Education, breaking the cycle of poverty: Why Cambodia needs your help
It’s quite common to associate Cambodia with poverty. Often when people hear the word Cambodia they automatically think of impoverished communities. The reason for this association lies in the complexities of Cambodia’s not too distant history.
It was less than 50 years ago that Cambodia suffered a devastating genocide. During this period, over a third of the country’s population was eliminated, and this was made up mostly of its educated class. Cambodia was left in a state of deprivation, having to rebuild the entire country from scratch.
Photo by Jackson Hirsch on Unsplash
While it is fair to say that over the last 20 years there has been great progress in the country’s education system, it is, however, still nowhere close to where it should be. UNICEF recently estimated that even though 65 to 70% of all Cambodian children start school, many repeat first grade two or three times or drop out by the second grade completely.
Cementing the problem, the education system receives insufficient government support, with each student only allotted a total of $1.75 per academic school year for school supplies from the government.
Poverty levels in the country are also extremely high, with most families in rural areas looking at education as a luxury and not necessary to survive. The Cambodian government has recognized the poverty line to be $1.90/ day, with over 30% of the country living either under or barely over this line. Subsequently, most families have been forced into low-paying jobs, predominately in Cambodia’s main industries of farming, manufacturing and tourism.
The majority of our students come from families working as farmers, who make an average annual income of $300 per year. While other families who work in the manufacturing industry make as little as $0.50/ hour. Since entry-level jobs in these industries require no educational background, many families choose low-paying jobs in response to their families’ urgent need for food. Most Cambodians will overlook the importance of education due to the cost in order to fix their immediate income shortages.
On top of what is already a hard situation for students attempting to obtain an adequate education, Cambodia has been on a strict lockdown for more than 1.5 years due to COVID restrictions. During this time, our students have not attended school, and their families have struggled to make money - some none at all - to support their families. It’s a crucial time now, perhaps more than ever, to help our students in Cambodia.
Our mission at The Hearts Company is to provide educational resources and opportunities for the children of Siem Reap, Cambodia. We don’t just want to help them succeed in the future, but we also want to break the cycle of poverty for them and their families. So far with the help of our donors, sponsors and the Hearts Company team, we have been able to build schools, upgrade infrastructure, donate school supplies to hundreds - soon to be over a thousand - students and teachers, as well as supply the community’s first-ever laptop computers.
With your help, The Hearts Company hopes to make a substantial positive impact on both the students and the education system in Cambodia. We want to help provide our students with the opportunity to learn, grow and succeed. There are several ways you can help us achieve our goals:
Donate via our donations page,
Sponsor a project, or
Start your own fundraiser.
For more information on how you can help support our mission, check out our fundraising page.
