Build dreams! Send Cambodian Students to College!

GIVING TUESDAY IS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 and  every donation will receive a boost!

Despite the challenges posed by the government’s Covid restrictions and, specifically, the requirement for schools to change to remote learning, our three Kasumisou scholars have continued to make steady progress toward their academic goals.  As things in Cambodia continue to open up, we are expecting the government to soon announce reopening of the schools for in-classroom learning.    

 We are pleased to provide this update on the achievements of three students ! 

At the end of this month Ms.  Sm., now 23 years old, will start her fourth and final year of her Bachelor’s degree program.  She expects to complete the program of formal study at the end of November 2022 after which she will be required to complete a six month internship before receiving her degree. After that she is hoping to pursue a Masters degree and, ideally, she would like to do so in a foreign country, possibly in Thailand, for example. Her long term career goal is to work for an organization which supports education for disadvantaged children in Cambodia. 

Ms. S.P., now 26 years old, is about to begin the fourth and final year of her Bachelor’s degree program in English language.  In order to complete her degree she needs one more term of study to be followed by one term of practical experience for which she expects to teach English. Each academic term lasts 16 weeks so she is expecting to complete all requirements for her degree in around July 2022.   After receiving her degree she will consider pursuing graduate study but has not yet made a final decision about that.

Ms. Sw., now 21 years old, is about to start the final year of her three year Associates program in nursing.  She expects to complete the program at the end of November 2022 and, after doing so, she would like to pursue a Bachelor’s degree abroad.   

Overcoming nearly impossilble challenges

It is worth noting these three fine young women have each had to overcome seemingly impossible circumstances . In Cambodia, it  is estimated that only 21% of students complete upper grades in high school, our young students are truly remarkable.

Ms. Sm and Ms Sw are sisters whose mother was an early participant in our  Family Support program .  The mother  was  terminally ill and passed away 19 years ago. At that time, the mother and the two sisters were blessed with the  extraordinary kindness of their mother’s childhood friend , who not only took the family in, but who continued to care for and support the children for these past 19 years. The family, of very modest means ,lives in a small flat. Despite this personal tragedy and hardship, these two sisters have remained in school, excelling in their studies and  they are now on the very edge of realizing their life long dream of achieving a college education and the ability to step into a new life.

Ms. Sp   and her family ,  joined our Family Support Program in 2001. Her father passed away in 2002, and after  we conthe passed away, we continued to support the family while the  3 children were in school. Now, the children are grown, and  all, like Ms. Sp, are self supporting, as is their mother. We have continued to sponsor and support Ms. Sp’s education goals and we are so proud of her accomplishments, as she too, is on the verge of completing her dream of a college degree and entering a new life.

Your support made all  the difference!

None of this would have been possible without the support of  you, our generous donors, for which we are eternally thankful. Not only did your support help us to support these three young women during the very perilous time of great hardship during their childhood, but your support enabled these three young women to break the cycle of inherited poverty by seeing a possibility of a different world and working towards their considerable achievements.

Now, as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday and the annual Giving Tuesday fundraising event on November 30, we are hopeful that you will continue to support the efforts of Kasumisou Foundation in this and our other programs.as a way of expressing your thanks for these remarkable young women and their achievements.

Thank you very much , we are deeply thankful  to you for your generous support.

Barbara & Mark

GlobalGiving Update

Build Dreams.  Send Cambodia kids to college

As the Covid virus continues to spread in Phnom Penh,  schools, including the universities, remain locked down and students still study remotely. 

Two of our three scholars continue to pursue their undergraduate degrees, one in English language and literature and the other in international relations. Our students participate in their classes online only as the city remains largely locked down.  Our third student is on a recent and   involuntary pause.

The English language major is now in the first term of her fourth year of study and she is expecting to graduate in June of next year.  After that she hopes to work as an English teacher at her university and later to move to teaching English in one of Phnom Penh’s many private schools.

The International Relations major is in the final term of her third year of study and expect to graduate in 2022.  She hopes to pursue a Masters degree in International Relations after which she wants to pursue a career with either a foreign NGO or one of the multinational organizations such as UNICEF  which has  a presence in Cambodia.  She has a particular interest in working to help disadvantaged children to attend school. 

Our third student  is a nursing student. The “all hands on deck” approach to fighting the pandemic has meant that even nursing students have been called on to help in the hospitals.  She does her classes online during the daytime and works at the hospital in the evenings.  Since Sunday, July 25 she has entered a 14 day quarantine which requires that she remain isolated in the hospital because a doctor with whom she works at the hospital  has contracted Covid.

The good news is that her grades for her first year of nursing school were exceptional and she remains very highly motivated and excited about her future career as a nurse.  

Covid  has presented new challenges to all of us. We are very proud of our dedicated students who , despite unexpected challenges, continue to work hard to achieve their goals and dreams of a college degree.

The progress of these three exceptional young women are only possible because of the generous support of you, our wonderful donors.

We deeply appreciate your support. Truly these three young women are shining examples of lives changed because of your support.

Barbara & Mark

Links:

• Kasumisou Gallery ~ a Community Partner revenue sharing donor