In Siem Reap, Cambodia, our Dream Management Project is one of the only opportunities rural high schoolers have to stay in school and pursue higher education. We connect over 700+ young people a year to soft-skills development courses, mentorship, and pathways to higher education and vocational schools. We introduce them to a multitude of possible futures by running skills fairs, and field trips, and bringing speakers and career reps from around the country into our students' villages.
In Siem Reap, Cambodia, nearly 50% of the population lives in extreme poverty, despite the city being an epicenter of tourism. The majority of families live outside of the city surviving off the land or pursuing illegal construction work in Thailand. The cycle of poverty persists due to families' lack of understanding of the impact that education can have on their livelihoods. Most of them encourage their 14-15-year-olds to drop out of school to contribute to the household or to get married.
Dream Project exists to promote the power of education in the most rural & remote communities in Siem Reap. Our team runs weekly Dream classes & home visits that help youth and their families understand why education matters and how it can lead to sustainable income and opportunities. Dream teaches youth soft skills like time management & leadership. We provide scholarships & run tours (study tours), skill fairs, and sharing events to connect them to higher education mentors and institutions.
We have run Dream for over 10 years in our target high schools. In the communities we serve, we holistically improve rural high schools by developing their infrastructure & teacher training, while changing the mindset of parents & local leadership. Our officers help show community leaders, families, & youth that there is a better path by introducing inspiring speakers & mentors who have similar backgrounds around the country & by bringing in former Dream students as spokespeople.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
