Norwegian Association for Private Initiative in Cambodia (NAPIC)
Norwegian Association for Private Initiative in Cambodia (NAPIC) is a non-political non-religious association registered in Norway, with a registered branch in Cambodia.
The members covers all administration costs like e.g. bank fees, and the salaries to the local management in Cambodia is paid by the board members.
Only Cambodians are on the payroll. Board members and management all pay their own travel and expenses.
The board in Norway consists of board leader James Stove Lorentzen and board members Sissi Stove Lorentzen, Gerd Straume, Dag Rømmen, Irene Solberg Rømmen. Irene is also CEO. NAPIC works with several volunteers, and wishes to thank accountant Trude Folkøy Brenden and our auditors.
100% of received donations are allocated directly to different projects.
You can find more information about NAPIC on their website. Background From 2002 Irene and Dag Rømmen spent much time in Cambodia, as tourists, adoptive parents and working on supporting a state orphanage. Many of these children were orphaned as a result their mother losing her life while giving birth to another sibling. Complications related to childbirth are the highest cause of death for women aged 15 to 49. These women leave behind a number of children who tend to either end up in the streets, in different orphanages, or are taken advantage of in the worst ways imaginable.
In 2005 89% of Cambodian women gave birth at home and 66% without professional help. There was no free birth clinic in the country. In 2010 the number of women to deliver their babies without any profession help had been reduced to 29% - an amazing change!
Together with a Cambodian friend, Dr. Keo San, Dag and Irene decided to set up a free maternity clinic to help reduce the maternal mortality rate and therefore number of orphans.
On 18th June 2005, Dr. Keo San’s free maternity clinic opened its doors in Takhmau, south of Phnom Penh.
Dr. Keo San has had the overall responsibility of running the clinic, and NAPIC has funded 100% of the operations from the opening until April 2016. The main financial contributor to the maternity clinic for 5 of the years since the opening was Mr. Arne Blystad. The clinic closed its doors in 2016 after more than 20.000 women had delivered their babies in a clean and safe environment with professional care.By this time the service was more financial accessible for the poor at the public hospital.
From 2007 to 2016 NAPIC extended their services to include a mobile health clinic that operated in 24 villages in and near Takhmau. The team examined all pregnant women regularly, providied vitamins and tetanus vaccinations. Great emphasis was put upon education and training in pregnancy, nutrition, the care and nursing of infants, hygiene, HIV and other health related issues. Mr. John Hatleskog was funding this project in all these years.
In 2010, NAPIC opened a Free Education Center, an English and IT school with help from the The Steensland Foundation. The students are mainly poor high school students. With the additional training in English and/or IT, the students can compete for better paid jobs and help break the cycle of poverty for their families. The school has a registration of up to 200 students per term. The Steensland foundation continued to fund parts of the operation for many years. The education center has now merged with Kuma Cambodia School. We are proud to say that three of our students received scholarship to UWC Red Cross Nordic in Norway, the first of them graduated in 2018 and is now on a full scholarship at a university in the US.
In June 2012, Kuma Cambodia Primary School opened its doors to the most marginalised and vulnerable children in the area.
Kuma background and UWCSEA involvement
When UWCSEA teacher Andrea Naylor travelled to Phnom Penh to visit the NAPIC projects, the maternity clinic and village program, she was struck by the fact that the vast majority of children were out on the streets during school time. She and Irene discussed their dream of giving these children an opportunity to go to school. They wanted to go further than purely providing an education for these children; they aimed to create a refuge, a place where they could be fed, given medical care, have access to clean clothes and showers and a safe place to play. The hope was that this would also give their parents (many of whom are single mothers) a chance to find work and enable them to support their families, while building their own self-esteem.
There were lots of practicalities involved in opening the doors of the school, and the help from the UWCSEA teachers, Andrea, Rob, Mike and Margot was essential in the planning. The financial help from the Norwegian community in Singapore and several Trivia night/Kuma Quiz in Irene and Dag´s garden made it possible to realise the plans.
Irene knew that they had struck gold when their staff found the premises with plenty of rooms and a wonderful garden, close to the villages that the maternity clinic and mobile health team supported. Kerena, who already was employed by NAPIC, was promoted to school director and immediately set to work finding outstanding teachers, many of whom also work in the Cambodian state education system and help ensure that the children will be prepared to transition into state schools in the future. Kerena also helped negotiate the required permits from the Ministry of Education. Finally, there was the search for the most needy children to attend the school. With the help of the knowledge of our Village program staff and help from the village chiefs we reached and interviewed many poor families. Their circumstances as well as commitment to the children’s education were amongst the factors that were considered.
You can find more information about NAPIC on their website.
Norwegian Association for Private Initiative in Cambodia (NAPIC) is a non-political non-religious association registered in Norway, with a registered branch in Cambodia.
The members covers all administration costs like e.g. bank fees, and the salaries to the local management in Cambodia is paid by the board members.
Only Cambodians are on the payroll. Board members and management all pay their own travel and expenses.
The board in Norway consists of board leader James Stove Lorentzen and board members Sissi Stove Lorentzen, Gerd Straume, Dag Rømmen, Irene Solberg Rømmen. Irene is also CEO. NAPIC works with several volunteers, and wishes to thank accountant Trude Folkøy Brenden and our auditors.
100% of received donations are allocated directly to different projects.
You can find more information about NAPIC on their website. Background From 2002 Irene and Dag Rømmen spent much time in Cambodia, as tourists, adoptive parents and working on supporting a state orphanage. Many of these children were orphaned as a result their mother losing her life while giving birth to another sibling. Complications related to childbirth are the highest cause of death for women aged 15 to 49. These women leave behind a number of children who tend to either end up in the streets, in different orphanages, or are taken advantage of in the worst ways imaginable.
In 2005 89% of Cambodian women gave birth at home and 66% without professional help. There was no free birth clinic in the country. In 2010 the number of women to deliver their babies without any profession help had been reduced to 29% - an amazing change!
Together with a Cambodian friend, Dr. Keo San, Dag and Irene decided to set up a free maternity clinic to help reduce the maternal mortality rate and therefore number of orphans.
On 18th June 2005, Dr. Keo San’s free maternity clinic opened its doors in Takhmau, south of Phnom Penh.
Dr. Keo San has had the overall responsibility of running the clinic, and NAPIC has funded 100% of the operations from the opening until April 2016. The main financial contributor to the maternity clinic for 5 of the years since the opening was Mr. Arne Blystad. The clinic closed its doors in 2016 after more than 20.000 women had delivered their babies in a clean and safe environment with professional care.By this time the service was more financial accessible for the poor at the public hospital.
From 2007 to 2016 NAPIC extended their services to include a mobile health clinic that operated in 24 villages in and near Takhmau. The team examined all pregnant women regularly, providied vitamins and tetanus vaccinations. Great emphasis was put upon education and training in pregnancy, nutrition, the care and nursing of infants, hygiene, HIV and other health related issues. Mr. John Hatleskog was funding this project in all these years.
In 2010, NAPIC opened a Free Education Center, an English and IT school with help from the The Steensland Foundation. The students are mainly poor high school students. With the additional training in English and/or IT, the students can compete for better paid jobs and help break the cycle of poverty for their families. The school has a registration of up to 200 students per term. The Steensland foundation continued to fund parts of the operation for many years. The education center has now merged with Kuma Cambodia School. We are proud to say that three of our students received scholarship to UWC Red Cross Nordic in Norway, the first of them graduated in 2018 and is now on a full scholarship at a university in the US.
In June 2012, Kuma Cambodia Primary School opened its doors to the most marginalised and vulnerable children in the area.
Kuma background and UWCSEA involvement
When UWCSEA teacher Andrea Naylor travelled to Phnom Penh to visit the NAPIC projects, the maternity clinic and village program, she was struck by the fact that the vast majority of children were out on the streets during school time. She and Irene discussed their dream of giving these children an opportunity to go to school. They wanted to go further than purely providing an education for these children; they aimed to create a refuge, a place where they could be fed, given medical care, have access to clean clothes and showers and a safe place to play. The hope was that this would also give their parents (many of whom are single mothers) a chance to find work and enable them to support their families, while building their own self-esteem.
There were lots of practicalities involved in opening the doors of the school, and the help from the UWCSEA teachers, Andrea, Rob, Mike and Margot was essential in the planning. The financial help from the Norwegian community in Singapore and several Trivia night/Kuma Quiz in Irene and Dag´s garden made it possible to realise the plans.
Irene knew that they had struck gold when their staff found the premises with plenty of rooms and a wonderful garden, close to the villages that the maternity clinic and mobile health team supported. Kerena, who already was employed by NAPIC, was promoted to school director and immediately set to work finding outstanding teachers, many of whom also work in the Cambodian state education system and help ensure that the children will be prepared to transition into state schools in the future. Kerena also helped negotiate the required permits from the Ministry of Education. Finally, there was the search for the most needy children to attend the school. With the help of the knowledge of our Village program staff and help from the village chiefs we reached and interviewed many poor families. Their circumstances as well as commitment to the children’s education were amongst the factors that were considered.
You can find more information about NAPIC on their website.