their idea: promote literacy and culture in
Siem Reap, Cambodia
$50 Buys a year's worth of school supplies for one student
$150 Pays for one teacher's salaries for one month at ELMA school
$500 Pays for an entire month's salaries at elma school
$750 Ships 150 quality textbooks to ELMA school
the power of their idea
Project Details
A new generation of Cambodians are hopeful about their futures and willing to work hard to create better lives for themselves and their communities. The devastating lack of infrastructure, access to education, job opportunities, clean water and health care make it nearly impossible for them to improve their quality of life without help from the outside. By investing in their education and basic infrastructure, we facilitate the tools they need to make lasting improvements, not just temporary relief.
This project provides educational books, school supplies and clothing to poor and orphaned Cambodian children who are learning English at the ELMA School in rural Sambour just outside of Angkor, so that they can build sustainable and healthy careers, lifting themselves and their communities out of extreme poverty.
Within the handful of simple rooms at the ELMA School, hundreds of Cambodian children ages 5-18 learn English. They delight in the hundreds of books we've shipped to propagate their library. The older teens, especially, love the opportunity to see what the rest of the world is like beyond their rural agriculture-based village. Because the school does not have a secure mailing address, we ship books to the Angkor Hospital for Children. The nurses, led by Mr. Yam Rithy, are on the lookout for the boxes and hand them off to the ELMA School's principal, Vey Lav, who transports them on his motorbike to the school's library.
For this beleaguered country, the needs are infinite but for every book we ship and every dollar of support, we are exponentially alleviating their suffering and improving their quality of life.
the impact of our support
Vey's Story
During the Khmer Rouge regime, Vey Lav was born into a poor rice farming family on the outskirts of Siem Reap. He finished high school and spent a couple of years learning English with American, British and Australian teachers, while taking travelers to Angkor Wat. Inspired by the passion of showing his beloved country to the world, Vey took a tour guide course and became a certified cultural guide in Siem Reap archaeological park.
Currently, he is president/owner of Adventurous Asia Travel, a locally owned tour guide business, and is also the principal of Elma school, managing the teaching staff and setting/building school curriculum and lesson plans. He is committed to helping children as much as possible and uses his tour business to educate travelers about the ELMA school while they see the wonders of Angkor Wat. As the success of his travel business grows, so does the ELMA school, as a portion of his business profits provide for the operational costs of the school.
As Vey's network grows, not only will his business create more jobs for local Cambodians, but it will also provide more funding for the school and truly exemplify the power of sustainable community development. For more information on Adventurous Asia Foundation, please visit adventurousasia.com