Words of Mothers

May is the month of love because of mothers. Mother’s Day is celebrated globally where children take the opportunity to show their gratitude and love to their mothers.

The children in rural Cambodia call our founder and CEO Victoria “mama”!  The love and care Vic has for the children is unconditional and she is a mother for all in many eyes.   We are such a lucky team as there are more than 30 virtual volunteers also showing their love to the deserving children, some of them are exactly like Vic - wonderful mothers. 

Kathy Aunkst, PeopleStories’s Communications Specialist from the USA is a mother of 3 adult sons of 31, 27 and 19 years old. “Becoming a mother definitely changed me. I was 18 years old when I found out I was going to be a mother. At the time I had just graduated high school and was looking into what I was going to do with this next phase of my life. I was looking to enroll in college, but the universe had other plans for me,”   Kathy recalled vividly, “Nine days after my 19th birthday I had my first son. I had to grow up very quickly. To this day, my first born and I kind of joke that we grew up together. It was a scary and special time all at once.”​

Kathy just celebrated her 1st year volunteer anniversary with PeopleStories. She found PeopleStories through being a fan of Matt Le Nevez’s work. “Truth be told, I signed up for PeopleStories’s Storytelling Workshop to see Matt,” Kathy laughed, “Little did I know, when Vic started speaking, I was mesmerized by her story and the work of PeopleStories.  Weeks had gone by and I couldn’t get Vic and PeopleStories out of my mind and I reached out to her and offered to help in the way of volunteering. I wanted to offer my help with the PeopleStories social media channels. If I was on social media a lot, I thought it would be nice to spend the time in a more productive, helpful way.”

When asked about the statement of ‘mothers give unconditional love to their children’, Kathy nodded in agreement. “I think most mothers would agree, unconditional love of a mother is a real thing and probably something you don’t fully understand until you are a mother. I do think volunteer work to benefit children is an extension of unconditional love to others’ children. It might even go a step further in the case of virtual volunteering; I will most likely never meet these children that I volunteer for yet I hear their stories, see their stories, root for them, want them to succeed.  It’s a unique, special thing to be involved with.”

Donna Worthington, one of the founding members of PeopleStories and now serves on our Advisory Board, has 3 beautiful children. “One girl and two energetic boys,” Donna put a big smile on her face, “they are 14, 12 and 11 years old.”

“Motherhood has only changed me for the better.” Donna shared, “It’s a selfless role that makes you consider others before your own needs.  Helping to shape them into good souls who are prepared to go out into the world is my most important role in life. Most importantly, motherhood is a blessing and I feel very privileged to be their mother.”

Donna said that the statement ‘mothers give unconditional love to their children’ does resonate with her. “It is so important to be loved, to be seen, to be supported. PeopleStories provides a unique opportunity to contribute to a purpose driven charity that creates lasting impacts for the children of Cambodia.” She shared further, “We do that through our work to improve education.  Education breaks the cycle of poverty and provides an avenue for these children to achieve their dreams.”

​Donna is proud of the children in Cambodia and their parents. “The children take advantage of the opportunities PeopleStories provides them.  They are so eager to engage and be the best they can be.  Their energy and passion are infectious.  We really see in these kids that one soul can change the world!  They have certainly changed me.”

When asked about her wish for PeopleStories, Donna shared enthusiastically, “My dream for PeopleStories is that we create more and more opportunities to engage the children and teachers of Cambodia in our education programs and initiatives.  In three years, the footprint for PeopleStories would have increased and we will be delivering scalable digital programs in more schools.  Our volunteer group will continue to increase and we will have a steady funding stream as a result of other purpose led organisations and individuals wanting to contribute to the success of PeopleStories.  It is such an exciting future that we will look to leverage our model in other less privileged communities.”

Ecila Yung, manages our financial reporting of PeopleStories, started her volunteering journey with PeopleStories in March this year.  She has a beautiful daughter who is 23 years old this year. Ecila found that she became more flexible and capable in coping with changes since she became a mother. “It is an amazing journey to learn and grow with my daughter. I can see that my role has changed overtime, from a teacher to a mentor, and now as a friend,” she smiled.

Ecila agrees that mothers give unconditional love to their children, and don’t expect any return for themselves. Mothers provide tremendous support and care to their children, hope that they are healthy, happy and have bright futures. “I believe people who volunteer to work with the children have the same motives,” Ecila is convinced.

“PeopleStories connecting education with dreams is inspiring and yet real in rural Cambodia.” Ecila is a strong believer that education can transform lives by breaking poverty and creating better futures for children. “I read a story of a 20-year-old man who decided to return to school to study Grade 7 through a PeopleStories School for Life Scholarship.”

“He overcame the age gap to go back to school because he realised that education could help him achieve his dream of becoming a police officer or a doctor. He studied hard and his school results were good and he ranked 6th in his class. I am very proud of his courage and determination – it makes me proud of being a supporter of PeopleStories that has helped children have their dreams come true.”

Ecila wishes more children will be able to receive education through PeopleStories, so that more lives can transform. In 3 years’ time, she would like to see PeopleStories provide higher education (grade 12 and beyond) to the students in rural Cambodia, so that they can be empowered with greater career opportunities and development.

​3 proud mothers shared their motherhood experience and unconditional love to the children in Cambodia, what about you?

​Join the PeopleStories volunteer team by reaching us at [email protected]

Story written by: Volunteer Pei