Empower Cambodian children with English language

July 1, 2024

Greetings, Friends & Supporters of ODC,

As one of ODC’s international board members, I am writing this report while Founder and Headmaster Chhaiya Im continues his participation in the year-long Atlantic Fellows Equity Initiative Program. During this quarter, Chhaiya traveled to Vietnam, New Zealand, and the United States. The impact of Chhaiya’s education and field experiences in this program are evident as we witness him developing into an even stronger leader and change maker. We look forward to Chhaiya applying his newly developed knowledge and skills to improve education equality here at ODC.

 As many people around the world also experienced, the weather this quarter was exceptionally hot in Siem Reap. Our teachers and students braved record-hot days teaching and studying English at our school—without the aid of air conditioning. They demonstrated true commitment day after day. Across 12 classes, we have 213 students studying English with our 5 teachers, 2 teaching scholars, and 2 volunteers. We have 35 students on our waitlist, each hoping for a spot to open up in the class level they need. We continue our dedication to maintaining smaller class sizes, as evidenced by our current classes ranging from 10 to 22 students, depending on the level. All students sat for their mid-year exams, and our teachers shared their findings and observations to their parents during parent-teacher conferences. We took our highest-achieving students from each class on a day-long field trip to famous Angkor Wat, and then to Angkor National Museum. We ended the night energized by the riotous Phare Circus.

To begin the third quarter of this school year, ODC is initiating Professional Development Week, a week of professional workshops for our teachers. The intention is to provide our teachers with five uninterrupted days centered around improving teaching and learning in our classrooms. The immediate focus is on developing new lessons to infuse Khmer culture into the weekly lessons taught using our western textbook series. Stay tuned for a summary in our next quarterly report! Last, our newest ODC team member, Dara Moeun, has collected mid-year outcome data on student learning that we will soon begin to analyze.

ODC is also continuing to make progress on our plans to improve and expand our facilities. By the end of the year, we will reduce heat in all our school rooms by implementing a variety of heat mitigation projects. We are also excited to report that we recently have been exploring opportunities to increase our outreach of “the ODC way” with other schools. We are facing many of our challenges head on and with creativity and positivity. It remains a very busy year for all of us at ODC. Please know that your support is the fuel that keeps us moving forward. We are doing this together. Thank you!

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

 

2024 has been a wonderful year so far. We began our academic year with new hopes and highly charged commitments. All our students, parents, staff, and community are safe. We hope you are all well, too. We are immensely grateful for your ongoing support and generosity. Today, on behalf of the entire ODC team, I would like to update you on the progress we have made over the first quarter of 2024.

 

Cambodia has made modest progress in improving its economy in this post-pandemic period. With Siem Reap’s new international airport opening only a few months ago, we have seen more and more tourists visiting Angkor Wat. Tourism is the top driver of our economy, bringing finances, work opportunities, and vibrance to our province. All schools across the country are open. Many of our students’ parents have resumed their normal working lives, but many will also continue to struggle to create new ways of making a living until tourism returns to pre-pandemic levels. Even working families find themselves living week to week. The improved, but still depressed provincial economy is still insufficiently robust to ease financial burdens amassed by our families during the pandemic.

                                          

This year, ODC is operating 12 classes—two more than last year and both beginner classes. To ensure the best educational learning outcomes for our students, we are still able to limit each class to no more than 20 students. At the start 2024, we grew to 220 students, with 12 on our waiting list. ODC’s reputation as a center for excellence in providing high quality English education has spread, and more and more parents in the surrounding communities are demonstrating their support for ODC by making a contribution of $20 two times per year. With the support from our families and supporters like you, this year we were able to offer scholarships to 22 students. In exchange for their scholarships, our recipients and their family members volunteer at the school every Saturday.

 

You and our other supporters gave generously to us in 2023, enabling us to achieve all our annual goals, as well as accomplish some of our aspirational projects. Among our aspirational successes, we recently:

• filled the land adjacent to our schoolhouse, providing a playground and safe parking area
• built a fence around the school along the main road, providing much-needed safety
• raised the floors of schoolhouse, preventing flooding during the rainy season
• added a roof to the veranda on the east side of the schoolhouse where students enter their classrooms, keeping the floor drier and less muddy
• outfitted each classroom with the same basic teaching equipment, such as white boards, new desks and chairs, etc.
• installed a smart television in each classroom

 

ODC’s 2024 staff remains a small but spirited team of 10 local people, including 1 headmaster; 5 teachers; 1 administrative assistant; 1 teaching scholar, and 2 volunteers. Our administrative assistant has been hired in the important new role of Head of Curriculum, Placement, and Fundraising. Our board of directors has grown to 9 members, including 3 local and 6 international members.

 

I am proud and humbled to announce that as founder of ODC, I was selected for the highly prestigious 2024 Atlantic Fellow Equity Initiative Program. I will spend the next two years learning and networking with like-minded change leaders across Southeast Asia to bring about improvements in education equity in Cambodia, beginning right here at ODC. I will travel internationally to study with top leaders in equity throughout the first year of the program, and then work with other Fellows to develop and accomplish a research project in the second year. Two of ODC’s international board members recently moved to live in Siem Reap and will help oversee ODC while I am traveling.

 

We are celebrating our many successes in 2023 and already in 2024, but we still have aspirational goals yet to be realized. We need your help to realize our dream of expanding our school to offer English education to more local children in dire need. We began 2024 with high hopes, working with architects to design a new schoolhouse consisting of four brand new classrooms and converting our current school building into a library, listening lab, teachers’ office, parent conference room, and headmaster’s office. This project marks another milestone for us. We ask for your continued support throughout this next year. Perhaps you can double your previous contribution by sharing news about ODC with your friends and family? Please consider doing so. We are dreaming our biggest dream yet and are counting on your support.

 

In closing, we would like to reiterate our whole-hearted gratitude for your ongoing support and generosity. Your commitment to ODC is transformative and opens the door of education for the poorest of children in our village. Your support empowers our whole community.

 

Sincerely,

 


Chhaiya IM
Founder & Headmaster
ODC Organization