Build dreams! Send Cambodian Students to College!

GIVING TUESDAY IS NOVEMBE 28 AND DONATIONS UP TO $2500 PER UNIQUE DONOR WILL RECEIVE AN INCENTIVE MATCH FROM GLOBAL GIVING

Program Update Autumn 2023

As we discussed in our last program update, all of the students in our " Build Dreams" program have now graduated. Your support created a profound change in these students' lives.

For now, as we continue to evaluate our path forward, donations are used to help primary and secondary students with basic needs, such as supplies or enough money for lunch. A hungry student will leave school to find a job. Our goal throughout all of our programs is a focus on education , as the way to break the cycle of inherited poverty and this means keeping students in school.  In Cambodia secondary education is broken into 2 segments, lower school  grades 7 ~ 9 , like our "middle school" and upper secondary school , like our "high school"  which covers grades 10 ~ 12.

In 2021, the World Bank estimated that about 58% of students finish lower secondary school and of the 42% remaining students, about 65% finished upper secondary school. This means that about 38% of all high school students finish high school and of those 28% will pass the national exam.

We have several students attending our arts classes at Champey who are in "middle school" and "high school"  and who show the determination to both stay in school and attend our classes. We are continuing our internal discussion about what might be next for this program. Economics plays a big part in the success or failure of a students’ ability to finish high school. Many students drop out to find work to help support their families. And, of course, a high school diploma, which is only obtained after passing the national examination, is a requirement for college.As you can see it is a lengthy process to position a student for college entry.

We will keep you posted regarding our next steps with this program. Helping a college student is a multi-year commitment and we must be certain that if we make that commitment, we can see it through.

It is worth noting that two of our graduates have dreams of graduate school. Ms. SP, an English major, wants to become an English teacher. Ms. S , graduated with a degree in international relations and her goal is to eventually work for an NGO with an education focus that helps poor kids to go to school.

These are wonderful goals and dreams but at the present time, plainly put, we do not have donor  funds and therefore  the ability to make this sort of financial commitment. As we mentioned, in order to consider this type of multi-year commitment we would need to be certain that we could see it through.

Thank you for your kind support. We will keep you posted as things develop. Truly, your generous support has changed the lives of our graduates and we area deeply grateful to you.

Barbara & Mark Rosasco