Support the futures of 3,000+ Youth in Cambodia

Hello PEPY friends and community,

We hope you are doing well and having a wonderful week so far! First and foremost, thank you so much for your continued support and dedication to Siem Reap youth. Your generosity enables us to run our projects and initiatives that give youth the opportunity to realize their potential, and this last quarter was certainly no exception! We are very excited to share some updates from our team and students with you!

General PEPY Updates:

• Last month, 10 PEPY team members participated in PEPY’s first Tour Guide Certification Workshop led by our Partnerships and Development Manager. All trainees got the opportunity to learn our tour standards and guidelines, and practice giving a tour of PEPY to enhance their confidence and public speaking skills. Going forward, all staff members who are Tour Guide certified will take turns leading school and visitor tours.
• We welcomed Van Leat, our new Incubator Officer. We are very pleased to bring an officer on board with a wealth of experience in participating in and supporting an incubator prior to joining PEPY. 

Dream Management Project:  Sen Sok High School conducted its first-ever Sharing Event with 300 participants! Kralanh High School also held a Sharing Event this quarter with 400 participants. A Sharing Event is where key speakers and leaders come to our partner high schools to share inspiring stories and lessons learned through adversity. They help youth identify role models in Cambodia that encourage them to stay in school and pursue their dreams. 

Scholarship Project:  We held our first Scholarship Graduation Recognition Ceremony for all 113 former scholarship students who successfully graduated from their chosen university or vocational institution. Pha Phon, a 2017 scholarship student and event speaker highlighted the importance of this event, sharing, “I am the only person in my family and one of the very few in my community to have the opportunity to continue higher education, so the scholarship means a lot to me. I can become the person I am today because of PEPY, and without PEPY, I would probably migrate to work in Thailand or somewhere else to earn money just like my siblings.”

In addition, 91% of eligible scholars have found employment! 

Learning Center Program: The Learning Center team had some exciting developments this quarter with the return of our Cambodia Ireland Exchange Program! The Learning Center Program Manager, Channa, traveled to Ireland for 3 weeks with two former students and PEPY’s Dream Officer, Mara. While in Ireland, they visited schools and organizations to share Cambodia’s culture with the Irish community as well as share updates about PEPY and our work. This is the first exchange since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreaks so everyone was thrilled that we were able to finally make it happen! We are looking forward to Irish teachers coming to Siem Reap in July for conclude the 2022 exchange and share their culture and lessons with our Learning Center students. 

Youth Innovators' Space and Incubator (YISI) Program:  Since adding the additional online course and short-term professionals’ course, the YISI Program has expanded quickly with 39 regular participants! In addition to the courses, the YISI events are becoming more popular and well known in the community. On March 26th, 2022, the team conducted the first We Business Talk in 2022 on the topic of “Role Model Leaders in Business’’ by Mr. Ieng Sotheara. Mr. Sotheara is a very successful businessman and is the founder of several local businesses. He offered advice, experiences, and recommendations in starting and operating a business to the 56 participants. The event was so well received it was extended for an additional hour so the participants could continue asking him questions. We look forward to providing another successful We Business Talk soon!

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We hope you enjoyed reading some quick updates from our team and youth! None of these activities/achievements would have been possible without you, so, again, thank you so much! 

If you would like to know more about our projects or have some questions after reading this update, feel free to reach out to us anytime!

Sincerely,

Kathryn McDaniel | Partnerships and Development Manager 

kathryn@pepyempoweringyouth.org