Welcome to the City-Wide website of

The Cambridge School for Cambodia Project

Who are we?

We are a growing coalition of Cambridge families, Cambridge communities, Cambridge businesses, and local non-profit organizations uniting to build a school for Cambodia. Cambridge, a city of high tech innovation and academic leadership has the resources to do this. 

What are the goals of this project?

We aim to build a multi-room school with internet connectivity in rural Cambodia that is named for our city: “The Cambridge School for Cambodia.”  We want to restore hope for 200-400 Cambodian children by offering them the possibility of improving their lives through education.  They will gain new, marketable skills and begin to connect with others in the world through computer technology.

At the same time, this city-wide endeavor will provide our Cambridge children with a meaningful educational experience by giving our public school children internet connectivity with Cambodian children who are seeking to improve themselves through education. By forging new alliances within Cambridge to achieve our goals, we hope to enhance our children’s identity as residents of this diverse and illustrious city.

To see what a meaningful educational experience this project could be for our children, please see the video about a school built by families in Seattle, The Overlake School, featured on ABC News.

Why Cambodia?

Still suffering from the long-term effects of the American war in Vietnam, Cambodia has an acute shortage of schools and teachers, books and teaching materials. The Cambodian genocide, 1975-1979, was aimed at the educated and the educators, so it’s not surprising that the literacy rate for Cambodians over the age of 15 is only 35%.

How do we build a successful Cambodian school?

We have joined the American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC) Rural Schools Project. So far the AAfC has built 358 thriving schools in rural Cambodia through a matching funds program with the Asian Development Bank. All we have to do is raise funds—the AAfC will do the rest. They have the experience, ability, and commitment to build the best possible school in Cambodia, while also minimizing administrative overhead. 

In order to raise the necessary funds to build a “high-tech” school, we want to join forces with other Cambridge individuals, families, and communities that are dedicated to international development and global understanding. Please see our Who is Involved page for information about people who are leading fundraising efforts in different communities across Cambridge.

We are also actively seeking support from Cambridge businesses and area nonprofit organizations. Please see our Corporate Partners page for information about participation.

The Numbers and Timeline:

In two short months we raised the $5000 deposit necessary to have a building site assigned to us in the 2008 building cycle. The Cambridge School for Cambodia will be completed in June.  EVERYONE is invited to attend the opening ceremonies!

We aim to raise $13,000 by June 2008 for a basic school, or $20,000 for a school with some high tech upgrades. That might seem like an ambitious goal, but one simple spare change fundraiser brought in nearly $2000 in four weeks (click on the Pennies Building Peace link for more info.) 

Help Build the Cambridge School for Cambodia:

You can make an individual donation to the AAfC or start a fundraising project of your own—we’ll help you get started!  We have developed numerous materials that you can use to fundraise for The Cambridge School for Cambodia in your community. Please click on the Fundraising Ideas link. You will find bookmarks to print out, logos to download, ideas to share, and cool t-shirts that you can sell.

This Website is for everyone in our community!

We’d like you to use this website to connect with us and with others who are joining this effort to build bridges within our own city and between Cambridge and Cambodia. We’d like you to add your ideas, your photos, your events, and your appreciations to our city-wide website. Please contact us if you would like to add your information to cambcamb.org.

Building Communities:

We believe that when we come together from all across Cambridge to participate in this project, we will empower our children by a real sense of what it means to live in a city like ours, one that is truly wealthy in education and technology resources. Our children will learn just how important it is that we make an effort to share these resources with others in the world and in the process, will become caring and active global citizens of the 21st century.