School 135 poor Cambodian children to prosperity.

The three vulnerable sibling boys were not registered to attend primary school, even if they were school-age, due to a lack of birth certificates. They reside in village #20, Sangkat Srah Chak, Khan Doun Penh, Phnom Penh, with a 58-year-old grandmother who immigrated from one of the rural provinces for construction work opportunities in Phnom Penh city in 1989. Without a home and the budget to hire a room because of the income crisis, the family stayed on the land of a private enterprise in a slum in the backyard of a neighbour's house beneath the tent. Only two of the members can make income through selling sour fruits on the street; whereas, the grandma and her oldest son are very sick. The revenue from the sour fruits is unstable and insufficient for family meals and house rental that’s why they take some time out a private loan with a high interest rate of up to 50%, forcing them to become increasingly poor, unable to devote cash for housing rental and children's schooling. If it rained, they could not sell their sour fruits, so they would entirely lose their capital from purchasing the fruits from the whole seller, and as a consequence, they would have to add up the loan for the next sale. Seeing the neighbour children in the same situation attending the SCC community school in the Boeung Kak slum area, the grandmother came to register the three. Following negotiations with the SCC community school supervisor, the three vulnerable children, ages 5 to 9, are yet to be enrolled in public school due to a lack of a birth certificate. SCC and Mrs. Christ, an Australian child sponsor, visited to help children get into primary school, get nutrition support, and settle in properly.

Two achievements for the impoverished 3-boy family at the same time included better living conditions and access to education. SCC noticed that the poor living conditions, poor health, and food shortages all pose significant barriers to the three's access to education. The main issue was a loan with a high interest rate, which produced major financial difficulties for this family although they worked hard to earn money. SCC with Christ opted to emphasize support other than children's education, such as room rental and free of private debts for the family. To begin with, SCC paid for a two-month room rental and food provided, 80 kg of rice and some soy sauce, to provide space/burden and contribute to better health conditions because they were living on company land in the backyard of the resident's house with no toilet, clean water, under a tent, and flooded due to rain. Next, to avoid them utilizing private loans with the highest interest rate, we gave loans with no interest and allowed them to repay based on their flexibility. As a result, they are now debt-free and in better health, so one of the sons who was sick can be offered a job, allowing them to save up money for room rental and daily food on their own. Finally, Our project officer, in close collaboration with the local authorities, processes the birth certificates for the three boys and intervenes to register them with the public primary school, as well as providing three sets of new school uniforms (1 set for each child), three school bags (1 bag for each child), three pairs of school shoes (one pair of shoes for each child), 30 notebooks (10 books for each child), and a box of 12 pencils for the entire school year. In short, the three have attended public and CBE schools; in the meantime, their family situation allows them to allocate funds for housing and daily food expenses without incurring debt.

We appreciate your continuous support in keeping the school open for these at-risk kids. This will guarantee that we finish the task of giving disadvantaged children the education they require to enhance their future, on behalf of our children at our organization and the communities we serve.

Pisey is pursuing her dream job of becoming a teacher who is a former outstanding student at SCC-CBE School, located in the SCC slum area for the past eight years. She has 5 siblings (2 sisters, 3 brothers). The first eldest son married and now lives with his wife's family while other four children are still living together. Unfortunately, the third daughter, 16-year-old Pisa, decided to drop out of school at a young age due to the poor living conditions of the family to earn income to support her family while other siblings were still studying in public schools.

In 2012, Pisey was chosen to go to the SCC-CBE school in Boeungkak, a Phnom Penh slum community, where she lived. Her family was having serious financial difficulties because her father had passed away and her mother was unable to earn any money to cover the family's expenses. Pisey had to assist her mother in collecting trash (recycling) for selling to support her family. In the meantime, her mother decided to remarry another guy who is a security guard whose salary is 200 USD per month in the hopes that her new husband would help provide for the family, but he is an alcoholic and commits domestic violence when drunken, making her position much more challenging. Upon seeing her challenging circumstances, SCC decided to accept her into the school and provide food as well as other necessities for her family. Pisey was an outstanding English student and a school youth leader at the school. She shared inspiring, motivating, showing them love, educating, supporting, encouraging and spending time with them. Her ultimate goal is to become a good teacher to educate children from low-income families to have a bright future.  

Now, Pisey,19 years old, is majoring in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and is presently enrolled in her first year of study at Western University in Phnom Penh. Our dear Mama, Christine, from Australia, is funding Pisey's studies for four years through Salvation Centre Cambodia (SCC). Besides, she is working to increase her experience while volunteering as a part-time teacher at SCC Community School, where she received her previous education, to teach vulnerable, impoverished, and orphaned children. She is therefore moving towards her dream work of becoming a teacher.