Month: June 2020

Posted on

A poem, inspired by the novel Inside Out & Back Again

During my Literacy class, I had a marvelous opportunity to read an outstanding book I have never heard of. Inside Out & Back Again, by Thannhha Lai, is a verse novel based on the journey of a young little girl, Ha, who fled from her native country to a new country. As an inspiration from what we’ve read, I and my classmates wrote each a gorgeous poem. This poem dedicated from a perspective of a character that went similar life experience as Ha from the novel. Please enjoy reading my poem about this character that has been forced to flee her home country for a safer place. 

Photo from Diacritics.org

Me, sitting under the shadow, 

Of this old world. 

 

Without any work to do, 

Anyone to play with, 

I ended up here. 

 

In a quiet place,

Giving me a state of serenity, 

At the same time, with water all of my body. 

 

Upon the branches, 

The soft voice of the bird is singing, 

Intended to express their bliss. 

 

Unfortunately, my mouth isn’t singing as the bird

But my stomach does

It is growling 

 

I am a Kurd, 

Moved from Iran, 

Are what my mom used to tell me, 

 

I was born to be here in Turkey, 

In a refugee camp, 

To be craved for food, 

To be slumbered in a small tent, 

For nine of us. 

 

Mom, we are Kurd, and…we are here?

Was what I once asked my mom

 

Jihan, my little girl

That’s why we need to endure such these

We have nowhere; we have no spot, 

But what we have is an identity, 

To be a Kurd 

 

A young little girl as me, 

Realize that I have no country, 

Cognize my own self, 

At that juncture. 

 

Is it faith that I have nowhere, 

To go, 

To breath with contentment, 

To gulp my favorite food. 

 

Part II

 

Days passed, we are fortunate, 

When missionaries, 

Sponsor us to come to America. 

Continue reading “A poem, inspired by the novel Inside Out & Back Again”

Posted on

Khmer Model United Nation Conference, 2019

In May 2019, the Liger Leadership Academy hosted a Khmer Model United Nation that consisted of 60 delegates from three different academies. Model UN is one of my interests and passions, in which it has grown since I participated in the first time. In my opinion, Model UN is such an impactful event to students and young minds as a young perspective in which delegates could truly understand what is happening around the world. This conference was a precious time for me and other new delegates I have never met to come together to discuss, collaboration, and debate in order to find reasonable and appropriate solutions to current global issues. 

It was a privilege for me to present the French Republic in this conference, and discussed, debated under the question of tackling food insecurity, and rights of children of incarcerated parents. By exposing these two topics, I have perceived a lot of facts and became a lot more aware of each countries food security and children’s rights.  

During the conference, I was pleased to be the main submitter on the topic of tackling food insecurity. Especially, I and the other delegates were productively participated by asking a lot of questions and do the speeches of our country’s stands. 

This conference was one of the most successful Model UN I have attended. It gave me numerous knowledge about the topics, as well as current global issues as a whole. It transformed me to become a girl with confidence and courage to speak up. Having this conference in the Khmer Language is another glorious experience to support our native language and I hope there will be more Khmer Model UN conferences in the future.

Posted on

World Robotic Olympiad, Cambodia

“Every girl deserves to take part in creating the technology that will change our world and change who runs it” – Malala Yousafzai

First of all, it was an honor to be the only girl in a team of three to represent in this marvelous worldwide robotic competition. World Robotic Olympiad (WRO) is a truly global competition dedicated to science and technology to give as many young creative people all the opportunities to develop their innovation and problem-solving skills. This competition was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia before the qualification in international competition in Thailand. Despite the little experience we had in the robotics field (since this competition was our second time), the two teams from the Liger Leadership Academy did an extraordinary job in engaging in the competition as an individual who worked hard in the team and thought of taking the skills and experiences rather than winning as a whole. 

The two teams of Liger Leadership Academy

As a member of the team, I appreciated the effort and endeavor they had put in preparation for the actual competition. This competition and the process of teamwork made me came to a realization and an understanding that teamwork is genuinely the heart of great achievement for the team. 

       This is my team

During the competition, my team did our best and we managed to priority the methods that work best for our team. We had only one chance to complete our robot and those moments were filled with excitement and nervousness. Due to the vigorous teamwork we had and our extreme confidence in our robot, that nervousness seemed to fade away on the second rounds of the three rounds. 

This competition didn’t only teach me the skills of technology, science, and teamwork, it brought me to a world that is filled with young creative minds. Most specifically, I had made a lot of new friends from the different academy and shared our robotic journey as adolescents who passionate about robotic. 

 

On the evening of the competition day, it came for a time to announce the winners. Both of the Liger teams are in Junior Category. What a piece of incredible and phenomenal news, my team qualified for the FIRST PLACE of junior division while the other team qualifies for SECOND PLACE. It is a successful moment for my team and my friend’s team. It was also an honor to receive our achievement trophies from the Secretary of State of Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, Deputy Director of STEM Cambodia, and more. It is an unforgettable experience of our robotic journey.

Posted on

China Robotics

Robotics was an exploration where I and the other three students from the Liger Leadership Academy, preparing for the 2019 Guangxi Adolescent Robot Competition and the ASEAN National Adolescent Robot Invitational Tournament that head in Wuzhou, Guangxi, China.

It was a memorable memory for all of us, to be privileged to represent Cambodia to compete with other ASEAN and China teams. We were the first and only team from Cambodia and our team named was NORAKBOT. It was a Lego League which we designed our robot to complete the missions on the board under the theme of Into Orbit (Space). Even though the tournament had some confusion rules, our team could adapt to it quickly and perform the best we could. During the competition, our team put our best to be as flexible as we could. 

 

It was our honor of representing Cambodia in such an amazing competition. We had one whole day competition and the other days of exploring different places such as the Museum of science and technology and the ASEAN theme amusement park. 

One of the nights during this trip, our team participated in the Culture Exchange where all the countries shared their wonders to each other by having different performances such as dance, sing, and more. 

Khmer Traditional Dace

In addition, It’s the way that introduces Cambodia and its culture to other countries in the competition. Especially, our team was honored to hold our Cambodia’s flag in this Science-Technology competition.