I’ve had a great first couple of days getting introduced and settled in to JWOC!  For those of you who haven’t already heard me talk about it, JWOC is a non-profit I’ve been involved with for a few years (thanks to my loooooooong-time friend, Jane Price!), and whose Board I joined last fall.  JWOC’s mission is to reduce poverty levels by increasing educational and economic opportunity for recipients in Southeast Asia, with the primary focus here in Siem Reap.  Through its programs, JWOC works to empower both those recipients and our supporters to drive positive and ongoing social change in their communities.  

The centerpiece of the organization is the Scholarship Program, which covers the full cost of university tuition and textbooks for students who could not otherwise afford to attend.  In turn, those students also serve as JWOC’s fundamental engine as they become the volunteer teachers and staff that make the other programs possible.  In the process, we are able to not only assist directly with the cost of their education, but also to build on their potential and to develop their working skills, experience, teaching and leadership capabilities more broadly.  Our expectation is that many of them will become future local and national leaders and the idea of giving back will be something they embrace.  

Our other core programs are also education-focused, consisting of Free Classes for children, youth and adults.  These classes provide critical school-readiness and job-readiness preparation for individuals who would not otherwise be able to afford or access such opportunities.  In addition, the volunteer force of Scholarship Students allows JWOC to meet other high-priority needs in Siem Reap and the surrounding villages including Clean Water & Hygiene Training, Microfinance, and Emergency Disaster Relief programs. 

One of the really cool aspects (as the name conveys!) is that JWOC was born from within the community, founded in 2005 by Andrea and Brandon Ross, owners of the Journeys Within Tour Company and Boutique Hotel based in Siem Reap.  While their tour and hotel guests were struck by the beauty of Cambodia and warmth of its people, they were equally struck by the vastness of the need they saw around them and asked how they could help.  Because Andrea and Brandon lived in the community, their neighbors also sought them out for support.  And they continue to work in concert with the community to identify and prioritize needs and to act together to address them, in keeping with the JWOC motto of “See a Problem… Solve a Problem.” Always maintaining a focus on providing opportunities, not handouts, focusing on giving people access to the education and tools they need to make positive changes for themselves, ensuring that even if JWOC disappeared tomorrow the difference we have made will remain.

In just 2 days, I’ve been introduced to all of the staff as well as several of the Scholarship Students, participated in Conversation Class as a native English speaker, and mapped out our plans and projects for my next 6 weeks.  Intros included a terrific lunch of traditional Khmer dishes yesterday with the gang (you can see me peeking out down on the right, sitting between Chhunlay, our Computer Teacher/IT Supervisor, and Konthea, our Community Liaison Program Manager) :

And today, I presented an “Erin Overview” that included a brief visual history of my life path:  

Got the biggest laugh when I said I was spending my kids’ college money on myself since they both got scholarships!  Got the biggest “wow” for my apartment in NYC — not for the view, but for the fact that I lived on the 29th floor.   (By the way – thanks, Mom, for the cool photo collage that provided me with several of the pics — and sorry, Matt, I didn’t have a more recent good baseball shot of you so had to somehow place Univ of Tennessee in Southern California…. I don’t think anyone noticed!!)

I’m looking forward to a busy 6 weeks as we’ve identified several project areas for me to work on with the team.   A few of the first ones will be to develop and facilitate a training session for the Scholarship Students on critical thinking using some JWOC-specific case studies; putting together a strategy to pursue foundation/corporate funding grants (we actually worked together and submitted one of our first to Team4Tech immediately prior to me leaving NY); and also getting the chance to attend teacher development workshops and teacher observations so I can start my “Education” education while I’m here.  Lots of good stuff to come!!