Build dreams! Send Cambodian Students to College!

We started 2021 with five university students receiving full tuition support from our program.  However, at the close of the first quarter we are down to only three students.

Our only male student, was an AIDS orphan who is now in his mid twenties and  who grew up in our AIDS Patients Family Support Program (FSP) . This young man  has been working, for some years,  as a delivery driver for a wholesale distributor of home cleaning products.  He was the .primary source of support for his AIDS afflicted grandmother as well as for  his teenage cousin and himself.  The family’s home is located far outside of the city but his university and his job are both located in the center of town which added a significant commuting time component to his already very tough schedule.  Early this year he surprised us by getting married.   We   discussed this with him and we all agreed ,that the combination of a new wife, a full time job and the need to continue supporting his grandmother and his young cousin would leave insufficient time to successfully pursue his studies at this time.

A second student is a young woman whose mother is afflicted by AIDS and has been in our AIDS Patients Family Support Program (FSP) for more than fifteen years.  Our staff has felt  for some time  that this student  was not meeting the standard of  commitment which we required of students who want our support for their university studies. This student, despite taking only a  partial  course load, unlike our other students, did not take on , at the very least,  a part time job.  At a time when we are asking staff members to take pay cuts, we were uncomfortable  with her attitude  and lack of commitment. Consequently, we have  dropped her from the program although her mother continues to receive support from our FSP.

The remaining three students, all female, are doing extremely well in their studies.  Two of them work full time at our Champey Academy of Arts and take their university classes in the evenings.  The third young woman is now in her second year of nursing school and we are proud to say that her results form her first year of study were nearly all A’s.  All three of these young women  have been associated with Kasumisou Foundation since they were children and we know them well.  We are very confident in saying that we expect great things from all of them once they complete their studies.   

For the time being, due to the impact of COVID on all aspects of our programs, we will continue to support these three students, but we  will pause, for the time being, any consideration of new students..

We have attached a copy of the transcript  for our nursing student, edited for personal information. What a joy to see so many As and  a 3.98 GPA !

Your generous support has made higher education possible for these three students. Truly, you are changing lives  and we are deeply grateful to you all for your support.

Barbara & Mark Rosasco