CambodianTertiary Scholarship Program (CTSP) held its first annual alumni meeting at theProvincial Teacher Training College (PTTC) on March 8, 2015, aiming to empowerCTSP scholars to be successful in their careers, to encourage them to be moredynamic in learning, and to change for the better.

Theprogram has been supported by The Asia Foundation (TAF) and implemented by KAPEin Kampong Cham province since 2010. CTSP provides qualified young women inCambodia from poor-income families with the opportunity to obtain undergraduateeducation. The CTSP project has been supporting four-year scholarships atWestern University in Kampong Cham. To date, this partnership has resulted inhelping over 2,860 disadvantaged young Cambodian girls complete their secondaryschool education.

Threemain speakers, Pen Bopha, Sim Chenda and Chen Sivget, were invited to sharetheir experiences as successful Khmer women. They spoke of their studies,volunteer work, work performance, and how they achieved their goals and howthey continue to pursue their dreams.

MsBopha, an HEDC trainer, spoke about leadership to the CTSP scholars and spokeof different types of people who work at any work place. The three types ofpeople are separated by their attitudes towards their work.  The first type is the staff member who doesn’tcome to work on time; the second staff member always watches the clock duringtheir work day; and the last is the staff member who is mostly focused on theorganization’s goals because s/he thinks that the organization is also his/her ownorganisation, and that’s what matters – not the pay cheque or putting in theminimum-required time.

TheCTSP scholars learned a lot about how to set their goals with a five-year plan.Some of the CTSP scholars who have successfully gone on to work in different establishmentsalso shared their lessons learned and experiences from their work.

KAPEwould like to thank all who attended the full day event: students, The AsiaFoundation, and speakers.