 changing the story this is pisey changing the story this is pisey jess tue 5142019 1023 tue 5142019 1200 meet pisey a skate and create student in phnom penh cambodia cambodia we believe that by giving children the right tools we can help them to build a better future we re aiming to raise 60000 by the end of june so we can provide highquality creative education classes and help more children to change their stories for their future donate today  pisey is 11 years old and lives in phnom penh cambodia she came to skateistan through our partner organization aziza s place an ngo in cambodia which supports vulnerable children and their families pisey has not had an easy life when she was very young there were problems in her family and she has seen a lot of violence when she first started going to aziza s place she said to her social worker there i would like to stop this but as i am so small i could not do anything but watch my parents fight in 2014 pisey s father moved to thailand to find a job and pisey and her mother were left alone pisey s mother needed money and wanted pisey to help by collecting cans from the trash this meant that pisey did not go to school and had no friends of her own age in the same year that pisey started attending aziza s place skateistan began partnering with them so that children could benefit from skateboarding and creative education pisey registered to take part in the skate and create program which combines the fun and freedom of skateboarding with artsbased education on subjects like human rights the environment staying healthy and the importance of safety for children who have experienced trauma like pisey the selfexpression and sense of improvement that comes with skateboarding can be really powerful because of her homelife pisey found it hard to trust anyone at skateistan and she was very withdrawn her social worker from aziza s place said pisey was very shy and was afraid of many things she always spent time alone and she did not have any relationship with her classmates and did not talk to any educators initially skateistan s staff in phnom penh found it very difficult to speak with her because she did not reply she would stay alone and did not involve herself in any activities with other children she was resistant to any suggestion to try but skateistan s educators did not give up and worked with her slowly always encouraging her to try new things together with aziza s place skateistan community educators also worked to engage her parents her dad has returned from thailand and to encourage them to learn new skills for a more peaceful home they helped pisey s parents to see how important it is that she has time to have fun to try new things and to explore her interest and potential gradually pisey became interested in the skate and create program and she realized she was in a safe space she started to take more interest in her creative lessons and even to try skateboarding i fell down many times from my skateboard but i keep getting up and trying again and now i am not afraid anymore because my teacher motivated me skateboarding made me feel happy and forget my fear tin skateistan s programs officer has noticed significant changes during the last four years she is very brave now very confident in herself and i am so proud that she changed into positive person said tin i don t believe my eyes anymore when i see her drop in from big ramp said marady the social worker from aziza s place pisey is now working very closely with other friends at the skatepark helping them to succeed as she has done if i see my friends fall down i help them to get up and we retry together i like to help my friends and i hope they skate like me through the program pisey has saved herself from the darkness that was in her life she is now confident and brave and has many friends  for children growing up in unstable environments the future can be a difficult concept our creative education programs spark ideas about how the world could be different and give children a chance to see how they can play a role in creating a better future for themselves and their communities you can help to change their stories for their future donate today   pisey s name has been changed in accordance with skateistan s child protection policy  