Hello Dr. Carol, Peter, Sue and members of Rotary Melbourne,
I hope you are doing well and staying healthy!!
It is my pleasure to update you with my monthly email for March, which includes my education at both CRST and PUC, as well as the community volunteering work I have joined this month. To begin with, my first priority is my education. I am pleased to share that I have successfully completed my IEAP program. I am now continuing my first year, taking three classes: Khmer Studies, English I, and Theories of International Relations. The spring term has been studying for two weeks, during which I have learned the main points and key objectives in each course. Moreover, I have met new professors and classmates whom I have never seen at PUC before. They are very outstanding and knowledgeable, and I truly hope we will get to know each other well, share ideas, and learn together. More importantly, I have enrolled in a French class offered by CRST. I truly appreciate this opportunity, as I used to study this language when I was in grades 10 and 11 at Puok High School. Now, I am reviewing the basics with a French teacher, and I hope to improve and be able to use the language at a basic level within the next six months to one year.
Additionally, I would like to share about the house-building activity in Kralanh district, approximately 40 km from Siem Reap city. I would like to inform you that I am the manager of the Community Service (CS) department, which is responsible for implementing the mission of repairing and building houses for families in need. On the day of the house-building activity, on the 22nd, I assigned the CS team members to lead instead of leading personally, in order to give them the opportunity to develop their leadership skills by facilitating and coordinating the whole activity. I also supervised overall and did my best to train new students and assist teams that required additional support, such as the rooftop and wall frame teams. Despite challenges such as increased building material costs, hot weather, and missing materials, the new house was successfully completed around 4:30 PM. Before, during, and after this mission, I tried my best to identify challenges to ensure well preparation and to improve both my own and the team’s capacity to lead the next CS house-building mission productively and effectively, which is one of the most impactful projects benefiting our society.
Lastly, I also participated in the Family Support activity two times this month on behalf of a tuk-tuk driver, delivering food supplies to families in remote rural areas. Being part of helping the community, I am really proud of myself that, even as a student, I have the chance to support families in need and inspire other rural students to believe in education and encourage them not to have any doubt about investing in this field. I always ask about the families’ well-being, observe, and stay informed by following the children’s educational results each month and semester. Through this ongoing support, many families have been able to live in better conditions, and the children are able to attend school regularly and develop a strong trust in education as a way to overcome poverty. Joining this activity was not just about delivering food supplies, but also a joyful experience, where I could see many smiles and hear many kind words from the families, which made me feel thankful.
That’s all from my monthly email. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read my email and for being supportive. Wishing you succeed in everything you do. I hope you enjoy the photos I’ve attached below.
Best regards,
Sambun
