A Partnership That Grows Through Every Season
For 30 years, Awareness Cambodia Incorporated (ACI) has walked alongside vulnerable children, young people, families and communities in Cambodia. For the past 22 years, Global Development Group has shared that journey through what is now GDG’s longest continuously active project partnership.
Across three GDG projects, multiple stages, progress reports, evaluations and 12 GDG monitoring visits, the partnership has continued to strengthen through shared learning, accountability and a mutual commitment to lasting impact.
As ACI marks this significant milestone, founder and CEO Dr Gary Hewett OAM reflects on an organisation that has remained grounded in its purpose while continuing to listen, adapt and grow alongside the communities it serves.
1. Looking back over 30 years, how has Awareness Cambodia grown and changed?
“Looking back over 30 years, one of the clearest reflections is that Awareness Cambodia has grown from responding to immediate need into building long-term pathways of hope, education and opportunity.
In the early years, the work was very much about providing safety, care and support for vulnerable children and families. In 2000, we launched our first major child development project, Sunshine House, in response to the orphan crisis caused by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Sunshine House became a place of rescue, healing and safety for vulnerable children.
Over time, that care matured into a more holistic pathway. House of Progress supported teenagers through high school, life skills training and preparation for independence. Graduation House then provided accommodation, mentoring and support for young adults undertaking university or vocational training in Phnom Penh.
That journey, from Sunshine House, to House of Progress, to Graduation House, reflects one of the biggest shifts in Awareness Cambodia’s story. We moved from rescue to empowerment. We came to understand that rescue is not simply a moment; it is a process. It is not enough to provide safety for a child if we do not also help create a pathway towards education, dignity, independence and a future.
Today, many young people who have been part of Awareness Cambodia’s programmes have gone on to study and work in fields such as law, medicine, engineering, international relations, economics, architecture, education, construction and public service. That is a powerful picture of growth and maturity, not only for the organisation, but for the young people who have been given the opportunity to imagine and build a different future.
Another important reflection is that Awareness Cambodia has learned the value of local leadership, strong relationships and long-term commitment. The needs in Cambodia have changed over the years, and so have the ways we respond. We have had to adapt, listen, learn and keep strengthening the work on the ground.
What has remained constant is the belief that every child and young person deserves dignity, opportunity and the support needed to build a meaningful future.”
2. What has helped Awareness Cambodia remain strong and relevant through different seasons?
Awareness Cambodia has remained strong because the work has always been built on relationships, with the Cambodian community, with our in-country team, with supporters, partners and the young people themselves.
Through different seasons, including times of change, challenge and uncertainty, those relationships have helped keep the mission steady and practical. They have also helped ensure that our work continues to respond to real needs, rather than simply repeating what has been done before.
Another key strength has been the organisation’s willingness to adapt while staying true to its purpose. The heart of the work has not changed: to support vulnerable children, families and communities in Cambodia. But the expression of that work has continued to mature.
The child development pathway is one example; Operation Nightingale, our medical programme, is another, providing practical care responding directly to community need. Education, mentoring, health, community care and leadership development have become part of a broader picture of transformation. That long-term view has helped Awareness Cambodia remain relevant, because it is not just responding to immediate need, but investing in future generations.
3. Over the past 22 years, how has the partnership with GDG supported or strengthened Awareness Cambodia’s impact?
Over the past 22 years, the partnership with Global Development Group has been a significant part of Awareness Cambodia’s story. Geoff Armstrong founded GDG in 2002, and Awareness Cambodia has had the privilege of walking alongside GDG for much of that journey. ACI is now the longest-standing partner still in active partnership with GDG, and that in itself says something important about the strength, trust and shared commitment that has developed over time.
This partnership has supported Awareness Cambodia not only through project oversight, governance and accountability, but also through genuine relationship. Geoff, as the founder of GDG, and his wife Betty, along with my late wife Kim and myself, shared many great moments over the years. Those moments are not just organisational milestones; they are reminders that long-term development work is built on trust, friendship, shared values and a willingness to keep walking together through many different seasons.
GDG’s support has helped strengthen ACI’s ability to deliver accountable, practical and lasting impact in Cambodia. It has given donors confidence, supported good project practice, and helped ensure that generosity is translated into real opportunities for children, young people, families and communities.
Through this partnership, the impact has not simply been about individual projects. It has been about building a trusted and sustainable pathway for change. GDG’s partnership has helped ensure that compassion is translated into sustained, accountable and life-changing outcomes on the ground in Cambodia.
4. What would you want GDG supporters to understand about the value of long-term partnership in this kind of work?
I would want GDG supporters to understand that long-term partnership changes what is possible.
In this kind of work, lasting transformation rarely happens quickly. It takes years of commitment to see a child grow in confidence, complete their education, move into further study or employment, and begin contributing to their own family and community.
The value of long-term partnership is stability. It allows programmes to mature, local teams to grow stronger, and young people to be supported through different stages of life. It also sends a powerful message to the communities we serve: you are not forgotten, and we are still here.
A practical example of this is Graduation House. For a young person from a vulnerable background, being accepted into university is a wonderful achievement, but it is not the end of the challenge. They still need a safe place to live, mentoring, encouragement, life skills, and a community around them while they study. Long-term partnership helps make that kind of support possible. It helps ensure that students are not only given access to education, but are supported to complete it and step into adult life with confidence.
For Awareness Cambodia, the partnership with GDG has been more than a formal project relationship. It has been a shared journey over more than two decades. As GDG’s longest-standing current partner, ACI is deeply grateful for the trust, friendship and faithfulness that have helped sustain this work and strengthen its impact in Cambodia.
Long-term partnership allows supporters to be part of a story that is bigger than a single moment, a single donation or a single project. It helps build futures, one life and one generation at a time.
A Legacy That Continues
Thirty years of Awareness Cambodia represents thousands of individual moments of care, opportunity, learning and perseverance. It is also a story shaped by people who have faithfully invested their time, skills and hearts over many years.
Gary pays tribute to his late wife, Kim Hewett, ACI’s Secretary and Chief Administrative Officer, whom he describes as “the greatest champion of our cause.” Kim worked tirelessly to ensure the children in ACI’s care had the resources they needed to pursue their dreams, and her passion and commitment remain part of the organisation’s legacy today.
For GDG, 22 years of partnership with Awareness Cambodia is something worth celebrating. It demonstrates what can grow when organisations share values, remain accountable to one another and have the commitment to stay the course. The programmes have evolved, needs have changed and generations of young people have grown into adulthood, but the partnership has endured.
As ACI looks towards its next chapter, its story offers a powerful reminder that sustainable development is rarely achieved through a single intervention. It is built over time, through local leadership, strong relationships and people willing to keep learning and adapting together.
In Gary’s words, “Long-term partnership changes what is possible.” After more than two decades of working together, ACI and GDG are seeing just how much is possible when partnership is given time to grow.