By Barbara S. Rosasco | Secretary & Treasurer
Breaking news ! From 9:00AM on Monday, August 7th, GlobalGiving will offer a 100% match donation per donor up to a max of $250 in celebration of International Youth Day, on August 12th. Funds will run out quickly and are first come , first serve.
Four Students Anxiously Await Exam Results and Graduation News.
This year four of our remaining six university students will, hopefully, pass their final exams, receive their degrees and start new careers.
It is because of you....
Sina (“Dana”) (F) and Sokha (M) attended Human Resources University in P.P. Dana studied English literature and Sokha studied business and banking. They will find out within the coming weeks whether or not they passed their final exams. Both of students are still working at Champey although Sokha worked for a few months in a bank but returned this month as an assistant teacher and musician at Champey.
Pheng (F) attended National Institute of Banking and will take her final exam on September 12. She has already started work as a bank teller.
Saorith (F) completed her studies in plant pathology at the Royal University of Agriculture. She does not have final exams but must submit a thesis and then defend it in October.
The first three students have all lived and worked at our Champey Academy (see our project on GlobalGiving) to support themselves while in college. As noted, Pheng is now working in a bank but she still lives, along with Dana and Sokha, at Champey. Saorith lives outside because her university is located adjacent to the "killing fields", much too far to commute on a daily basis from Champey.
All four of these students came to us from our Rural Assistance Program ( RAP ) in Prey Veng province ( see our project on GlobalGiving) . Dana, Saorith, Thy and Sokha all come from very poor farming families.. Dana and Saorith are both exceptionally bright and both graduated near the top of their class at Baphnom High School.
If all four of these students are successful in passing their exams and graduating with their bachelor degrees, our program will have just two students, both are girls, remaining. One of those is currently in her third year of a four year degree program at the Royal University of Agriculture where she is majoring in food science. The other girl has suffered from very severe medical problems for the past two years. That has significantly set back her studies. In August she will restart her studies at a new university where she will pursue a degree in English language and literature with the goal of eventually becoming a teacher.
This year our Family Support Program ( see our project on GlobalGiving) has just one high school graduate. She hopes to pursue a career in the tourism industry and plans to try to pursue a university degree while also working as a tour guide. The national examination for high school graduation will be administered on August 21 and 22. The exam is very difficult and many students fail. It is offered only once each year but those who fail to pass it have the option of waiting a year to retake the exam.
The cumulative success of this program:
Since the start of our college program, we have had a total of 14 students. Of these 14 students, 5 have graduated, 2 dropped out, 1 student failed his exam and hopes to retake it. We also have 4 students who are either awaiting the results of their exams or who will soon take their exams. There are still 2 other students who are in the program and we have a student from our FSP who awaits results of her high school exam and who hopes to go to college.
Because of you ....
Without a doubt, none of these students would have ever thought in their wildest dreams that they might one day go to college, let alone graduate. Your generous support has changed these young lives and we so appreciate that you have joined us in this effort. Consider for a moment, the great accomplishments of our students.
As our remaining students move forward, we are unclear of the future of this program due to a mismatch of funding. It has been a challenge to maintain this program without stable and dedicated funding. To be sure, somehow, you , our wonderful donor support has always come through. However, until our funding picture becomes more clear, our goal will be to support our remaining students and to carefully consider the financial viability of taking on possible future candidates.
We remain deeply grateful to all of you for your wonderful support.
Barbara & Mark
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