New Day – for women and girls in crisis across Asia

New Day members and the girls from Kampong Cham in front of the new building.

On the 15th of May 2010 New Day members Chris Green, Liza Green, Kylie Macintosh and Jeremy Gibb visited the Kampong Cham Centre outside of Phnom Penh.  The main purpose of the visit was to see the completed 3 storey building that New Day had helped to fund.  Jeremy Gibb was also there as a representative of Norton Rose law firm who were our corporate funding partners on this project. We were all delighted with the building and it was wonderful to see the girls again since our last visit in December 2008.  Please have a look at our report on this project here:

Visit to Kampong Cham May 2010

We look forward to working further with AFESIP to ensure that the building is properly staffed and equipped for the benefit of all 55 girls at the centre.

Chris, Jeremy and Kylie in the new counseling room with Chenda the house mother and a few of the girls.

A full view of the building.

On the 12th of October 2009 a ground-breaking ceremony was held at the Kampong Cham Center to mark the start of construction of the new building.  Have a look at a few photos:

For more photos and further details on the construction project have a look at the update report prepared for our corporate funding partner, Norton Rose:

AFESIP Project Update for Norton Rose, 15-10-09

New Day has pledged USD10,000 of our members funds towards this project along with a USD15,000 grant from Norton Rose law firm.  The other funding partner is the Dutch NGO No Child Abuse Foundation.  The original plan was to build a single storey three-roomed building that would house an office, a counseling room and a clinic.  AFESIP was also planning to build another two storey building that would house training rooms and a weaving center.

There has been a delay in the start of the construction for the following reasons:

1. The AFESIP committee has decided to make one complete building instead of two because the land is more and more
expensive and they need to keep more space available for additional accommodation for the girls at Kampong Cham
Center. The 40-50 girls at the center currently share a large dormitory space above the open living area in the main building.

AFESIP’s management team and President Somaly MAM are in agreement now to build a 3-floor building for Kampong Cham center as follows:

- Ground floor is divided into 3 rooms for counseling; health care and an office
- 1st floor  is used for computer training, internet, English classes and a
library
- 2nd floor is for weaving training (existing weaving building will be used for
sewing training)

The total cost of the 3-floor building 9.5×20m is USD135,699.95.
2. After a new grant from Somaly Mam Foundation USA and an increase in the grant from No Child Abuse Foundation AFESIP now has the following funds available:

- Somaly MAM Foundation USD50,000 (from Roland  Berger Foundation)
- New Day Foundation USD25,000
- No Child Abuse Foundation USD69,660

In conclusion the construction will start at the end of June and should take around 160 days.  Please note that we have not yet disbursed the New Day and Norton Rose funds to AFESIP due to the delays.  The fund transfer will take place at the end of this month (June 2009).  It seems that the rain is not a problem this year and that construction will continue throughout the summer months.

Although there has been a delay in the start of this project we are very pleased that AFESIP has managed to increase the scope of this project and the capacity of the building.  We continue to believe in the excellent work that they are doing in Cambodia and will continue to support them in the future.