Next week is my last week with WRC. It came up so quickly! Our agenda for next week is:
Have a karaoke session. Video below of the ladies trying to troubleshoot the microphone of the machine while I am providing very little assistance (but much encouragement).
Hold training presentations with the finance and program teams on the work we’ve been doing the past 3 weeks.
Most importantly, finish my report for AfID and WRC so that we document our achievements and setup future volunteers for success.
This past week was a little bit of a struggle for me and Bunnak. We had achieved a lot of things in the previous weeks but got ambitious with what we hoped we could get out of QuickBooks. WRC is going to be able to run a lot of new reports out of QB that they have done manually in the past through Excel, such as balance sheet by donor, budget overviews by donor, and budget to actual analysis by donor. We were hoping to build in forecasting as well to better inform the management committee and donor relations on where funding gaps may exist each month. However, we decided that we were not satisfied with the functionality that QB offers and that it would be a frustrating experience to use those tools. After stepping back, we also thought that because we’ve achieved so much so far, that it could actually be too overwhelming to achieve any more goals! Meaning, we’ve got 3 new reports to learn how to interpret from QuickBooks. By adding in forecasting reports, this could overwhelm the non-finance teams and they could shut down to all of the new reports. So we will start with these achievements and maybe 6 or 12 months down the line then WRC will be in a position to add more functionality to their suite of tools. For now, forecasting will stay in manual Excel workbooks.
A small WRC staff highlight...the amazing finance and accounting duo. I’ve added here the “About Me” stories of Bunnak and Navy from the www.wrccambodia.org website. We have a blast in the #accountingnerds office at WRC. I’m sure everyone else in the building wonders why there is so much laughter coming from the accounting room.
My name is Bunnak Leng and I am a Cambodian woman from Siem Reap province. I am married and have three children. I studied Accounting and Finance at Build Bright University, and previously worked at the Angkor Hospital for Children. I am also a primary school teacher. My favorite thing about working at WRC is that we provide counseling support and informal education workshops on important topics like women’s health, financial literacy, positive parenting and women’s rights and gender equality. When I am not at work I always take care of my children at home, giving them good advice and teaching them good qualities and helping them with homework. My hero provided for me and taught me to be a good person with strength and kindness. Sometimes she is a good friend and sometimes she is a sister; she is my mother and she is a strong lady. In the future I want to see a safe and equal society, where opportunities are fair for women. Women will be empowered, educated, respected and able to make decision about their own lives.
My name is Navy Porng and I have been living in Siem Reap city since 2018. My hometown is Yeay Mey village in Siem Reap province. In my family, there are 7 members; my parents are farmers and I have one older brother and another younger brother. I am currently studying in Vanda Institute and majoring in accounting. I also studied at PEPY Empowering Youth Learning Center organization in English, Computers, and soft skills. When I am not at work, I like to exercise, do yoga, hang out with my friends, work on assignments, listen to music, and I sometimes volunteer in the community. Some of my favorite things about working at WRC is their goal to empower women and reinforce equal rights. My hero is my principle from high school that provided me with education, advice, and encouraged me to be a good student; I appreciate his leadership that made me the strong woman I am today. My final dream for Cambodian women is to see them have equal rights and opportunities in society. I am passionate about women’s rights because I want women and men to have equal opportunities and I also want women’s voices to be heard and respected.
I love seeing how the women at WRC lead the values and lives of their mission. Navy comes from a very small village some distance away from Siem Reap. It was her dream to come study at university. In order to leave her farming family though she first had to receive permission from her family and the village leader. After deliberation, including concerns of coming to such a larger city, her request was granted and now she lives and attends school in Siem Reap while working part time for WRC.
What new adventure have you had outside of work this week Jessalyn? Some other recent activities I’ve been up to in Siem Reap include a motorbike tour up to Phnom Kulen National Park and Waterfall and a visit to the Phare Cambodian Circus (recommended by the ladies at WRC).
I cannot recommend this tour enough for anyone wanting to see the beautiful Cambodian countryside. We were on small roads most of the way to Kulen Mountain which was very relaxing. A dip in the waterfall pools was welcome relief from the long ride. Note that I’m an experienced motorbike rider but these were basically scooters and the guides give you a short training in the morning before departing Siem Reap (automatic clutch!).
Yesterday (Friday night) I also went the Phare Cambodian Circus with a couple of other NGO volunteers in Siem Reap, at the recommendation of the ladies at WRC. It was hilarious and amazing! Such a great stop that most tourism website leave off a Siem Reap itinerary. https://pharecircus.org/
