The education system in Cambodia was systematically destroyed during the Pol Pot regime of the 1970's. Most of the teachers were executed, which meant that when schooling resumed in the 1980’s there was a chronic shortage of qualified teachers. The lack of quality teachers and widespread poverty is still a huge issue today. Now, due to the country's low economic development, parents face a daily dilemma: whether to have their children help provide for the family to avoid hunger or send them to school in hopes of securing a better future through education. Education breaks the poverty cycle, protects girls from the sex trade, boys from slave labour, and opens the door to a bright and purposeful future for each child.
Denise Arnold, CCT's Founder says "Unsupported schools in rural villages are depressing to visit. The buildings are dirty and decrepit, there are no working toilets, the children lack basic stationery and the teachers have very few resources to teach with. Once we identify a school in need and have the financial backing to support it, we consult with the locals about their needs as a community.
We work closely with trusted, credible Cambodian networks and individuals directly within rural communities. This partnership enables us to together identity the needs of the community and the school and to work together to meet them. We employ 8 Cambodian staff and these wonderful people work at the local level to ensure we achieve direct, measurable and sustainable results."
CCT belives that Education is the largest lever for social change in Cambodia. They help develop quality teacher trainers, producing a new generation of teachers with interactive teaching techniques, focusing on child centered learning.
They help deliver professional development workshops in 17 Provincial Teacher Training Centres, producing approximately 1600 new graduate teachers a year.
They also help train in-service teachers and support 23 schools.
It means that a CCT supported school is a beacon of light in a rural Cambodian village. By working with families, they remove the barriers to a free, quality education. By working with teachers, they provide the support and resources they need to become more effective in the classroom.
It is a powerful combination, and it works.
The Cambodia Charitable Trust (CCT) helps develop quality teacher trainers, producing a new generation of teachers with interactive teaching techniques, focusing on child centered learning. They help deliver professional development workshops in 17 Provincial Teacher Training Centres, producing approximately 1600 new graduate teachers a year.
Denise Arnold goes on to say,"Children who don’t go to school are vulnerable to sex trafficking, a life of subsistence and hard manual labour, or can end up married and bearing children at a tragically young age. In the past, dropout rates for students increased as they progressed through the school system. Between the age 12-15 was a particularly vulnerable age for girls, and few girls attended secondary education let alone tertiary education.
Today, that is changing!
750 students have been sponsored through school donations.
88 students are currently pursuing tertiary education.
38 students have already graduated!
Through education, our students are entering careers beyond traditional farming, stepping into fields like law, finance, engineering, and business, empowering themselves and their communities".
By enabling New Zealanders to sponsor children from just $60NZD a month, or an entire school for $7200NZD a year, CCT creates a simple and direct way of having a positive impact on local communities that need it, and you can actually have influence on not just a family, but the direction of an econonically developing country.
Join with the Sustainable Travel Co. to take a step toward making a positive impact on overseas communities by supporting the work of Denise Arnold and the CCT.
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