RUPP Faculty Scholarship Recipients

Below is a brief description of the talented and dedicated social workers who will become faculty at the new RUPP Social Work Department. 

2nd Cohort Graduates from the UW on June 10, 2009

Students Bora Chun, Kanika Ung, Nika Nguon, and Lo Leang were excited to participate in the School of Social Work graduation ceremony. They are also as excited to head back home to their families and begin working as faculty at the newly started Social Work Department. Many people attended the RUPP graduation celebration after the ceremony and it was exciting to see the large number of people whose lives have been touched by the RUPP cohorts

Past Cohorts

Dalin Meng, who was part of Cohort 1, graduated and returned to Cambodia RUPP. Len Montiel also returned to Cambodia and is an Advisor to the RUPP Social Work Department.

Dalin Meng has been providing direct services in a home-based mental health program that provides support to people with mental illness, who experience domestic violence, or other issues which impact their well-being. She was also a trainer teaching counseling skills to para-professional social service workers.

 

Cohort 2 – Arrived Fall 2007 and graduating Spring 2009

	Kanika Ung has focused on delivering programs and implementing policies for trafficked women and children. Her work with poverty alleviation activities seeks to address the root causes of trafficking and raise awareness through public education campaign in schools. She is keenly aware of the need to better address gender issues within Cambodia.
	Bora Chun has extensive work experience in the field of HIV prevention. Among his more recent activities in this area, he collaborated with the Labor Ministry, factory owners, and employer and union representatives to design and implement a HIV policy and peer-educator program within the work place.
	Lo Leang has been working in the mental health field for almost a decade. In addition to working as a counselor supervisor, his expertise and training capabilities have been sought by organizations from a number of sectors (e.g. justice system to encourage better services to crime victims; or staff from the Ministry of Social Affairs). He is particularly interested in preventive services for children, youth, and families.
	Nika Nguon has personal experience of the discrimination and intolerance that people with disabilities face in Cambodia having been affected by polio before her first birthday. Despite this obstacle, she is one of the few disabled women in Cambodia to have completed a bachelor’s degree and has been an exemplary role model and activist advocating on disabilities and gender issues.