Free education for 300 children in rural Cambodia

New School Update!

Slow and steady wins the race, or so that saying goes… This seems a particularly appropriate adage for the new school build at Helping Hands. But after more than a year and half of delays just getting all the right consents in place for our much needed new school we are confident everyone has the patience to wait just a few more weeks– and one thing is for sure, we already feel like we are WINNING!  

Students and teachers alike can’t wait for the day when we don’t have to hold lessons in makeshift classrooms made from corrugated iron and the branches of trees! Of course not having luxury classrooms has never put the children of the village off coming to Helping Hands, and from being outstanding students. Just think what they will be able to achieve with a brand new school, fewer students in each class and two extra teachers. We can hardly contain our excitement and are keeping our fingers crossed that the new classrooms are finished before the rainy season really kicks in. Those corrugated tin rooves are very noisy in a monsoon!

This week will see the completion of three of our four new classrooms and it won’t be long before the fourth and final classroom is in place, plus new toilets and of course the kitchen where our cook will make breakfast for our 100-strong breakfast club.

Welcome to our New Teacher.

In our last report we told you how we had already recruited one of our two new teachers so we could really take advantage of all our extra space. Well we have just appointed our second new teacher so our team is now complete! We are all the more pleased with our new recruit as she is from our very own village meaning that Helping Hands' holistic ethos of benefitting as much of the community as possible is really being put into practice. And the final piece of good news about our new teacher is that she was a regular student at Helping Hands right up until she won a place at university in Siem Reap. We are just a little bit proud of her and so pleased she has come back to help her fellow villagers!    

Could you help?

We are extremely happy that classrooms are going up and all the children in the village can now see what will be their new school! But there is no escaping the fact that the new school, extra classes and additional staff means our monthly costs will rise going forward. If you would like to help ensure that Helping Hands continues to give hope and a future to our young villagers, please consider making a donation or even setting up a monthly gift through GlobalGiving - as you can see from these photos it will make a huge difference to Helping Hands and donating through GlobalGiving is tax efficient for both US and UK tax payers!

From all of us here, thanks for your continued support and in the next couple of months we are looking forward to sending you photos of the children of Helping Hands in the finished new school!