Educate Cambodian Kids Impacted by AIDS 2014-2015

One of the ways Kasumisou Foundation works to maximize results in its programs is by looking at challenges and opportunities as two sides of one issue. The old idea  of giving  a hungry man a fish to  feed  him today but teaching  him to fish feeds him for a lifetime is  seen in how we manage and integrate  our scarce  resources.

Part of our mission is to provide support  families impacted by AIDS and extreme poverty.  (  our Help Indigent Mom's project on GlobalGiving)  We have a dual focus: provide humanitarian assistance to fragile families, which in many cases is providing basic dignified living conditions . The other focus is to  keep kids in school and  give  them  a chance to break the chain of inherited poverty. The hard truth is that it may be too late for Mom, we can only provide care and try to  keep families together. But it is not too late to really try to help the kids break the cycle of poverty.

The title of this report is  " the steps to building a future". 

For more than 10 years, two  of the fragile families under our care have managed to keep their kids in school, moving them forward, step by step. As many of us know, keeping teens on track is challenging in any society. Imagine trying to keep teens on track when home is a small  room or two in a slum, when mom is ailing with AIDS  and where every penny is counted.  The phrase " difficult challenge"  is an  understatement for these kids.

Yet, even so, this summer we will see these  two students,  each  more than 10 years in our care, get ready  graduate from High School.   Both students will sit for the national high school  exam in August and assuming that they pass, both will enter our Build Dreams! program that helps Cambodian students to be able to attend college and have access to vitally needed employment from our Jobs for Cambodian Youth project.

Ravin, age 18, has been under our care since age 4 and dreams of studying Chemistry and Food Science at University.

Vichet, age 20,  has been under our care since 2002 and he comes from a  resettlement area and was orphaned ( by AIDS) and lives with his Grandmother and an orphaned 11 year old niece.

All of this is  possible because of  a combination of  our  long term approach  and  the loyal support of you,our donors. For years, we have paid for  school supplies, school uniforms and the small teacher fees that are a part of Cambodian "free" public education. We have offered support, encouragement, tutoring when needed and emphasised the need to stay in school.

Thank you for your continued support of our efforts. We hope that you will encourage your friends to join us .

Barbara & Mark Rosasco