Girls face additional challenges in accessing education in Cambodia. In the Steung Meanchey community, the site of a former massive garbage dump, persisting poverty makes it particularly difficult for girls to receive the quality education they deserve. This project not only provides education to girls but addresses the multitude of obstacles standing between them and education, ensuring they and their families are supported and they have the chance to succeed in school and beyond.
After the Khmer Rouge, a violent political period that devastated the country, its people, and its institutions, the country continues to struggle to recover. Accessing quality education is a persisting challenge for many children and their families, and those living in the impoverished community of Steung Meanchey face additional barriers to success. Due to persisting traditional gender norms and historical gender inequality, girls are particularly afflicted.
Cambodian Children's Fund (CCF) will ensure girls have access to quality education by not only providing free, exemplary education but by taking a comprehensive approach to addressing the diverse obstacles that perpetuate poverty and prevent girls from attending and excelling in school. By providing direct support services like healthcare, childcare, and community support, families are supported and the cultural pressure for girls to stay home to support their families is alleviated.
CCF has the vision to lift the community of the former Steung Meanchey landfill out of poverty and into a new era of hope and possibility through the provision of education. By providing students with the tools, skills, and resources crucial to accessing and succeeding in education, CCF is on track to continue to see its majority-female student body continue on to university, and hopefully, lift themselves out of poverty, narrowing the disproportionate effects of poverty on women.
