Arts for Cambodian Children & Teens at Champey

Now, in 2024, Kasumisou Foundation  is celebrating its 25th year of official existance, although in " program years" , we are in year 26.  

Our student attendance  at Champey continued to be very strong through the fourth quarter of 2023.  Daily average attendance spread over the two daily,  three hour class sessions. ranged between 80 and 90 students. All of our classes are offered free of charge to our students. 

We consider 90 students to be  the max  capacity for the school. At  that level,   it sometimes becomes necessary to divide the music students into two groups so that in effect, the students each partoicpate in only half of each of the standard 3 hour session, because our music classroom is too small to accomodate more than about 8 or 10 students at any one time. Even with just 8 to 10 students, it can be difficult for our single music teacher to give each student an ideal amount of individitual instructions, but he does the best that he can.  Put differently, it is thrilling that we have so many students  who are so eager and who   want to participate in these classes.

Cambodia's high season for tourisn runs from October through early April corresponding to the annual dry season. 

Why is Cambodia's tourism season so important?   The revenue which we earn from hosting our foreign guests is critical to Champey's funding formula.

Since the start of this tourism season, our tour group advance bookings at Champey academy , thankfully, have been quite strong.   Following  two year of COVID induced tourism shutdowns in 2021 / 2022, then , followed  by  the 2022 / 2023 season with  continued sharply reduced tourism, the anticipated and hoped for  rebound this year of our tour group bookings will be absolutely  critical to Champey's survival  in  2024. 

In a normal tourisn year, we hope or expect to  earn as much as 40 to 50 percent of our required operating budget at Champey academy just  from  the income which we receive from our foreign guests. 

The loss of income, which was nearly all of that  revenue in 2020-2021  and in 2021-2022 tourisim seasons  and the  weak recovery in tourist arrivals in the 2022-2023 season have left Kasuumisou Foundation's finances severely impaired. In short, we are struggling to to survive month to month.  We need an  extremely strong result from this current tourist season  just for us to have any hope of surviving through 2024.

Why  is all of  this important?  Our school takes youth from poor families and gives them a safe and positive environment to learn new skills, learn teamwork and leadership and  to  build friendshsips instead of  belonging to street gangs, engaging in prostitution or being trafficked or being forced to quit school to work in a market stall . We are on the front line of defense against trafficking.  Instead, our students  learn skills,culture, leadership and have the ability to dream of a life outside of the slums where many of them live.These students have, in recent years, developed skills that make them desired performers at the world class Raffles Hotel in Phnom Penh. Just imagine that amazing statement !

None of this would be possible without your generous support.  

We have funding to take us  into the spring..... please,  help us to continue these essential programs to give our kids  this chance to build a better life .

Please feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have.  We are counting on you to help us to continue this wonderfull program.

Thank you for your support and all that you have done for " our kids" 

Barbara & Mark