Sokchea SAING Conducted Leadership Courses at Dey Krahorm Community,  Aziza School

Aziza School a project of Village Earth (an American NGO) is the first site where I began teaching leadership in December, 2006,. I was happy when project manager Drew McDowell allowed me to open this class. He gave me a lot of ideas as well as. I have studied this course for a long time, but I did not have the opportunity to teach it until this time.

The lesson changed my life and also my students. In these pictures are the students receiving the certificates on July 15 ,2007 after finishing teaching the first 3 terms.,. In December 2007 the 6th term is going to graduate! The program in this ceremony is managed by student group leaders. They have passed this course and committed themselves to serve the groups and themselves at the school. We provide them an opportunity to practice this subject through their loveliness and serve the team through the real practice. Through out the lecture here for long months, I got many experiences. This course is studying about the real life of students and the personal community. I always ask myself that what I can do for them, if their society is full of bad events, which generally happen everyday.

In fact, it is the serous problems for them in using drugs, fighting, gambling, playing games, and walking girls around. Sometimes it was happened direct under my eyes. What I ought to do to avoid them from exposure to these vices? Is there any power to help them in order to prevent those problems? The answers are no, they can not avoid it.

The lessons in leadership are the special power that we put it into their life for preventing these vices. We explain to them to avoid from those actions to start a life now for them through the promoting them to understand the talent and use their talent to set up the specific good, and manage the methods in order to arrive the execution in the future. This struggle makes them to know about what the leader lead through the democratic leaders, dictatorial leaders or laissez leaders. All students agreed that the characteristic of leader is good if he follow the democratic leaders because the leader who carry out the democracy did out very mean, proud or braggart, snobbish, personal view, not selfish or personal benefit, take the organization or unit bigger then personal, obey most of the voice or idea, and power did not come from the mouth but respect the plan and goal.

None of them do not want to be a good leader. If they want to be a good leader, what qualification should they have? What condition should they obey? How can they practice? To provide the opportunity to present about their goal and group discussion all the time, they must have a representation in order to be present. It provides them to see brave, faced to saw the problems, and answers the questions of the members. Sometimes I saw them could not speak out, sweat, and forget what they wanted to say. But when they come to present more often , all the problems are omitted.

Studying the theory is not enough, but we should encourage and practice, take someone pattern and interrelated, and stay else with them every day are very important to make or guide them to follow my good pattern .

Drew is a person who stays in students’ eye. He used his life through the attitude and characteristic which keep in students’ heart without knowing themselves. Even though he is a foreigner, but all students think that he is a Cambodian because all his actions are the gains of students in this community as well as Cambodian citizen.

There are many students who changed their attitudes and characteristic on this lesson. We encourage them to be strong among the strong person in order to catch the real dream in a good deed and virtue, strong in communication, and facing all problems which happen to them.

This is a speech of student after graduated this course:

My name is Noa Sineoun. I am 17 years old. I had been studying at grade 8 at Chea Sim Boeung Keng Kang High School. I find education really necessary for each individual. If a person has gained high and qualified education from school, then they could get successful and can find a good job to do in the future. For me, I’ve forced myself to stop studying at grade 8 because I faced some difficulties. My family was so poor. My parents could not afford me to go to school. I had no money to buy study materials to support my study. I needed books, pens, and proper school uniform. As a result, I decided to drop out of school, afterward I’ve got a good that I didn’t wish at all. While I was working, I felt so much disappointed with my bad destiny. I didn’t want to be a garment worker at all. I knew by the time I get older, I will get married with someone at one day whose living condition is similar to mine. And we will have children then our ways of lives are still poor. One thing that I’ve never expected to happen, it happened instead. That was the real hope in my life because I got the good opportunity to study again. I was so excited. It was a very great goodness of Mr. Drew and Village Earth Organization. They helped me to emerge from the predicament.

In my personal name as a student studying at leadership class, I was interested in the course indeed because all the students studying at this course were so brave; especially they had the real strong idea and knowledge. When I had been learning the lesson in the class, I began to legalize that they were very useful and necessary for me. I wouldn’t give them up to practice in my daily life. In fact, they made me change my life a lot. I thought I had the real valuable personality such as bravery, smart, perseverance, creativity, and self-confident. In addition, they could made me sure how to set a goal for my own life and have a good relationship with other people. All the students in the class had such qualification as well. Furthermore, the teacher were qualified and experienced. He was a good teacher. He had the real skills; and also, he was careful to teach students.

My studying went smoothly from the beginning to the end. I’ve completed the course successfully. Finally, I got the certificate from the director there. I really felt delighted. After I have finished the Leadership course, I was provided with the extra skills about how to prepare and to be interviewed during finding a job. I would like to say a special thank to teacher

that offered me a good chance to peruse the knowledge. I’d like to promise that I will use the significant opportunity efficiently to overcome and succeed the bright goal, and I will get my teacher as well as my parents to meet their expectation on me. I won’t make them disappointed. Depending on my own experience I myself hope, I will be a good pattern for everyone.

I want to get a good job and make enough money to support my family. Beside I’d like to improve myself, I am ambitious to make my country develop more because of me. I realized that everything will be possible to happen in the future; however, it has to start from me first.