Empower Cambodian children with English language

Dear Supporters, Teachers, Students, Parents and Family Members,

ODC’s dream of offering an excellent English education for underprivileged children in Cambodia is being fulfilled, only with your support. With Covid-19 no longer a health emergency, we are operating at capacity, serving nearly 200 children from the surrounding villages.  The ODC community; teachers, students and parents are all in good health and we do hope you are all safe and well, too.                 

In Cambodia, life is back to normal with people resuming their careers, some in new jobs; people travelling without any restrictions; schools, businesses and many other public and private institutions are open. Last month, Cambodia hosted the SEA Game and with the upcoming opening of the newly-built international airport in October, more and more tourists are returning to visit the many attractions such as Angkor Wat. We believe that this will surely improve the daily living conditions of Cambodian people. There is a hugely significant event coming up in Cambodia on 23^rd July – the National Election.

Students at ODC are in great spirit and are highly motivated to come to school every day.  They meet the high standards set by their teachers to show up to class on time and do their daily homework. Academically, 106 of our students exceed our desired standard of 80 per cent of their total exam score.  169 have met the expected attendance rate of at least 90 per cent. These high standards are set to bring the best out of them.

Our good news story relates to one of our graduates, who has been offered a place at Paññasastra University of Cambodia (PUC), majoring in TOELF. Uora is a passionate, caring and outstanding young leader and a great mentor to other children. It has been her dream to become an English teacher, so that she can serve her community. Thanks to the sponsorship of one of ODC’s Board of Directors, she will be able to fulfil that dream. As a way of “giving back” she has undertaken the role of a teacher at ODC. 

The ODC team consists of a headmaster, five qualified and well-trained teaching staff, three teaching scholars and two volunteers. Our team attends monthly professional development conducted by experienced trainers. They learn critical and innovative teaching skills in classroom management and the teaching of the four macro skills in English. Moreover, all the teachers are working hard to reinvent ourselves. The standard set for our teachers are also very high and all of them will be required to sit for the IELTS exam by the end of this year. Most attend a remotely-run class on IELTS training and are enrolled for a course at a private institution to further improve their proficiency in English. Recently, we have selected one of our outstanding students, whose dream is to teach English, to receive our teacher-training scholarship. She will work with a qualified teacher and learn the essential skills.

A safe and nurturing environment has been created at ODC to ensure that students can come to love learning and reach their potential. With more than 40 students on our waiting list, we would like to create 2 more classes but this will mean additional wages for teachers. This year, we have no plan in improving the facility. However, we aspire to have better classroom / learning facilities; we wish we would have smart TV sets equipped in each classroom. In addition, our aspirational plan is to build a library and a reception room for our staff to meet, work, and meet students’ parents and community members.

Each year, in the month of July, we run a fundraising campaign on the GlobalGiving platform. You can increase the impact of your donation on July 12, when GlobalGiving is running a Bonus Day campaign when your donation will be matched.

• 15% on donations from $100 - $499
• 30% on donations from $500 - $749
• 50% on donations from $750 - $1,000
• Matching Fund rates will apply to donations up to $1,000 per unique donor per organization

In closing, we would like to reiterate our whole-hearted gratitude for your on-going support and generosity. It has been very clear that your commitment to ODC’s cause has been tremendously significant in keeping us moving forward in our endeavor to achieve the betterment of Cambodian society and in particular to open opportunities for our students.

Sincerely,

Chhaiya IM

Founder and Headmaster, ODC Organization

Dear Supporters, Teachers, Students, Parents and Family Members,

What a fresh and exciting start to 2023! We are all safe and healthy and without the threat of school closures due to Covid, teachers and students are on campus with normal classroom teaching taking place. We do hope that you are all well, too. On behalf of the ODC team, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your support and would like to keep you updated on what has been accomplished at ODC in the last three months.

With Cambodia’s economy bouncing back to pre-pandemic times, tourism, businesses and job opportunities have returned to normal. Many of our parents from the ODC community have been able to return to work in farming and construction. They are also in a better position to support their children’s education.

Given our limited resources and with a thoughtfully-planned budget, ODC is operating 10 classes in 2023. Each class will allow a maximum of 20 students to ensure the best educational outcomes for our students. At the start of this year, 196 students have been accepted and enrolled while 42 children have been put on the waiting list. Greater local community involvement and commitment have been encouraged to help ODC financially and at the start of our first semester, 172 families were able to make a nominal contribution of $20.  However, 24 students from low-income families were given academic scholarships based on four main criteria: (1) a child must be an ODC student in 2022, (2) a child must be from a poor and vulnerable background, (3) a child must come from a family that values education and (4) a child must be eager to study.

ODC English School is situated 15 km from the centre of Siem Reap. We have a building with 4 classrooms and a staff room. The classrooms are modestly furnished with tables and chairs, ceiling fans and projectors. The school grounds sits in a 1,200 sqm block that has been planted with numerous trees that offer shade and cool green spaces. Our new toilet block provides a clean and hygienic space for the community.

ODC has a dedicated team of 5 teachers, 2 teaching scholars and 1 volunteer. One of our teaching scholars has been offered a scholarship by an ODC Board member to study TOEFL at Pannasastra University of Cambodia. She is an outstanding student with great proficiency in English. She now works part time at ODC as an English teacher and is an amazing role model for our students. 

For the last several years, with your support, ODC has been able to serve our children and their families.  Our students are motivated to learn, and the rules set up by ODC has vastly improved student attendances, punctuality and their commitment to study hard. Our teachers exemplify the core human values of respect, honesty, passion and integrity. With the existing learning/teaching facilities and the teachers’ dedication, our students feel valued, loved and cared for and they come every day with enthusiasm to learn. ODC has earned the trust from the community and when asked to help, most are willing to make small donations and participate in ODC events, such as parent-teacher meetings. Some wish that ODC would be able to accept more children who would then be given the opportunity to receive quality English education and other important life skills. ODC may be small but we dream to achieve big things for our children.

We set an ambitious goal to raise $60,000 in 2023. We are proud to announce that we have raised $40,400 so far this year – a significant accomplishment!

In closing, we would like to reiterate our whole-hearted gratitude for your on-going supportand generosity. Your commitment to ODC’s is transformative and opens so many previously closed doors for our students and thus empowers our whole community.

Sincerely,

Chhaiya IM

Founder and Headmaster, ODC Organization