Send 210 Cambodian Youth Back to School

When I was a small boy on summer break, I always used to look forward to going back to school and starting a new year, but that enthusiasm was soon snuffed completely out when I realized that my family was very poor and I had 7 other brothers and sisters who would be going back to school as well.  We all needed new school clothes, books, book bags, etc., but my family could not afford to buy them for us. So on the first day of class, I wore the only clothes I had, last year’s clothes, which were dirty and greasy. Other students showed up wearing brand new school clothes, laden with plenty of new school supplies. I stuck out like a sore thumb among all those students with my old threadbare and dirty clothes.  I felt like I was strange, different, and not one of my classmates, like I just didn’t fit in. I experienced shame like this year after year. We had other kids in our village whose families were dirt poor as well, and who shared my experience, but they had it even worse because they could barely find food to eat, let alone afford school supplies. They were so ashamed that they stopped going to school. 

Our Back to School project is extremely important as our many student recipients are in the same situation as I was years ago. Things have not changed that much. This project may be saving many children and teens from dropping out of school, especially during the pandemic of COVID 19, when times are just as tough. Schools are now requiring students to wear sneakers and belts, which for poor families, are just out of their financial reach. Lack of simple school supplies and proper clothes can be just another obstacle or factor to keep children from returning to continue their studies, allowing the cycle of illiteracy and poverty to continue in Cambodia. This project provides each student from a poor family with a package containing a uniform, sneakers, book bag, notebooks, pens and pencils, erasers, and a ruler. Each bag is worth 50 USD.

On March 19, 2020 we gave out school supplies to:

- 32 students of YESIC Center

- 25 students at the Kompong Thom YESIC Center

- 30 students in DOVE’s Prey Veng Satellite

- 23 students in Chak Angre village

Story of Change: Interview of YESIC Package Recipient. Ms. Tu Chanlida, Age 14. Chak Angre Kraom Commune.

Ms. Chanlida comes from a poor family. Her dad drives a Tuk-Tuk (3 wheeled motorcycle taxi) and her mother is a cleaner in a private school. She and her 3 siblings live in a very small house and their father is an alcoholic, constantly arguing with their mother, which makes Chanlida very unsettled and unhappy. Any money she gets from her parents goes to paying bribes to her teachers at school so they won’t fail her. This is typical for most students in Cambodia. She is in the 8^th grade attending a junior high school school not far from DOVE. When we gathered the students from poor families together at DOVE’s Drop in Center to hand out the packages, we had our leadership club members mix it up with the Back to School package recipients. Some of the recipients were asked to get up to speak at the gathering and Lida volunteered.  Lida said she heard of YESIC language center through a friend named Malis from House of Peace, who told her that YESIC had good teachers who cared about the students, and it was a safe atmosphere where one could hang out. So she enrolled to learn English.  After enrolling she felt loved and made a lot of close friends, and she felt she had a safe place to go. She publicly thanked YESIC and was excited to receive the Back to School package and mentioned that she never received any gift like this before. She was glad, too, because it took the financial pressure off her parents to find money to buy these items for the four children. She said that she is committing herself to being a good student, and a good member of society. Lastly, she thanked YESIC and all those who donated toward the Back to School Project school.