Educate Cambodian Kids Impacted by AIDS 2015

A proud accomplishment !

Although this segment of this micro project is funded, we wanted to share this story with you, our generous donors and encourage you to visit our current micro project site for 2015-2016 .

Over the years there are hundreds of times where we have stepped in to provide the modest housing and social support for families that are hanging on by a thread. Our goal is  to create a stable family lifestyle . We have rescued mothers and their children who are living rough on the streets , we have provided transitional housing to mothers snatched from death and returned to fragile but better health and we have stepped in to prevent a family from becoming homeless. Although most of the families in our program are impacted in some way by HIV/ AIDS, we have had a few situations over the years where we have also helped families with other, equally serious health conditions.

But far beyond these essential services that we provide to our families, key to our mission is to help the children in our program to stay in school and to help them see that there is a different life beyond the slums where they live and to give them the tools to move forward toward that new life.

Ena- Age 12

We are very proud of all of the young people in our FSP because of the challenges which they have had to overcome in their lives but there are times when some of our kids make us especially proud. This report features one of those exceptional young people , Ena - age 12, grade 6 .

Ena (below in the purple shirt) and her mother both suffer from life threatening, congenital heart problems for which they receive continuous treatment at Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh.

Despite her medical problems, Ena is currently ranked #1 in her class of 20 students at a local, private English language school and she is #20 in her class of 47 students in her Khmer language classes at the government run middle school.

We enroll and sponsor many of the children in our FSP in English language programs because proficiency in English is the single skill which will most help them to get good jobs when they finish their formal education. Most of our children will, unfortunately, not be able to attend university and many will not even complete high school , despite our efforts. However, if these children can speak, read and write English well when they become young adults, they will be qualified for a wide variety of jobs with good incomes and upward potential.

Your support  has helped  us to keep these fragile families together and has helped  our children to keep moving forward to break the cycle of inherited poverty.

We hope that you will share our delight in Ena’s great accomplishments and continue onward with is in our journey to support her and other children in our program.

This project is YouthSpark eligible program for 100%  donor  match (up to $ 500)  on December 2, Giving Tuesday!

Project update:

Mark returned from Cambodia last week with bittersweet news.

This summer, two of our students, who had each spent more than 10 years  under the care and guidance of our AIDS Patient Family Support Program, were  ready to graduate from High School. In a country where only about 40% of children graduate from high school, these two students   sat for the national high school  exam in August.

One student. Ravin, age 18,   passed her exam  on the first try. Ravin will enter our Build Dreams! Kasumisou Scholars program that helps Cambodian students  to attend college. Ravin has been under our care since age 4 and she has  dreamed  of studying Chemistry and Food Science at University. Now, her dream is coming true, thanks to you, our donors!  Ravin  will enter Phnom Penh’s Royal University to study Agriculture and Rural Development , while maintaining her interest in Chemistry and Food Science.

Our other student, Vichet, age 20, did not pass the exam on his first try,  but we are not giving up! Vichet will repeat his 12^th grade year with tutoring and re-take the exam next year.  Vichet has been under our care since 2002 and he comes from a  resettlement area. Vichet was orphaned as a toddler  ( by AIDS) and he lives with his Grandmother and an 11 year old niece, also an orphan. We are so proud of the great progress Vichet has made in the face of such large personal challenges and we are confident that he will achieve his goal and reach his dream of entering college next year.

The generous support of our donors have gives students like these an opportunity to have an education and by doing so, break the cycle of inherited poverty.