village support project

Schools in Cambodia always run on extremely small budgets, making the provision of regular classes in themselves a notable achievement. However, if a student struggles in class, there is little possibility of remedial help. This usually leads to the student falling behind, becoming discouraged, and eventually dropping out of school before literacy is attained. To address this situation, we are currently partnered with five schools in a rural district north of Kampot to provide daily extra classes for such students. We also monitor which students may be in danger of falling behind, and make home visits to assess the situation more closely. This grass-roots, local initiative aims to improve the educational situation of those most at-risk, and has the full support of the local families and schools.

We also work with the poorest families in these communities and provide economic and/or nutritional support, usually in the form of small grants to improve their economic status. These grants can take the form of providing a bicycle to get products to market, seeds to start a home vegetable garden, or chickens for egg production. Quite often, the students who struggle in school are from these same "Most Vulnerable Families". Thus, we attempt to improve both the school and home atmosphere at the same time.

In addition to the above, we more generally monitor the health status of the inhabitants of these villages, especially the children. If necessary, preventive interventions such as nutritional support and vitamin supplements are made available.