How did we build a successful Cambodian school?
The Cambridge School is the 405th school constructed by the Rural Schools Project of the American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC). We learned about the work of Bernard Krisher, founder of AAfC, through high tech gurus at MIT. Bernie and his team at AAfC have now created more than 460 thriving schools in rural Cambodia, made possible through a matching funds program at The Asian Development Bank, and in cooperation with the Cambodian Ministry of Education.
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%. Cambridge has a large community of historians, peacemakers, and modern abolitionists who know that supporting the expansion of Cambodia’s education system helps to spread literacy, create more economic opportunities, and deters human trafficking. The effects of education are particularly profound for young girls in Cambodia.
How did this project get started?
This project started at The Haggerty School, a public school in West Cambridge, as part of the annual Haggerty Global Awareness-Peace Projects that are organized by the The Haggerty Arts Council. Led by parents Heather Faris and Erika Wentworth, the project spread “word of mom” to other communities across Cambridge including those at King Open School, Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School, Graham & Parks, Baldwin, Amigos, Cambridgeport, Shady Hill School, Buckingham, Browne & Nichols, Harvard and MIT, Tufts and The University of Massachusetts. It is a 100% volunteer community. To see more about who is involved, please click HERE. Please join us!
The Cambridge School in Cambodia project is offered free of cost to any Cambridge educators that want to make use of the resources available. Contact camb4camb@gmail.com for more information.
Our project was designed as an educational two-way street. It is not simply a project whereby citizens in the developed world lend a hand to children in a developing country. This city-wide endeavor provides our Cambridge children with a meaningful educational experience by giving our school children internet connectivity with Cambodian children who are seeking to improve themselves through education. As well, our students are invited to do service learning projects by organizing a group trip to Cambodia or by visiting during a gap year before college. Through this global awareness project even the least advantaged Cambridge resident can contribute (we collected a lot of pennies to build the school) and can see their own lives in light of knowledge of the developing world.
The first year of the project was dedicated to raising funds to build the school in Cambodia. Once the school was built, our efforts were to support Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School (CRLS) students and teachers to venture to Cambodia for the school dedication, for service learning projects, to visit relevant NGO’s, and to meet inspiring leaders of social reform in Cambodia. CRLS teachers and advisors to the CRLS Global Awareness Group, Susie VanBlaricum and Marya Wegman, led the effort of six students at CRLS to successfully fundraise for their trip to Cambodia. These teachers also organized pre-trip educational endeavors, led the CRLS contingent of the delegation that went to Cambodia, and are leading the CRLS student efforts to share their Cambodia experience with other CRLS students and with students across Cambridge.
Building bridges:
This project would never have happened without the generous support from numerous businesses and non-profit organizations across Cambridge. To see a list of the many businesses and organizations who helped build The Cambridge School in Cambodia, please click HERE. Owners of The Elephant Walk restaurant have been especially generous by heartily supporting the project as Corporate Partners, as well as, contributing fundraising dinners in 2008 and 2009 at their Cambridge restaurant. Through this city-wide endeavor, bridges have been built between our public schools, universities, businesses, government leaders, private schools, and non-profit organizations.
Brookline High School has been inspired to start a similar project and is fundraising to build The Brookline Samlanh School in Preah Vihear province. It is exciting to support each other with our school efforts and to see bridges being built between Cambridge and Brookline educators and students. For more information, please visit www.brookcamb.org.
How is the project funded?
The Cambridge School is operated by the Cambodian Ministry of Education and staffed with Cambodian teachers. Additional monies needed are provided through yearly fundraising efforts of Cambridge volunteers, online donations, and business sponsorships. The recurring expenses of the project include annual internet fees and the salary of an english-speaking high tech teacher. Additionally, we have recently joined a “Girls be Ambitious” project (run by AAfC) that pays Cambodian families to send young girls to school who would not otherwise be able to attend a free school because they must work full time to provide income for their families. Other expenses for the project are optional donations decided by our Board of Directors that include educational materials, sports equipment, and more computers.
Our Cambridge community is a 100% volunteer group and is not a legal non-profit organization. Tax deductible donations are possible through our parent organization, The American Assistance for Cambodia. Please click HERE for information on how to donate to the school. Please click HERE to see some of the wonderful donations we brought to Cambodia.
