Free education for 300 children in rural Cambodia

As the first months of 2026 unfolded, a beautiful wave of inspiration, movement, and growth swept through Helping Hands Cambodia. Thanks to your incredible support on GlobalGiving, our school has become far more than a place of academic instruction. It stands as a joyful community where children access nutritional security, explore modern sciences, discover the power of artistic expression, and learn to lead through sports. Your generosity provides the foundational stability that allows our students to thrive, step out of poverty, and dream of a brighter future.

Quarterly Impact at a Glance

• Students Actively Enrolled: 343 children and youth finding a safe space to learn
• Nutritious Breakfasts Provided: 6,983 balanced meals served to fuel early morning focus
• Monthly Academic Support: 23 days of comprehensive, multi-level instruction per month
• University Scholars Supported: 4 outstanding alumni breaking cycles of poverty
• Community Sports Outreach: Over 2,000 youth engaged across the broader Doun Kaev commune

Key Highlights & Program Development

1. From Seeds to Shaded Canopies: The Food and Farming Project
Our school garden remains a cornerstone of health and environmental education. This quarter, our new International Development intern, Henry, worked side by side with the students to nurture and maintain this vital space. We also welcomed back our returning volunteer, Helen, who brought her passion to help scale our agricultural efforts.

The garden achieved a beautiful milestone thanks to a generous donation from our volunteer, Robert, which funded the construction of a permanent shaded roof structure. This protective canopy shields our delicate leafy greens, root vegetables, and herbs from the intense Cambodian sun, reducing heat stress and securing a bountiful harvest. The fresh produce grown here directly enriches our Breakfast Program, ensuring that around 350 children receive homegrown, nutrient-dense ingredients every single morning.

2. Pedals of Freedom: Empowering Students Through Mobility
For many children in rural Siem Reap Province, geographic isolation and long transit distances present a major barrier to consistent school attendance. To directly combat this challenge, our team organized a special distribution of brand new bicycles. We handed over five bicycles to vulnerable boys and girls in the community, drastically cutting down their daily commute times, protecting them from exhaustion, and ensuring they arrive at their classrooms safe, energized, and ready to learn.

3. Practical Science and Global Mentorship
This semester, returning volunteers Andrew and Sue brought abstract concepts to life by leading hands on science experiments for our high school students. Classrooms transformed into dynamic laboratories where youth explored advanced scientific theories regarding energy, light, and focal length, mapping these principles directly to their daily lives.

This rich learning environment was further enhanced by an incredible cohort of global volunteers. Liz traveled from the United Kingdom to cofacilitate interactive lessons, bringing a wealth of creative arts and crafts resources that our students adored. We were also joined by Hugh and Wendy from Canada, who utilized their more than three decades of professional teaching experience to mentor our local staff and strengthen our practical education methodologies. Additionally, Lea, a university student from France specializing in International Relations, joined us as a longterm intern, providing invaluable support in language acquisition and foundational educational projects during her three month stay.

A Comprehensive Approach to Health: Medical Care and Clean Water

We are incredibly proud to announce a transformative new milestone made possible through the generous support of The Randal Foundation charity trust. Thanks to this vital partnership, Helping Hands Cambodia is significantly expanding its healthcare infrastructure by hiring a dedicated, professional medical nurse. This specialized staff member will conduct comprehensive medical check ups for every single student at our school, establishing a crucial line of preventative care and health monitoring for our children.

Beyond student check ups, our new nurse will lead vital educational workshops and training sessions focused on nutrition, proper hygiene, and basic healthcare practices. To ensure a deep and lasting institutional impact, these capacity-building sessions will be extended to parents, local community leaders, and our teaching staff, creating a unified support network of health awareness across the entire commune.

Furthermore, this grant will fund essential maintenance, system upgrades, and the installation of advanced new water filters across our facilities. This infrastructure reinforcement is key to securing continuous, reliable access to safe, potable drinking water, protecting our entire school community from waterborne illnesses and ensuring our students can learn in a thoroughly healthy environment.

The Power of Alumni: Leading the Next Generation
There is no greater measure of impact than seeing former students return to uplift their own community. This quarter, we proudly celebrate two incredible young women who are embodying the legacy of Helping Hands:

Sineng’s Dream Realized: Sineng began her educational journey as a young child right here at Helping Hands School. With the continuous support of Globalteer, she pursued her higher education and recently graduated with a degree in Management from the University of South East Asia. Fulfilling her childhood aspiration to become an educator, Sineng has officially returned to our school as a part time teacher, leading beginner level English classes for the children of her home village. Seeing her guide group collaborations with immense confidence is an inspiration to every student, and she already aims to step into educational management to expand learning access across the region.

Taev’s Heart for Service: After graduating from our school program, Taev successfully entered her first year of university. Driven by a deep desire to give back, she returned to Helping Hands this quarter as a dedicated volunteer. For the past two months, Taev has been teaching weekly workshops on hygiene, sanitation, morality, and art within our Basic Khmer classes. Gaining hands on experience in classroom management and lesson planning, Taev’s journey shows our children that they too can grow from eager learners into community leaders.

Health, Expression, and Cultural Spirit
Weekly Zumba Sessions
Our students are absolutely in love with their weekly Zumba classes, which serve as an extraordinary tool for self-expression and physical health. Led by our enthusiastic instructor, Sonita, the program introduces fresh choreography and updates its music playlists every two weeks. To ensure equal access, student groups rotate on a monthly basis. This class does more than teach rhythm, it fosters confidence, as our students are encouraged not just to follow the steps, but to step forward and lead the dance circles themselves.

Colors on the Street: The Giant Puppet Parade
In February, creativity took over the streets of Siem Reap during the annual Giant Puppet Parade. Our students spent weeks participating in intensive collaborative workshops, learning to design and construct massive, colorful puppet figures. The experience culminated in a breathtaking night street festival where our children proudly marched alongside various schools and organizations. Surrounded by thousands of cheering spectators, our students illuminated the night with their giant puppets, filling the sky with color, laughter, and an unforgettable sense of artistic pride.

Milestone Events: Running and Competing for Hope

The Temple Run:
On January 23rd, our annual Temple Run microproject reached its grand finish line in Siem Reap. What began as a strategic fundraising effort transformed into an empowering community event bringing together hundreds of children, athletes, and local leaders. From the early morning hours, the air was thick with excitement as children donned their official running numbers, eager to challenge their personal records.

Young Chenda, one of our youngest participants, crossed the finish line hand in hand with her friends, laughing joyfully and reminding us all that the true victory lay in running together. While our local students ran on the ground, international fundraisers took to the streets of various cities worldwide, running in solidarity. Dedicated global teams, including the Education Explorers, Sport Stars, Healthy Runners, Teachers of the Future, Literacy Leaders, and Teachers Running for the Kids, successfully raised the vital resources that keep our wheels turning. Today, this sports framework sustains year-round training for more than 2,000 students across the broader Doun Kaev commune. If you want to know more about the tempe run, you can see the complete report here.

The Grand Inauguration of Our Brand-New Sports Field
March 21st marked an unforgettable milestone in the history of Helping Hands Cambodia as we officially hosted our annual Sports Day Festival and inaugurated our brand-new, multi-sport field facility. For the first time, our students and community members got to utilize professional spaces, spanning a pristine football pitch, basketball courts, and dedicated running lanes.

Under a beautiful sunny sky, the festival brought together roughly 1,200 attendees, including youth athletes from seven primary schools, local educational directors, and cheering families. The day opened with a moving protocol ceremony featuring the national anthem and inspiring speeches from local leaders. Soon after, the field came alive with fierce, healthy competition across eight distinct sports modules, including tactical relay races, spoon relays, football tournaments, and tire-carrying endurance challenges.

Following the events, the children gathered to enjoy a refreshing community snack and participate in the grand awards ceremony. Crucially, our program ensured that both boys and girls were awarded equally across all athletic categories. By placing young women on equal competitive footing, the event served as a powerful tool for gender empowerment, breaking rural stereotypes and showing our girls that they can compete, interact, and lead freely within their society.

Daily Educational Framework
To maintain consistent progress, our school operates structured daily tracks across multiple proficiencies during our 23 monthly academic support days:

• Khmer Basic Education: 2 daily sessions dedicated to primary literacy (Grade 1)
• English Basic Foundations: 2 daily sessions introducing early language skills (Grade 2)
• Let’s Go English Framework: 6 comprehensive daily sessions spanning elementary proficiency (Grades 3 to 6)
• Beginner Language Track: 3 daily intensive sessions for lower secondary development (Grades 7 to 9)
• Elementary Language Module: 2 daily advanced academic reinforcement tracks (Grade 10)
• Pre-Intermediate Studies: 1 specialized high school completion session (Grades 11 and 12)
• Higher Education Track: Continuous financial and academic mentorship for 4 university students

A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Global Supporters
None of these milestones, the shade structure protecting our crops, Sineng’s inspiring return as a certified teacher, or the pure victory felt on our brand new running lanes, could exist without your dedicated belief in our mission.

In a region where seasonal climate shifts and deep economic barriers are part of daily life, your generosity provides the steady foundation these children need to rise. You are giving 343 Cambodian children the tools to read, the health to grow, and the confidence to run toward a future filled with infinite possibilities. Thank you for walking across this finish line of hope with us.

A Fresh Start in Rural Cambodia

With the rainy season subsiding and cooler temperatures arriving, a wave of fresh energy has hit Helping Hands Cambodia. This quarter marks the beginning of a new academic year, a time of transition and renewed commitment. We currently have 362 registered students, including 52 newly enrolled children. To support their growth, we provided 6,372 nutritious breakfasts throughout September, October, and November. Many of these meals are enriched with fresh ingredients grown right in our school vegetable garden, where our intern, Henry, and the students work side-by-side to nurture the land that feeds them.

Sustainability in Motion: The "Recycle Race"

In mid-December, we took environmental stewardship to the playing field with our second "Recycle Race", a very exiting activitie for the students. This high-energy event was designed to teach the critical importance of waste management through the power of play.

As they raced across the field, students practiced sorting different types of waste into the correct bins, learning to take pride in keeping their school grounds pristine. By turning a vital environmental lesson into a competitive game, we are fostering a new generation of environmental protectors who understand that a healthy life begins with a healthy environment.

Empowering Young Entrepreneurs: The Excursion to Repeat Secondhand Fashion

We believe that education must extend beyond the classroom. This term, our students had a transformative experience visiting "Repeat Secondhand Fashion," a local business in Siem Reap owned by our dedicated supporter, Darron Gurney.

This was more than just a field trip; it was a masterclass in sustainability and business. During the excursion:

• Sustainable Fashion & Waste Management: Darron shared his journey of building a business that gives clothing a second life, helping students understand how the "circular economy" works in practice.

• Entrepreneurial Inspiration: Seeing a successful shop in action showed our students that they, too, can become small business owners in the future.

• Creative Collaboration: Back at school, Darron led a Christmas ornament workshop where students used their newfound knowledge to craft decorations from recycled materials—proving that "waste" is simply a resource waiting for a creative touch.

Holistic Well-being: Health and Hygiene

At Helping Hands, health support is a daily commitment. Beyond treating the occasional scrape, we provide every student with toothbrushes and toothpaste. This quarter, we delivered 9 dedicated Health & Hygiene workshops, teaching students that personal care is the foundation of a productive life.

The arts also played a role in emotional well-being. We were honored to host Music Sharing ICEP from Japan, who treated our students to a string instrument performance, showing them how music can express complex emotions and foster community resilience.

Empowering the Next Generation: University and Mentorship

We are currently supporting four university students who are breaking cycles of poverty:

• Sreyneang is thriving in her studies to become an English teacher.

• Vannak is pursuing Public Administration, dreaming of serving his community.

To ensure our staff is prepared to support these journeys, our team participated in a 2-day Child Psychology training led by an expert from the University of Phnom Penh, focusing on inclusive education and behavior management.

Quarterly Impact at a Glance

• Students Enrolled362 (including 52 new students)
• Nutritious Breakfasts Provided 6,372
• Academic Support Days23 Days per month
• University Students Supported 4
• Special Workshops Delivered 11 (Health, Music, & Environment)

Thank You for Your Continued Support

None of the stories shared in this report—the laughter in the new playgrounds, the determination of our university scholars, or the environmental awareness sparked by the Recycle Race—would be possible without your unwavering support.

Your generosity is more than just a donation; it is the foundation upon which these children build their futures. It is the fuel that provides 6,372 breakfasts, the resource that puts new workbooks in eager hands, and the hope that allows a child from rural Cambodia to dream of becoming a teacher or a public administrator.

Every milestone we celebrate is a direct reflection of your commitment. In a region where challenges like seasonal flooding and economic hardship are daily realities, you are the constant that ensures education never stops. From the bottom of our hearts, and on behalf of the 362 students and the entire team at Helping Hands Cambodia: Thank you. We are deeply honored to have you by our side as we build this legacy of hope together.