Nine of our university students took on a big challenge this year when they were invited to take part in the CRST Ambassador Program.
It was such an unforgettable day in January with Aviv Palti and his family in Cambodia when the nine students – Sreng Sokh, Nak Shen, Doeb Chhay, Veun Voan, Sompeas Sokh, Yeat Son, Vanndet Van, Roeun Ran and Rith Rorn were asked to sit down and talk about this new Ambassador Program. At first, we had no idea what it was, so Aviv explained. The CRST Ambassadors Program was formed by Aviv Palti, the founder of CRST, to give a chance to young Cambodian students from CRST to represent the NGO and travel to different countries to share some of their life stories and how the NGO has changed their lives.
To go through the process, each student had to individually prepare a presentation to share some of their personal life-story and CRST’s activities and life-changing programs and projects. Each presentation included a speech, in English, of about 15 minutes, plus an audio-visual presentation showing photos and word-slides set to a powerful, meaningful, and emotional song. The objective of the presentations was to EDUCATE the listeners and INSPIRE them to join our efforts in breaking the poverty cycle through education, empowerment and community projects.
The nine students were selected specifically to compete among themselves and the two with the most outstanding presentations to be chosen to travel to Australia later this year. We had our experienced mentors, Sam and Natasha, from Australia, who worked closely with our students to make sure they got the best outcomes possible. The students put in a huge effort in producing these presentations.They even gave up their New Year Holiday, the biggest holiday in Cambodia, to work on this!!
On April 16, the last day of Khmer New Year, the first five students gave their presentations to Aviv and his wife Michelle, Jess, Aaron, Natasha, Sam and our friend from Revel, Nathaniel. The last four students delivered their speeches and slideshows on April 17, followed by the selection of the two students.
CONGRATULATIONS to Sompeas Sokh and Veun Voan, who have been chosen to represent the NGO in Australia later this year!! This is an amazing opportunity and they are looking forward to visiting Australia, meeting new people and learning new things. But it is not the end yet. The two ambassador students have a lot more to do to get ready before going to Australia - stay tuned for more.......
