Recently I’ve had the opportunity to stay at Hope School teaching English to all ages in the rural area of Takeo, Cambodia. Through doing so, I’ve learnt more about the local community and how tough their day to day lives are.

The kids that come to Hope School have the biggest smiles and are eager to learn and grow. This school has changed the lives of hundreds of kids by allowing them to go on to great universities, begin promising careers and pursue opportunities they would not have gotten without learning English. After the Khmer Rouge wiped out Cambodias intellectual class, there has been little focus on education. Schools like Hope Agency are now the only opportunity for Cambodian children to receive a full education and progress in long term careers and to break the cycle of poverty.

Hope Agency works to not only provide education for these children but to get the resources they need such as bikes, books and pencils, to access this education. Recently, we’ve raised money to buy bikes for the kids in the nearby village in order for them to cycle to school and have the chance to learn.

Hope School is run by an amazing man, Jason who’s past had inspired him to put together not only the school but Hope Agency which provides supplies to local orphanages and a weekly food bank which us volunteers help to deliver.

Hope food bank is a lifeline for many families in the village. The longest food bank member, Nora, is an 84-year-old woman who was left paralysed after a stroke when her children stole and sold her land, forcing her to live under plastic sheets before the community built her a small shelter. She has spent the last eight years on the same wooden platform, unable to move.

Donations made will directly help to improve the living situations, weekly food deliveries and any medical treatment that may be necessary to the local community.

On behalf of the volunteers at Hope Agency thank you for any support and contributions made to continue this journey.