Build dreams! Send Cambodian Students to College!

Getting accepted into college is a great accomplishment , but paying  college tuition  is only a part of the challenge for our students. Our  college students come from extremely poor families and some   are also impacted by the dual challenge of extreme poverty and the impact of HIV/AIDS in their immediate families. Within this context, it is amazing to consider that our  college students have for years  , despite formidable challenges,  set and achieved   annual goals  such as  completeing a year of school,  passing exams to move upward to the next class, graduating  from grade schoool, middle school and then high school . Keep in mind that it is estimated that only 40% of all Cambodian students finish high school and the national educational average is thought to be 6th grade.  

However, regardless of the breathtaking accomplishments of our college age  students to become "college ready" , the simple fact is that they come from families  who are just too poor to help  them with any  aspect of paying for a college education.

Tuition , books, supplies and transportation  can run from $ 400 to $800 per semester in Cambodia.  Beyond those costs,  our students also need assistance with housing, food ,and   small personal expenses which can average  $ 100  or more per month per student.

.As a small non profit, we are closely involved with our program participants and sometimes we are able to harness the power of  one  project to benefit more than just the  group initially intended. Pairing our College program with Jobs for Youth is a great example of this.For some years we have run our Our Jobs for Cambodian Youth program  side by side our program to help our  college students to access the college education they have strived to reach.   

Our Jobs for Cambodian Youth program has become a key " success link" for these students,  providing  vital employment income to several of our college students  who are employed in various capacities at our Champey Academy of Arts project.

A central theme to all our programs is a focus on the power of  education.Indeed, education and mentoring  are key to helping children  mired in the hand to mouth  lifeftyle of poverty,   see that  bettering their lives is possible. The benefits of employing these college students goes far beyond the income that the jobs provide as their accomplishments also position them as peer mentors for  the disadvantaged children who participate in our Champey Academy's art, dance and music programs.  It is staggering to consider the impact that some of these kids must feel when they can see that  their  peer  mentors are actually  in college  and to realize that one day, that could also be them !

Your support has allowed us to pay for tuition and books for our students and  create one more " success link" in a chain of actions needed  to  enable these young people to continue to move forward in achieving  our main goal for them of helping them to break the cycle of inherited poverty.

Our heartfelt thanks on behalf of all of our program's participants for your past and continued support.

Barbara & Mark Rosasco