Rotanak
Rim
LOVE CAMBODIA HOSTEL
The idea of building a hostel was borne out of a need to provide affordable lodging for village students who wanted to study in the Prey Veng’s high school, which provides a higher quality of education than the schools in the villages.
Villagers are also aware that education is one of the key ways to escape their life of subsistence farming and provide a brighter future for the next generation.
The construction of the Love Cambodia hostel started before COVID-19 in late 2019 and finally received approval to open its doors to students in January 2021.
We look forward to enabling and equipping the lives of a new generation of Khmer people.
STORY OF SREY SAT
Srey Sat, 15, is the youngest of a family of three girls. She is one of the first students to stay at the Love Cambodia Hostel. She hopes that through education, she will be able to improve her life. She is currently staying in the Love Cambodia hostel and studies in Hun Sen Secondary School in Prey Veng city.
Her parents divorced when she was just a toddler and both have since remarried. As both her parents remarried soon after the divorce and were unable to provide for her, she was brought up by a grand aunt who graciously took her in.
Even though Srey Sat has had a rocky start in life, she has always managed to find solace in her studies. Throughout her primary and secondary school days, she has always been in the top three positions of her class.
She was introduced to Love Cambodia through Love Cambodia’s staff Aen. Srey Sat had received a monetary award of USD100 from Love Cambodia for being in the top five positions in her secondary school for two consecutive years. The prize money was from Love Cambodia’s scholarship project, which encourages students from low-income families to compete for an award of USD100 to help fund education expenses. Srey Sat has received this award for two consecutive years.
Srey Sat hopes to be a teacher in the future, so that she can help children in similar situations as her, and inspire them to study hard to change their family situation and get out of the cycle of poverty.
Srey Sat
PREY KAMPENG PRIMARY SCHOOL
His life changed after an accident in November 2014. Rotanak, 13, ran across the road from his
school at village Chan and was knocked down by a motorist.
He was unconscious for two months and underwent two major surgeries. He was discharged after three months and returned home to his parents with severe disabilities.
Rotanak not only lost the use of both his legs but also the ability to speak. Although mentally still quite alert, he is not able to respond as a normal 13 year-old boy.
Rim, 8, also met with an accident while running across the road on the way to school. He suffered head and leg injuries but has almost fully recovered. His legs show scars from the deep cuts. Rim was warded in hospital for a few weeks and after more than a month, he returned to school.
Following these two accidents, parents in the Prey Kampeng village became wary of sending their children to school for fear of them getting into accidents. Some of the children also stopped attending school as they were afraid of getting injured in motor accidents on the way to school.
The village chief and Community Based Organisers rallied the families of Prey Kampeng to build a primary school in their Prey Kampeng village so that the children would not have to travel too far and reduce the chances of accidents.
The new Prey Kampeng Primary School
With the help of Love Cambodia and donors, the new school was officially opened on 30 October, 2015. The opening ceremony was attended by government officials including the Peam Ro district chief, commune chief and a representative from the Ministry of Education in Prey Veng. The village chief as well as the new principal and teachers were also present. The school building spans 11m x 25m and houses three classrooms. In May 2016, a further building was added as an extension.
Seventeen children were rewarded with cash gifts for achieving a top five class position throughout the year. Besides their good grades, they also maintained regular school attendance, good hygiene and clean uniforms, as well as a good learning attitude.
One of the children’s mother was also rewarded with a cow, as her daughter obtained top five position in a major exam.
Besides this, Love Cambodia has partnered with other organisations to build and operate kindergartens in various villages. It has also contributed to the construction of infrastructure in schools, such as, classrooms, libraries, dining areas, toilets, fences and even a playground for a government school.
COMMUNITY KINDERGARTEN
Recognizing the importance of inculcating education in the mindset of local villagers, Love Cambodia embarked on a program of building and operating kindergartens in remote villages to enable children to easy and affordable access to early childhood education. So far, we have built a total of 9 kindergartens, in Prey Komeng, Sdov, Prey Kla. Chan, Sangkerchrum, Prey Angkung, Sleng, Ponley and Banteay. The kindergartens also function as community centers during off-school seasons.
