About the Chelly FoundationThe Chelley FoundationCF_fdb504be-fea9-11e9-bd75-e4a265babdf6In 2016, the Foundation became an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity, with EIN 81-0785392.Selma (Chelly) BaronSelma (Chelly) Baron, the daughter of the late Hyman and Esther Wasserman of New York City, was born and raised in the Bronx, New York City. Having entered New York University at age 16, Chelly received a degree in occupational therapy. She went on to star in amateur theatre as part of the MIT Players, including playing Greek drama in roles such as Antigone and Medea. When Chelly was 17, she met her future husband Jud, just after he had returned from WWII's European theatre as a handsome, decorated war veteran. The two were married in 1949, and after her husband received a doctorate in aeronautical engineering from MIT, they eventually settled in Lexington, Massachusetts where they raised two sons. During her time in Lexington, Chelly was an accomplished ceramics artist and maker of one-of-a-kind jewelry and stuffed animals. She was a founding partner of The Village Artisans, a gift store established in 1968 by twelve creative women artists. Chelly and Jud spent 54 happy years together. One of the highlights was their trip on safari to Kenya and Tanzania in 1974.Chelly was honored to receive recognition as Massachusetts M.S. Chapter Volunteer of the Year in 1991, for her work with others afflicted with the disease, having been diagnosed with M.S. herself while in her early 40s.After her husband passed away in 2003, Chelly moved to be close to her family in Maryland. In the last couple of years of her life she lived at a group home in Potomac, Maryland, where she was cared for by an extremely accomplished staff, including Nan Nop. InspirationJason R. Baron"The purpose of The Chelly Foundation is to help bring about positive changes in people’s lives through literacy, education and other means." I started this Foundation to keep alive the creative and generous spirit of my Mother. Selma "Chelly" Baron spent the better part of her life assisting others in getting along better, starting with her time as an occupational therapist, and continuing through her important work volunteering with the Massachusetts M.S. Society.My Mom was an accomplished amateur actress, a creative artist in many media (clay, jewelry, etc.) and a successful businesswoman, in addition to being a good Mom. She was a lifelong, passionate reader of books. She also was an enthusiast for new experiences, which in addition to biplane riding and going on safari, included teaching herself and her son at an early age how to sail and how to horseback ride. She did not let a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis slow her down in accomplishing her goals, and she remained an optimistic person through her final illnessThe idea for a project in Cambodia was inspired by the remarkable story of Nan Nop, who was one of my Mother’s last caretakers. Based on what Nan told me about her village, I wished to make a modest effort in improving the education of children there, through the funding of a library, and through a scholarship fund to enable girls to receive a University education.I know that had my Mother lived on, she would have been delighted to travel to Cambodia herself, and to help children in the village in any way possible. I am hopeful that her spirit lives on through the efforts of the Foundation. FounderNan NopNan's Story: ​My name is Nan. I'm from a small village in Kampot Province in Cambodia. The village of Snay Ang Chet is about 100 miles southwest of Phnom Penh. I live in America now but my Mom and Dad still live in the village I grew up in, along with some of the other members of my family. I would like to tell you the story of my life. I was born in 1974. At that time, the Khmer Rouge were active in my country. When my Mom tells me about the “killing fields,” she refers to the people in charge of running things were killing a lot of babies, and a lot of people, in approximately a three year period they murdered almost a quarter of my country’s population. It makes me wonder how I survived.I remember after the time of the “killing fields,” for every family that came back to the village, no one had anything to eat or drink, or clothes to wear. It was the most difficult time. There is really nothing I can compare it to, it was so very bad.I remember my Dad working in the city, far away, trying to make some money to take care of his family. One time I went to visit my Dad in the city for one week. When I saw my Dad I was so happy. But my Dad and I were sleeping on the sidewalk the whole week I visited him. I asked him if that was how he slept every day. He said yes, and I was so sad. He sent me back home.When I was in school I never had any school supplies, not even one pen or pencil. There were no books. We used chalk boards that we wrote on with charcoal and then erased. We had no furniture at the school. We all sat on mats that we made at home and brought to the school. I remember for a school uniform, I only had one shirt and one skirt to wear everyday for the whole school year. School was from 7am to noon everyday, and I never had any food to eat for breakfast. So every time when I got home my Mother would make me something to eat since I would be starving.This school, looks just like the school that I used to study in when I was a little girl. One day as I was sitting in my class room, my Mom came and told me that we had to go to my Aunt’s house, to go get some rice from her home in another village. I told my Mom that we would have to walk all day to get there. My mom said yes, but that we would have to go. So we walked all day in the heat of the day and then the rain came. I was so hungry on that day. Two days later, I was very sick, and I do not know how or why it happened. Two weeks later, I went back to school. I remember that around that time my hair started falling out every day, until I was almost bald. In 1989 I was in fifth grade. One day, we all were in the classroom and we all heard booming and shouting only a few miles away. Our teachers told us that everyone had to go home quickly. So I ran to my village, and even though one of the soldiers tried to stop me he couldn't catch me. I kept running until I got to my home, but it turned out that no one else was at my village. A soldier grabbed me and put me on his shoulder and carried me for a mile. He put me down and told me to run this way, and go all the way to another village and you will see your parents there. I got to the village where the soldier had told me to go, and I saw my Mom and was so very happy that day. That night everyone from my village had to sleep in the rice fields. Two or three days later I went back to school. My classmates and I had to walk a long way every day. I'm so very lucky that I was not walking in front -- the person who was walking in front was killed by stepping on a land mine. Some of us also were hurt by shrapnel, and I still have have marks on my body showing my own injury. It was very scary and very sad. There are many more sad stories like that. That is the reason that to this day I don't like fireworks -- they sound like war, and they remind me of the sound of that mine exploding. In 1993, I moved to the city to live with my Aunt. I was very lucky that my first job was to work for an American newspaper reporter. His name was David and his wife was Sala. I worked for them for one year before they had to move back to the United States. Before they moved they introduced me to their friend, Mr. David Miller, who worked for the U.S. Embassy; I worked for him for one year before he too had to move back to the U.S.My third job was working for Mr. Joshua Charap, who worked for the International Monetary Fund. I worked for him for two years in Cambodia, and then he and his wife sponsored me to come to work for him in America. I came to work for him in Washington D.C., from 1998 until 2000. After that, he had to move to another country. Fortunately, around that time I met my husband, so I decided to stay in the D.C. area. I worked for a time as a dental assistant.Since I came to the USA my dream has been to help my family and the children of my village. They need clean water. And children need an education. So I saved my money and I was able to buy three water pumps for my village, and to give scholarships to four members of my family for them to get a good education.But I always wanted to do more and to help more children.In 2007 I took a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) class. When I finished the class, a classmate of mine who worked at a group home for the elderly in Potomac called me, and told me that they were looking to hire someone. My classmate asked if I could come in for an interview. The owners of what was called an Edenhome, Jonathan and Terry, hired me, and I started working for them. I very much enjoyed my job there, including getting to know the elder residents.During that time, I took care of an woman named Selma Baron, who I called “Miss Chelly” (as that was her favorite first name for herself). Miss Chelly suffered from multiple sclerosis, but was always a cheery person, who loved reading a book and talking about her son, her daughter-in-law, and her grandchild.One time, on Miss Chelly’s birthday, the family took her out to a chinese dinner in Rockville, and I was invited to accompany Miss Chelly to assist with whatever she needed. At her birthday party, I told Miss Chelly’s son my story about growing up in my village, and the hardships that my family and I had faced during my early years in Cambodia.Miss Chelly passed away in December 2012, at age 83. Afterward, Jason said that he had become inspired by the organization “Room to Read,” which build libraries and schools in villages around the world, to help do something for my village. After learning that Room to Read did not presently operate in Kampot Province, Jason decided that we should proceed with a similar project on our own. We would start with seeing what school supplies were needed, and maybe one day build a library for the children of my village.In January 2015, with Jason’s encouragement, I travelled back to my village with enough money from an initial donation of $1000 to supply approximately 500 children at the Prey Kha Jey Primary School in my village in levels one through six (equivalent to grades one through six in elementary school in the U.S.) with school supplies, including a class book, a pen, and a pencil for each student, along with 100 story books, rulers, dictionaries, and assorted other items (including a football, a couple of volleyballs and a net). As the pictures show, the students were very happy to receive these materials. Jason and I then made the committment to building a small free-standing library at the Hun Sen Chum Kiri High School, and to ensure that the library is staffed by at least one part-time librarian who might also teach English at the school. We also believed that to truly make a difference in the lives of children, some type of scholarship might be offered to select students who wish to continue their education at a college or university in Phnom Penh. It costs approximately $500 a year to go to university. My brother Ess, who lives in Phnom Penh, has pledged his assistance with building the library, and he organized a construction crew to start to build the library in the Fall of 2015.In January 2016, I accompanied Jason to Cambodia for the dedication of The Chelly Library. About 1000 students were at the school to welcome Jason, my brother Ess, and myself. It was so overwhelming. When we looked at the childrens’ faces they were so happy -- they knew that with the library at their school they might have a chance for a better education and a better chance of success in finding a good job and having a better life. We told everyone gathered that if they wished to learn English in a special class that the Chelly Foundation would be offering the class for free. But we didn't realize how many students would sign up for learning English! . After I got back from the trip, my brother Ess told me that 700 hundred students had signed up for English class. Since we had only signed up one English teacher, we had to tell them only 400 hundreds students in the upper grades can study at this time. We need more English teachers so all the children can learn. I know that many, many students have a dream to go to study at a university in Phnom Penh in Cambodia, but very few from my village can afford to do so without a scholarship from The Chelly Foundation.Now my dream is to continue to help more children both in my village and in the area around my village, to build more libraries, to increase the teaching of English to the children, and to provide clean water and sanitary facilities for them.I am so enormously grateful for any donation that you can possibly afford to make to improve the lives of students in my home village and in surrounding villages in Kampot Province. InspirationNop EssNan’s brother Ess works for an NGO in Phnom Penh.Lead In-Country CoordinatorAs Lead Coordinator in-country for The Chelly Foundation, during 2015 Ess has been principally responsible for overseeing the construction of The Chelly Library, and for assisting on all aspects of the project.Khem SamornOne Little Kid from a Rural Area -- I am Khem Samorn. By my nickname I am called Mao. I was born into a poor family with three siblings and an absent father. Many Cambodian people depend on farming and palm producing in the local area where I grew up. The schools were always so far away and difficult to travel to. During the time I studied in secondary school I brought food from home to school. Every morning I had to wake up so early in the morning, to cook my own food. Sometimes when I got up late I just packed old rice. Sometimes the food I had tasted sour or was uneatable, but luckily I had with friends then who helped me out. Most of our diet was roasted fish and pickled vegetables which were cheap and easy to get around the house. The distance to school was very far and I could not go back and forth home in the middle of the school day. I drank water along the road in the village ponds because it was free and safe for me then whenever I felt thirsty.Life in a separated family can be so lonely and hopeless. I was always waiting to have the chance to live again with my Dad, like other families, but it turned out to be impossible. It was like seemingly waiting for the Sun to come to the Earth. I ended up in sadness, as he passed away without returning to us. It meant to me losing the biggest person in my life. I had to lead my life going forward.In 2001 I had to change schools and went to another school in the town. I spent the same time getting to this secondary school, about 2 hours each way on my old bike. My bike was not complete: it had broken some of its parts and I had no money to get it fixed, so I had to force myself to keep using it til it stopped working. My life with an unskilled mother and without a dad was hard -- I had to support myself as much as possible after school. I had to help my uncle with his palm working sand I took responsibility in collecting water palms. It took me one hour to walk with heavy water on my shoulder, and I could not stop otherwise it would not arrive in time to boil it. Sometimes I missed lunch too and took water palms instead of rice. I was so hungry then.In 2002 I graduated high school. I really wanted to study in a university, but I would not to do it then because of financial barriers. So I decided to study English part time, and worked as a security guard in one foreign house. Some of my wages supported my two siblings and our daily family expenditures. In 2005 I was so lucky to pass the exam to be a state English teacher. My life started to change much then. Expectations and happiness stared to grow in my life. But I still suffered the daily expense of getting training in the Pedagogy Centre. My Mom was so busy earning money for three children studying. Sometimes I dropped tears during the night.I have had a dream for over 15 years to study in Phnom Penh, but it never seemed to becoming true. Luckily, I now have been employed by The Chelly Foundation as an English teacher and as an assistant to Ess, and I have saved some money to pursue my education to get a Master’s degree in English. The Chelly Foundation also is supporting the whole final year of my degree so I can graduate.I feel so much appreciated and so hopeful in life. The Chelly Foundation really is dedicated to the education of the students in Chumkiri. To date they have been supporting ten student scholars at universities in Phnom Penh. Without education, I see no improvement in any society. The Chelly Foundation plays a needed role in changing the lives of some of the students in my part of Cambodia. I see The Chelly Foundation as working as a kind of father, a mother and a doctor too! Jason and Ess and Nan always care about the scholars’ lives and what they will do after their future graduation. Providing jobs to the scholars will be a new successful stage in our mission. In the meantime, any health problems the scholars have will be helped with immediately. We also have been trying to build our Foundation by reaching out to other stakeholders who can help after knowing more about our project. I appreciate being part of all of these generous activities aimed at making childrens’ lives better and giving them the dignity that they deserve. English TeacherAssistant Lead CoordinatorSeourn ChandaraAgricultural Project ManagerPositive changes in ​people’s lives ​(especially children) through literacy, education and other means_fdb50888-fea9-11e9-bd75-e4a265babdf6To provide educational opportunities to the children of Chum Kiri District in Kampot Province, Cambodia._fdb50a90-fea9-11e9-bd75-e4a265babdf6CreativityGenerosityEducationLiteracyEnglish ClassesSupport the teaching of free English classes at one local high school and one primary school in the village of Snay Anh Chet in Chum Kiri._fdb50c0c-fea9-11e9-bd75-e4a265babdf6Village of Snay Anh Chet[To be named]For the past several years, we have supported the teaching of free English classes at one local high school and one primary school in the village of Snay Anh Chet in Chum Kiri. However, the current classes have been taught by teachers drawn from the local population, who themselves have been taught English as a foreign language.Native English SpeakersIntroduce into the curriculum of these schools the teaching of English by native English speakers_fdb50fc2-fea9-11e9-bd75-e4a265babdf6Native English Speaking TeachersEnglish Language TeachingThe posting in Chum Kiri is for a 3-month minimum stay, with extensions of time desirable to fill out the school year depending on your start date. The duration of your time in Chum Kiri is fairly flexible and can be fashioned to accommodate your overall plans in country. You will be expected to teach English classes during a portion of the day for students in grades 4 to 12, five days a week (holidays and holiday weeks excluded), for the duration of your stay. Classes will be held at the local high school and at the local primary school. You will be assisted in these classes by a local Khmei-speaking English teacher on the current payroll of The Chelly Foundation,who will provide translation as needed. You will have the full support of the school principals at the local high school and primary school. You will also be expected to work with our part-time librarians at The Chelly Library (located at the high school). Ideally, you will also be able to help design a curriculum and provide instruction on how to teach English to one or more local English teachers employed at the school.Our goal is to introduce into the curriculum of these schools the teaching of English by native English speakers, from the U.S. or elsewhere. We wish to strengthen the teaching of English by having TEFL participants develop an educational program both for the students as well as for the teachers of English already part of the local school staff. There are 1,300 children at the main local high school,and 600 children at the local primary school, as the base population to draw from. This is an exciting opportunity to teach students who show great enthusiasm in learning English. In coming years we will wish to accommodate as many students as possible within reason by hiring one or more teachers. Additionally, over the past three years we have provided 19 graduating seniors from local high schools with “Chelly Scholarships,” in the form of full or partial four-year scholarships to the Royal University of Phnom Penh and other colleges in the city. All of our scholars are doing excellently in school. However, in our view future college-bound Chelly Scholars need to have a better grounding in English to truly succeed after their present studies end, either in the job market, or in competing for additional US-based and international scholarships including to graduate programs. Having one or more Western-educated teachers in Chum Kiri district will provide a better foundation for the Chelly Scholar program being able to choose truly outstanding students with the greatest potential, including those who have excelled at learned English in high school._fdb51134-fea9-11e9-bd75-e4a265babdf6_fdb5127e-fea9-11e9-bd75-e4a265babdf6[To_be_inserted_by_user][To be described][To be determined]_fdb513dc-fea9-11e9-bd75-e4a265babdf62019-11-03https://www.thechellyfoundation.org/about-us.html_fdb5153a-fea9-11e9-bd75-e4a265babdf6OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net