Meet Oudom

I have been involved with Anjali House for almost ten years since I was a fourth-grade student in 2014. To be honest, before I attended to study in this organization, I was a person who hated education. I tried to drop out of school many times because of a lot of reasons. Firstly, to help my family financially. I thought that if I drop out of school, I can find a lot of money to support my family situation. Secondly, I was really addicted to hanging out with bad guys/ wrong crowds. I hardly went to school. My parents were stressed about my problems. Even though they had less education, they never wanted me to stop studying.

Anjali’s Impact

A few months later, my father met one old man by accident. His name was Sok who worked as a security staff member at Anjali House Origination. Then he introduced my parents to let me attend Anjali House. Fortunately, they approved me and my two oldest brothers. Being one of the Anjali House children, I had the best chance to participate in many programs such as English class, computer class, Angkor Photo Festival Workshop, Writing Through Workshop, painting class, living value class, gardening class, and especially joining the community services. These classes were very important to my life during my childhood and teenager. These classes sharpen my knowledge to become a good person in my society.

On another hand, my parents did not need to stress much about finding more money to support my siblings’ school supplies and uniforms because Anjali was responding for everything. Furthermore, Anjali also provided me and other children healthy food every breakfast and lunch. This helped us so much. We were lucky to be  Anjali House children.

 

Anjali Memories

 

I had a lot of unforgettable memories from Anjali. Some were funny, some were sad. Yet, most of them were good memories. I remember the time I heard the announcement of my name when I got selected as the top and the outstanding student of the month in front of all the students, teachers, volunteers, and staff. I was really surprised and never expected that I could get that golden opportunity. That was life-changing. I kept working harder, kept sharing knowledge, and continued being a good student, friend, son, and person in my community. As a result, I got more accomplishments than I would never believe that I could achieve.

For instance, I have been abroad to two countries, the United States of America and Japan. As a poor child who was fascinated by flying a kite and really wanted to experience how it feels to be on the plane. It’s unbelievable that dreams come true. These achievements are because of Anjali. I thank Anjali House for creating this idea, which was powerful, and inspired me and others to become nice people and it’s good to be surrounded by people that often motivate me to take a bold step that will elevate me and help me become more successful in life.

From Education to Experiences Abroad 

 

I have one sentence which describes everything from the

bottom of my heart: Anjali House Organization is the greatest place​​ that changes students’ lives. It is the door-open that provides me with a good education, big support, and they always offer me an excellent console.

 
Most importantly, I got to meet new talented volunteers who come from all around the world – like France, the United States of America, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom…etc. This let me know more about new cultures, languages, and traditions.
Where I Am Now
Currently, I am a twelfth-grade student. Besides studying, I am the student president of the school. I have been working in this role for four years, since ninth grade. I volunteer as a student counselor to almost 2,500 students. Students like to meet me and share their problems. I am delighted to help them by solving theirs.
 
Moreover, I have to create new projects for my school every month. For example, next month April we will have a sharing session event between the alumni students and the students. We provide a few former students who have achieved their goal to share with students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade via Zoom.
Giving back 
Furthermore, I am volunteering in an online learning center. I have been a volunteer as an English teacher of the Pre-intermediate level for two years. Due to Covid-19, I have switched teaching from face to face to Zoom. I have a lot of fun and enjoy doing it. Learning by teaching is one of my best styles. It is a very effective way of learning languages because it allows me to strengthen the capacity of my teaching. I can improve my listening skills, speaking skills, reading skills, and writing skills. It allows me to find more resources from my professors, friends from overseas as well as social media for example Facebook, YouTube, Google, and more websites related to English pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, quizzes, or exercises.
 
The 16th president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln once said “a goal properly set is halfway reached”.
 
Of course, I have my own clear goal of what I really want to achieve in life. I believe in hard work rather than destiny. I choose to be a multi-dimensional and transformational leader, educator, entrepreneur, and investor in Cambodia and Asia. My goals seem to be big, but I believe in my commitment.
 
I have a few aspirations. First, I plan to pursue my bachelor’s degree in a western country in early 2022. Second, I dream to provide scholarships to a hundred or more to rural area students who work hard to pursue their dreams in university, master’s degree, or Ph.D. degree. Finally, after finishing my own Ph.D. degree, I believe that I have enough ability to create my own organizations and create more jobs and many opportunities for Cambodian children, students, and people.
Giving Back to Anjali Through Soft Skills Training
For the past years, before Covid-19 came to Cambodia, some of my friends and I were spending part-time helping the students. We did gardening lessons and provided extra lessons to primary and secondary school students to strengthen their difficult subjects in school.
In early February, Mrs. Simon advised me to find out some important lessons for the young students. Fortunately, it was the time when I graduated from the six months-training course about soft skills from the US Embassy in Cambodia guaranteed to provide the students with soft skills.
Soft skills are the skills that enable everybody to fit in at a workplace. They include personality, attitude, flexibility, motivation, and manners.

 

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