Support Growth Groups for 70 Urban Cambodian Youth

Leadership club is a community that bring many students to a safe place to share their life stories, including both the good things and the bad things that have happened to them. This club is also a comfortable place for students to learn, share, laugh, and cry too. Thank you for making this space available for young people!

Below is a testimony from one of our students (translated from Khmer).

My name is John*, and I’m 19 years old. I just passed the 12th grade exam this year. My parents have a small shop for selling goods. I have three siblings—two brothers and a sister, and I am the youngest in the family. I got to know Leadership Club through a friend from church named Yuth. He introduced me to the club in 2022 and said it was a very good organization and school. I asked to enroll in the Leadership Club. Before enrolling, I was curious what we’d learn in this club.

When I first started with the group, I did not talk to anyone. I was not brave at all, and I was very shy. However, when I started to participate from month to month, I began to feel close to other friends and especially the teachers here. My teacher Mr. Ravin is kind and friendly. He always came to talk, ask me questions, and encourage me. I told him what was on my mind and shared my problems. He is a good listener, and he always has positive experiences to share with me in return. In the past, I was very shy about my gender and sexuality, and I did not dare to reveal it to my family. I was sad because I was born a man, and I have the heart of a woman.

After I joined Leadership Club, I learned a lot of good lessons that helped me in my daily life with myself and the people around me. One lesson I loved was, “Who I Am,” which has helped me find myself, know myself, and have the courage to share my gender identity with my family. Another lesson was “The Five Love Languages.” I learned that my love language is giving and receiving gifts. This lesson helped me to discover the language of love for the people in my family and other loved ones, especially since I know the languages well now.

After I finished one year with Leadership Club, I became interested in another group called Al-Anon, a group that shares and learns about various issues but especially how to cope with a family member who abuses alcohol. I joined that group and found that most of the members have personal and family problems. We listened to each other attentively and shared experiences from these issues with each other. We also had short lessons compiled from experiences of living and learning together. A phrase I love from this group is, “Do it one at a time.”

Finally, I want to give many thanks to Mission Dove Cambodia for setting up programs that encourage me. I hope you continue to be a great place where young people can relax and hang out with friends and get to know the teachers and staff there more. Mission Dove Cambodia is good, fun, and loving to us, which is different from other places I’ve been before. Mission Dove is like my second family. 

*Name changed to respect privacy