands on role in the training it is proving to be an advantage to the trainees.

The Salon was recently use a meeting place for calendar girl pageant, we were paid to use the space where the contestants came weekly to learn how to speak and groom themselves it was a very interesting experience and good advertising for Open Arms as they mention us on the calendar and through the whole process., the team learnt new skills whilst watching.

The Restaurants 

The café has had a facelift, the area has been enclosed and air-conditioned, and the Tea Room has been replaced by a small but very confortable friendly restaurant.

A counter has been installed at  the front the team now do all the  drinks and cakes from that area only the meals are cooked in the kitchen this give the other team members an opportunity to use their  skill unsupervised and consequently it allow the m to think for themselves more.

The restaurant is starting to cater for more teams and is busy most days not only with regular customers but new people are also coming.

The young ones continue to flourish in their skill and life skills.

Ministry 

Alabaster House has proven to be a great asset to the community with over 200 vulnerable women coming through the centre each month, they bathe, do their washing, sleep and are taught various crafts and are encouraged to be trained by Open Arms or their choice of skill so far there has been little progress in the training but the staff say that their health and emotions have improved.

Because of the potentially dangerous situation of drugs being brought into Alabaster a security guard has been employed ,she checks the girls bags before and after  they comes she also checks the toilets and rooms regularly.

 We also had to take away the beds and cupboards from the  bedrooms as there were too many places that drugs could be hidden we needed the room more open ,also all the locks have been  taken off the doors.

These are very sad woman they have numerous diseases but we have contact with good medical facilities here in Phnom Penh , we have great hope for  them for the future as they feel  loved and safe.

Open Arms is assisting some improvised families in the community with food and education, a grandmother there has nine children in her care so Open Arms is supplying food and help with education.

The children’s daily program is going well, the children in the community and also the street children are learning life skills, how to protect themselves, English , computer and have lots of fun activities , they are also learning  leaders say their behaviour has improved remarkably.

A sports day has stared for the children they are taken to a nearby park to do sporting activities and also taken swimming.

Again many thanks Grahame and Sandra