Cambodia Team

Kate Griffin came to ISF as a volunteer for 3 months back in April 2008 and hasn’t left since!! After making a significant difference as a volunteer, Kate was asked to undertake the role of Country Manager to assist the Trustees in their vision to make a tangible difference to the children served by ISF.

Kate has a wealth of charity experience having worked in the administrative and fundraising side of a variety of charities in Ireland for over 10 years. For the three years previous to working with ISF, Kate was working for herself distributing a range of healthcare and environmental products produced by Ecoflow. This is where the connection to ISF came as Ecoflow’s owner, Paul Markland, is an ISF Trustee.

Kate’s role is not only to oversee the work of ISF on the ground in Cambodia but also to generate support from abroad to ensure we can continue our work. In addition to this, she is currently building the capacity of all the local staff to ensure that they are in a position to run the organization in the future.

Chourp Vicheka joined ISF in November 2008 as the Administrative Officer. Vicheka’s ability to adapt to the very fast pace at which ISF grew over the following year, earned her a well deserved promotion to Deputy Country Manager in December 2009.

Vicheka has spent many years in administrative roles in a variety of NGO’s and businesses in Phnom Penh and brings with her a ‘can do’ attitude second to none. It’s thanks to her hard work and dedication as well as her efficiency that ISF has been able to progress so fast.

We are currently building her capacity and she will be responsible for running the operation on the ground in Cambodia during times when Kate is away on fundraising trips.

Long Phanna has worked as ISF’s CRDO since February 2009 having spent previous years working with
a variety of other NGO’s in the Provinces.

His role allows ISF to research the circumstances of the children we accept at our Education Centre, to follow up on any problems the children may have, to maintain a good relationship with other local organizations / State School, to monitor the children we send to State School, to research and assist with the placement of children in vocational training, to work with the local community to ensure our relationship with them is such that they are encouraged to support their children through our school, to educate the local community on basic healthcare / financial matters. The role is varied and vast but is one that Phanna is fulfilling perfectly.

In 2009 ISF doubled the number of children it was serving and hence doubled the need for someone to work full time to take care of the medical needs of our children.

In August 2009, through the sponsorship of Karen and Stuart Harris, ISF were in a position to hire Khov Chhengsim (Sim). Sim had just recently qualified as a Registered Nurse but her manner with the children and enthusiasm for work proved her the right candidate for the job.

Her role involves keeping records of all the children, taking them to the dentist and supplying them with toothpaste, toothbrushes and fluoride tablets, taking the children for blood tests and vaccinations, providing them with basic healthcare and hygiene education and the materials needed, taking the children to the optician or local hospital when necessary and dealing with all accidents / medical needs of the children on a daily basis when they are in our care.

Both Kannha (ISF Administrative Officer) and Samedy (ISF League / Football Administrator) play vital roles in ensuring that both our Education and Football programmes run as smoothly and successfully as possible.

Photo on right
Chap Channsan, Leak Chanroeun, Tith Prachnhary, Kong Kimchy, Ny Socheata, Heng Sokkheng

ISF’s teachers are all currently working part-time in one of Phnom Penh’s many State Schools. They spend the other part of their day working for ISF at our Stung Meanchey Education Centre. Working within the State School system allows our teachers to keep up-to-date with all the changes within the Cambodian Education system as well as helping us to ensure that ISF are teaching the same curriculum as the State School. We can transition the children from our Education Centre to the State School with ease.

In order not to confuse the children, the subjects they are taught are split e.g. one teacher teaches Math while another teaches Khmer. The children study for a full day from 7am to 11am and from 1pm to 5pm, so each class has two teachers throughout each day. This system has worked perfectly to-date and we are teaching two grades in one year to catch the children up to the grade they should be at.

In December 2009, ISF welcomed Sue Gough, a teacher from Packwood Haugh in the UK to assess our teachers. We were delighted to hear that we have the right people in place and that our teachers are providing interesting, interactive and child friendly classes for our students.

There are lots of people who work to help ISF achieve its mission. The people above are responsible for cooking meals twice a day at our Education Centre, keeping the building clean, taking care of and supervising the children, and driving them to and from football practices.

As our football programme grew, so too did the interest among girls who wanted to participate in the programme. With this came the need for female coaches. These roles were perfectly filled by Leng Chanthy (who was a former cook and cleaner for ISF) and Sok Ranya (who is a former garment factory worker). Neither Chanthy or Ranya had previous football experience but both ladies have proved their commitment and dedication to our programme.