Personal Journey and Adventures of Nina

Lesson Tim e Time to get serious. This is the entire reason the school exists. With education, these kids might get jobs away from their desolate lives, away from the doldrums of watching their siblings whilst their parents work in the rice fields, from a possible life of begging or worse. With knowledge of Khmer, English and some Math, these kids are well armed to break the poverty cycle. There are three full time teachers at Sangtawan School who are wholly committed to engaging these children. The children, in return, are eager to impress. I witnessed the teachers as encompassing a happy combination of caring and fun but with the appropriate amount of firmness. Khmer Written Language I was struck by the beauty of the written Khmer language. It appears lyrical and romantic tinged with a semblance of ancientness. This is  from  Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. English Translation “ All human beings are born free and equal in dignit

Steps With Hope Desperately in need of funds to continue their support of this little school in Thailand, Founder of  Steps With Hope , Jen Spoor, hosted a Mother's Day High Tea. After her presentation, I said to Jen, "if you want to make a bigger impact, you need better photos".   So that was that and I committed to visiting the school on their next trip.   Meet The Kids If you're like us, you will want to meet the kids right away. There are about 70 children currently attending the school with three classes starting at Kindergarten age.  These children come from poor Khmer families, remnants of a recovering population that has endured one of the darkest times times in its history.  Around 3 million people slaughtered and many more terrorized by the Khmer Rouge has left a devastated people still clawing its way back to normality.  Families reside in makeshift huts just over the border in Cambodia. The children walk across the Khlong Hat borde

Ronan Keating  at Fox Studios on a break during The Voice Filming Don Spencer  ACMF Founder and Crusader When the producers at  Hixon Films  asked me to be a part of this project, I accepted without hesitation.  Firstly, being able to work with seriously talented, award winning producers Alex and Catherine was extremely appealing.  Then, being able to support  Australian Children's Music Fund  (ACMF) was an easy one for me. Such an  incredible organisation providing music to children that might not normally have access to it.  For me, it was personal. I couldn't imagine life without music. Music saved me. Through my brothers schizophrenic beatings, my mother's attempted suicide and the other childhood stresses, I was safe because I was able to channel my emotions into piano, singing and violin. I was one of the lucky ones. Peter Northcote  muscician and producer Shooting at  Key Studio  in North Sydney, t he line up of support was pretty incred