By Chhaiya Im | Project Leader
Reporting Period: April 21 – August 10, 2026
Dear Friends and Supporters of ODC,
Welcome to our latest update from ODC, and thank you once again for continuing this journey with us. The past several months have brought both progress and significant challenges for our school and the communities around us. Across Cambodia, many families continue to face pressure from rising living costs, uncertain employment, and a slowing economy, while here in Siem Reap, where many livelihoods depend directly or indirectly on tourism, the situation remains particularly difficult for many local families and villagers. Despite these challenges, our students continue coming to ODC with enthusiasm and a desire to learn, and our teachers remain committed to giving them the best opportunities we can. We are grateful to share with you what we have achieved since our last report, the challenges we are facing, and our hopes and plans for the months ahead.
Throughout this reporting period, our students continued progressing through regular lessons, classroom activities, and assessments, supported by the commitment of our teaching team. The continued demand for places at ODC, including the many children who remain on our waiting list, continues to remind us how strongly families value the educational opportunities we provide.
In the Q2 examination, our students achieved an overall average of 85.74%, exceeding ODC’s organizational target of 80%. Student attendance also remained generally strong during this period, with most students attending classes regularly and continuing to engage consistently in their learning.
We also completed a student-led environmental project that gave our students the opportunity to serve their own community while contributing in a small but meaningful way to the wider world. Through this initiative, students planted trees in front of the ODC campus and along the roadside to improve the local environment, create more shade, and encourage greater care for the community around them. We see this as an important form of community service, helping students understand that education is not only about what they learn in the classroom, but also about how they use that learning to give back. The project was guided by an online teacher who is also a former ODC Board member and helped students develop responsibility, teamwork, and greater environmental awareness.
Our teaching team continued working consistently throughout this period, with a strong focus on maintaining the quality of learning despite the financial pressures facing the organization. Teachers continued monitoring students’ progress, preparing lessons and assessments, and providing academic and personal support where needed. They also continued participating in teacher training and professional development opportunities to strengthen and sharpen their teaching skills. We have also continued strengthening our internal systems so that teachers can reflect more regularly on classroom performance, student difficulties, and areas where additional support may be required.
Financial sustainability became one of our most urgent priorities during this period following the withdrawal of international funding. In response, ODC began reaching beyond our traditional donor network, developing new partnerships, exploring more sustainable sources of income, and preparing a major 600-kilometre Ride for Education fundraising campaign.
The Ride for Education was completed from July 31 to August 6, 2026, after our team—including myself, our fundraiser, three teachers, three ODC students, and our supporting partners and sponsors—travelled approximately 600 kilometres across Cambodia to raise both funds and public awareness for ODC. The campaign has so far brought in approximately US$10,659.81 in confirmed funds through local donations, GlobalGiving, Myriad Australia, JustGiving, and supporters from our wider network. An additional pledge of approximately US$1,413 would bring the total support to around US$12,073 once received. Against our immediate US$20,000 funding need for 2026, approximately US$9,340 still remains to be raised based on funds already received, or approximately US$7,927 once the additional pledge is included. Although the physical ride has now ended, the fundraising campaign continues because the financial challenge it was created to address has not yet ended.
As we move further into the second half of 2026, our immediate priority is to close the remaining funding gap and ensure that ODC can continue operating without interruption. Our existing reserve funds provide some short-term protection, but they are not a long-term solution. The months ahead will therefore require us to continue fundraising, develop new partnerships, and reach more people who may be willing to stand with our students.
Toward the end of this year, securing ODC’s operational funding for 2027 will become one of our most urgent priorities. We plan to launch another major fundraising bike ride, building on the experience and visibility of this year’s 600-kilometre Ride for Education. This effort will be crucial to giving ODC the financial stability needed to confidently plan staffing, classes, and student support for the new school year. Without sufficient funding secured in advance, we risk entering 2027 with another serious funding gap that could directly affect our ability to maintain programs and serve our students. For this reason, the success of this next fundraising effort will be essential to ODC’s plans for 2027.
Looking toward 2027, we also plan to introduce a more supportive approach for the youngest children at ODC. During their first two years, we hope to place greater emphasis on helping them enjoy learning and develop self-esteem, confidence, respect, curiosity, and a sense of success before introducing stronger academic pressures. We also want to help reduce unnecessary screen time by giving children more meaningful opportunities to learn, play, interact, and develop while they are at ODC. We believe that the early years are especially important in building a strong foundation for a child’s future learning and development. At the same time, this program would give parents greater peace of mind and more time to work and support their families, knowing that their children are being cared for in a safe and positive learning environment.
Under this approach, younger students would not be required to sit formal examinations until their third year at ODC, and our stricter rules around homework and lateness would be introduced more gradually. To support this plan, we also hope to renovate and upgrade two classrooms to create a safer, more child-friendly, and higher-quality learning environment, at an estimated cost of approximately US$6,000.
We are also exploring the possibility of establishing computer classes at ODC. If we can secure sufficient funding to build and equip a computer lab, the program could provide students with valuable digital skills while also creating a modest source of income to help support ODC’s operations. We are very grateful that a foreign computer company has committed to donating 20 desktop computers, giving us a strong foundation to begin developing this new initiative. With additional funding for the computer lab and other necessary facilities, this generous contribution could help turn the idea into a practical program that benefits our students while contributing to ODC’s longer-term sustainability.
Our longer-term goal is not simply to overcome one difficult year, but to build a stronger and more sustainable foundation so that ODC can continue serving Cambodian children well into the future.
In closing, we sincerely thank you for continuing to stand with ODC. Every contribution, introduction, shared story, and word of encouragement helps us continue providing education and opportunity to the children we serve. This remains a challenging period for our organization, but it is also a time of determination and hope. With your continued support, we believe ODC can keep its doors open and continue creating opportunities for Cambodian children for many years to come.
Sincerely,
Chhaiya Im
Founder and Headmaster
Opening Doors Cambodia
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