8/9/2019 Community Eateries Grant Report http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/community-eateries-grant-report 1/9 2010 SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITYTHA SOTHUN[COMMUNITY EATERIES GRANT REPORT] This is Sothun, graduate in Business Management from Singapore Management University (SMU). This article will run you through my brief biographical background and explain how it inspires me to initiate and co-lead Project Aphireak. It also reflects on my striking learning experience that I had never expected and how I really appreciate your giving me the chance to spearhead and successfully carry out this meaningful project. PROJECT APHIREAK
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Time was running fast. We could no longer hang over and concern so much. The dream told us to
put our hands and feet together and work. Through small little things such as BBQ, sales of food and
snacks, accessories, clothing, and crafts, we managed to raise quite a handsome amount of money
but still to nowhere close to our budget. And that was how I learnt to value every little support fromothers and to give others supports – however little it is. Thanks to every one of our friends and little
men on the road, we could relieve ourselves not a little but a lot. Our sponsor City Development
Limited (CDL) was really kind to fill up the gap in the last minute and recharge our battery full for the
exciting and challenging work ahead in the village.
We have two main objectives in the village – firstly to share
with the management team of the homestay facility on
business management and natural resource conservation,
and secondly to assist our host organization to gather the
information for the marketing brochure.
Over the course of our own knowledge and researches, we
managed to share with them quite a bit on the two
subjects but we also learnt a great deal from them
especially on the natural resource management. What
really amazed me and all my teammates were the
experiences interacting with the locals there. I couldn’t
imagine how we bonded so well with them within just a
few days and felt so much fun and enriching. The planned daily workshop of 2 hours became all-day-
long class. Until late night there were still many kids and teens coming for English lessons. Over the
evening or lunch break, there were always locals to share with us their stories and experiences.
Besides, we learnt to do many new things… say planting rice, plugging and planting lotus, cooking
the various local dishes and special food delights such as the tasty sticky bamboo rice and many
yummy deserts. We couldn’t just remind ourselves that it wasn’t meant to be a fantastic holiday
resort. But the experience tickled us that our project would shine and we smiled and laughed
I ACHIEVED.. As a team, we successfully carried out the missions of the project though we had a big challenge to
raise the funds much bigger than the typical ones. Personally, I also fulfilled my objectives and, to my
amaze, I achieved much more than I had expected.
Not only did I take part to give hopes to those
committed villagers, but I also learned and improved
myself on few various things. I learned to work better
as a team and as a leader. I learned more about myself
through self reflection and feedbacks from teammates.
My mindset has changed. I had probably given too
little attention or value to small little thing that I only
realized later how much it is worth as mentioned
earlier. I am so happy to have influenced these
few little kids to envision their future in hopes,which I myself never realized only until much
later age. I have, in my belief, inspired and
empowered many people and even myself over
the trip. And I am really very happy!
All the work and achievements my team and I made did also come from the encouragement and
empowerment from many other parties.
Firstly, our host organization Community Capacities for Development (CCD), www.ccdcambodia.org, is to be admired for their continuous efforts in strengthening and supporting community livelihood
initiatives and programmes and promoting the conservation of natural resources. Besides being the
backbone for the success of our project, the organisation did also provide invaluable lessons for us
all to learn from. The individual accounts of the founder and the organisation team personally
inspired me to a great extent. The whole team, I believe, was also greatly impacted. “They have been
fighting many hard ways for their life, and we commit suicide just because our GPA falls,” said one of
my teammate.
Secondly, our school Singapore Management University or SMU, www.smu.edu.sg, is to be credited
for its committed spirit to serve communities, and actively encourage and support, financially andemotionally, students to go out and explore their potentials to give back to the society while at the
Last group picture
Host as cook & her assistance
2 CCD staff, Bunnath and Socheat with me and Kenny
I’m Thab Soknet, 6th grade at Konleng Phe village, Kok Bonteay commune, Rolear Pha’ier
district, Kampong Chhnang. I will study hard like brothers and sisters to serve the country.Since you all came here, I love you very much because everyone of you is kind, gentle,
and friendly. When you go back, I’ll miss you all a lot. Lastly, I, Soknet, wish you all a
happy trip back home. Wish you all happiness. Thank you.
Konleng Phe, 19/12/09. Signature
Thab Soknet.
On the left is the letter from the boy I mentioned earlier. Below is the translation: