New Careers
Designing a New Life Out of Tragedy
What does a career mean to you?
A career is security, peace, purpose: It’s the peace of mind that your needs can be taken care of.
A career is inspiring and motivating: achieving goals, making progress, seeing things happen because of the work you do.
It forms an important part of your identity - not all of your identity - but it’s your skillset, what takes majority of your time, what you invest in, what you know about and continue to learn about.
A career is hope to the community.
A career is a choice. It represents something you chose to do and serves as a reminder that the design of your life is in your hands. A career gives you that power and autonomy of making decisions.
It’s a representation of your passion and your interests.
The important thing is that the career isn’t actually about the career. We don’t work to simply work. We work because it provides. We work because it inspires. We work because we are passionate. We work because we have people around us that rely on us - we work for them.
A career is beyond the exchange of completing tasks for money. A career is empowering. It is such a privilege to choose your career, and unfortunately, that isn't the reality for so many vulnerable people.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
While very cliche, this thought quintessentially captures our mission. We can give money to those who need it. We can fundraise money, ask for cash donations; we can gather enough to provide for the vulnerable. But we don’t have a stash of purpose, of passion, of motivation and identity. That must be cultivated by the user.
What we do is give people the opportunities to cultivate their passion, purpose, motivation and identity.
Rina* has wanted to become a chef for a long time. She took a job in a restaurant in the city, which turned out to be a lie and she was trapped into exploitation. Now in the SHE Home, she has returned to school and, after expressing her passion for cooking, we have offered her a vocational training program at a local cooking school. At the end of the course, the program will help Rina* find employment in the industry.
Sreykouch’s* mother has moved to Phnom Penh so that she can visit her daughter in the SHE Home regularly. As a single mother she has been supporting her family by working on construction sites but there hasn't been consistent work for her. She is interested in chef vocational training that will help her have a stable job and good income in the future.
Both these courses are opportunities for Rina* and Sreykouch’s* mother to design their life - to work towards financial stability while developing a passion for what they do.
While we don’t have a stash of purpose and identity, we do have a stash of hope. And that is the most significant thing you can give someone and their community.
We are looking for people who can sponsor these training courses and support both families. You can donate to their futures and others below.