- R
Local school needs your help re-opening its doors after COVID-19 closures throughout Cambodia.
My name is Jeff Pearson from Portland, OR. and I have been in Cambodia since January 22, 2020 volunteering with Edward International School (EDIS). This is a wonderful school providing much needed language and technology skills to students in rural Cambodia. I have seen firsthand how valuable this school is to the local community, and how much the students love the opportunities EDIS provides. Thank you for your interest in this fundraiser to help re-open their school after an extended closure due to COVID-19.
Edward International School, located in the rural farming community of Anlung Chrey Village in Cambodia, opened its doors in May of 2017. Since then, local founder and Director Mr. Khom Khon, along with four local teachers and international volunteers, has been providing hundreds of local children English language and digital literacy education. The school is funded by modest tuition and donations. Since COVID-19, the school has been closed, the lease on the building expired, and funds have been exhausted. In order to re-open the school in its new location, we need your help.
Current status (COVID-19 in Cambodia, schools closed, anticipated start-up date):
Due to COVID-19, all schools in Cambodia have been closed since the middle of March; online instruction is the only classroom teaching taking place. Students in rural Cambodia have been hard hit as access to adequate internet is not readily available to many of the students. Furthermore, schools that rely on donations, sponsors, and volunteers to provide access to education to poor rural communities have had their funds drastically cut, and in many cases completely wiped out.
Edward International School provides quality instruction to students in rural Cambodia and is in serious jeopardy of not being able to open its doors once schools are allowed to re-open. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport Cambodia (MoEYS Cambodia) had announced that schools will remain closed until November 1st, creating an incredible strain on an already paper- thin budget for EDIS. Just this week it was reported that schools may begin a three-phase reopening beginning in August, which would allow EDIS to open by September.
Edward International School’s donor funds have run out at a time when they have had to move from their previous location, making this an even more stressful time. I am asking for your help in keeping EDIS open so it can continue to bring quality educational opportunities to its more than 135 current students.
The following sections contains background information and a description of what EDIS needs in order to stay afloat and re-open in their new location.
Thank you so much for your interest in this wonderful project in Cambodia.
Background:
Edward International School was founded on May 11, 2017 in Anlung Chrey Village, Thpong District, Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia by Mr. Khom Khon. This is an agricultural area where illiteracy and poverty are major concerns. It is common for families to overlook the importance of education in this remote area. While there is access to public schools in most rural areas of Cambodia, access to additional educational opportunities is critical to improving the lives of the children and families who live in the surrounding community.
Khom grew up in nearby Oudong District and is from a close-knit farming family himself. His parents and two sisters still live in Oudong. Khom and his wife Thunneang have a beautiful five month old daughter. And while Khom came from a poor farming family, he was fortunate to connect with an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that significantly enhanced his chances to achieve academic success while opening his eyes to the possibility of attending university, which no one in his family had previously done.
Despite his struggle to access financial and academic resources while he was in school, Khom earned his bachelor's degree in English studies from Asia Euro University in 2013 and went on to earn his master’s degree in English from Preahsihamonyraja Buddhist University in 2017. The challenges Khom faced during his university years away from home served to strengthen his resolve and allow for the sacrifices necessary to do the work he now does for the students at EDIS.
After finishing his master’s degree, Khom had a bright future with opportunities he once could never have imagined. He knew he could create an easier life for himself, and his parents pushed him to excel in the professional world he had fought his way into. But Khom was more drawn to helping open doors for others rather than simply walking through the doors now open to him.
Khom decided to put his education and skills to work helping other children and families in rural Cambodia gain valuable access to a proper education that would help them enjoy similar opportunities he had experienced. His vision of building a school to help his people open more doors for themselves burned deeply inside of him. Again, with a passion and drive to succeed, despite limited resources, Khom quickly made his dream a reality and EDIS was soon offering foreign language and technology skills to young students in remote Cambodia.
Because Khom met many people along the way who were instrumental in helping him see a way out of the fields and find opportunities he had only imagined, he knew other kids just needed to be exposed to learning opportunities that expanded their minds and stimulated their dreams.
In his own words, Khom explains why he opened EDIS:
“I understand that if the younger generations do not receive proper education and upbringing, things will never change. I had the good fortune to be able to attend college and university and achieve my masters’ degree. In doing so, I had secured a stable and safe future for myself. After working for 10 years in Phnom Penh, I realized this was not what I wanted. What good was this safe life if the majority of my fellow Cambodians are to struggle and suffer continually? Surely my knowledge and skills would be better used for the good of many rather than just my own. And that is why I opened this school; because I want things to change.”
Students and staff:
Students are happy and excited for their opportunity to study at EDIS. They come with a smile and have beautiful Khmer attitudes of happiness and joy. The staff all strive to do their best with the limited resources available to them. The staff consists of one full-time Khmer teacher, Somnang Cheath, and three part time teachers SreyLak, Sreymey, and Sreyneang. And Khom, the director, works tirelessly day and night to make sure EDIS students can thrive and learn each day.
Edward International School currently has one full-time volunteer here from the U.S., that being me, Jeff Pearson. Due to COVID-19, I plan to be here on-site through the end of this year and likely into next year, which makes EDIS feel fortunate to have a native English speaking volunteer, at no cost to the school. I will be helping with fundraising and future sponsors, as well as recruiting volunteers and training staff.
Current need:
It looks like schools in Cambodia will begin to reopen in August, with EDIS being able to open around September. In order to achieve that, EDIS needs to enter into a new lease agreement on its new location, which will require a substantial deposit and current rent before they can begin setting up the classrooms and office. The lease on the schoolhouse of three years expired in April and was not renewed as the owners needed the space for their own needs.
However, because the new location is not set up for classrooms, there will be a great deal of preparation to get the rooms ready for students before EDIS can open back up. This of course creates a burden on the school as there has been very little income since the school closed, and all of it has come from donations.
While EDIS is fortunate to have a new location that includes space for the director’s family, future volunteers and staff member on-site, there is substantial work to be done both setting up the classrooms and securing the funds for rent, which will be $220 per month and require a three month security deposit. (See below for itemized list of needs to reopen.)
All four classrooms and the office will need new whiteboards, the walls all need to have teaching materials and posters made and put up, and the pre-school and kindergarten room needs new tables suitable for smaller children as well as padded floors for their activities.
The school needs to upgrade the bookshelves to help build their library as well as install shoe racks outside of each classroom to keep things orderly and clean. New banners announcing the new location, which were recently donated, also need to be installed.
The school is able to keep their costs down by reproducing teaching materials and workbooks, which they have done at a print shop in the past. If they can raise enough funds to purchase their own copy machine, they can keep these costs down even more.
Currently students pay a modest tuition of $13 per month, but the actual budget needed to provide the desired education would run $25-30 per student. The ultimate goal is to find sponsors to entirely fund the school, increasing the staff, which will result in more students being able to access an education at EDIS.
The school is currently making videos of English dialogues and lessons, free of charge, available to students who can access the internet, and for those who are unable to attend classes in person. We would like to produce live teaching courses, but there is limited access to the internet in the village and this will be difficult to achieve on a widespread basis. We are trying to obtain much needed equipment for these recorded and live class sessions. We desperately need a screen for the projector that was donated last year, as well as two microphones and suitable lighting for recording the videos.
I will continue to be on-site and actively involved in this project through the end of this year and then remotely when I return to the U.S. I am currently setting up an organization in Oregon and will file for federal 501(c)(3) status this month (July 2020). I will collect receipts when available and monitor funds so they are used responsibly and for the direct benefit of the students of EDIS as illustrated above.
Please help with this project by making any size donation and sharing this with everyone you know. Feel free to reach out with any questions you have or additional support you would like to offer. I will personally respond to all inquiries.
Thank you for reading about this wonderful project and helping any way you can. Below are links for the school and an itemized list of the school's needs.
Sincerely,
Jeff Pearson
Volunteer at Edward International School, Cambodia.
Links:
EDIS Facebook page
EDIS YouTube page
EDIS website
Itemized list of expenses to re-open the EDIS to students:
3-month security deposit for new lease: $660
August rent (to prepare the school to open): $220
September rent (estimated first month back to classes) $220
Bus payment, $385 per month (July & August): $730
Teacher salaries August (1 FT; 3 PT): $575
New pre-school tables and chairs: $400
Course books and workbooks (100+ for new school year): $325
Whiteboards (4): $300
Shelves with cubby holes for shoes and personal items (4): $300
New sanitation / hand washing station: $185
Projector screen: $135
Bookshelves: $130
Supplies for posters and wall materials: $105
New pre-school padded floor: $75
Dry erase markers, refill ink, and erasers: $70
My name is Jeff Pearson from Portland, OR. and I have been in Cambodia since January 22, 2020 volunteering with Edward International School (EDIS). This is a wonderful school providing much needed language and technology skills to students in rural Cambodia. I have seen firsthand how valuable this school is to the local community, and how much the students love the opportunities EDIS provides. Thank you for your interest in this fundraiser to help re-open their school after an extended closure due to COVID-19.
Edward International School, located in the rural farming community of Anlung Chrey Village in Cambodia, opened its doors in May of 2017. Since then, local founder and Director Mr. Khom Khon, along with four local teachers and international volunteers, has been providing hundreds of local children English language and digital literacy education. The school is funded by modest tuition and donations. Since COVID-19, the school has been closed, the lease on the building expired, and funds have been exhausted. In order to re-open the school in its new location, we need your help.
Current status (COVID-19 in Cambodia, schools closed, anticipated start-up date):
Due to COVID-19, all schools in Cambodia have been closed since the middle of March; online instruction is the only classroom teaching taking place. Students in rural Cambodia have been hard hit as access to adequate internet is not readily available to many of the students. Furthermore, schools that rely on donations, sponsors, and volunteers to provide access to education to poor rural communities have had their funds drastically cut, and in many cases completely wiped out.
Edward International School provides quality instruction to students in rural Cambodia and is in serious jeopardy of not being able to open its doors once schools are allowed to re-open. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport Cambodia (MoEYS Cambodia) had announced that schools will remain closed until November 1st, creating an incredible strain on an already paper- thin budget for EDIS. Just this week it was reported that schools may begin a three-phase reopening beginning in August, which would allow EDIS to open by September.
Edward International School’s donor funds have run out at a time when they have had to move from their previous location, making this an even more stressful time. I am asking for your help in keeping EDIS open so it can continue to bring quality educational opportunities to its more than 135 current students.
The following sections contains background information and a description of what EDIS needs in order to stay afloat and re-open in their new location.
Thank you so much for your interest in this wonderful project in Cambodia.
Background:
Edward International School was founded on May 11, 2017 in Anlung Chrey Village, Thpong District, Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia by Mr. Khom Khon. This is an agricultural area where illiteracy and poverty are major concerns. It is common for families to overlook the importance of education in this remote area. While there is access to public schools in most rural areas of Cambodia, access to additional educational opportunities is critical to improving the lives of the children and families who live in the surrounding community.
Khom grew up in nearby Oudong District and is from a close-knit farming family himself. His parents and two sisters still live in Oudong. Khom and his wife Thunneang have a beautiful five month old daughter. And while Khom came from a poor farming family, he was fortunate to connect with an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that significantly enhanced his chances to achieve academic success while opening his eyes to the possibility of attending university, which no one in his family had previously done.
Despite his struggle to access financial and academic resources while he was in school, Khom earned his bachelor's degree in English studies from Asia Euro University in 2013 and went on to earn his master’s degree in English from Preahsihamonyraja Buddhist University in 2017. The challenges Khom faced during his university years away from home served to strengthen his resolve and allow for the sacrifices necessary to do the work he now does for the students at EDIS.
After finishing his master’s degree, Khom had a bright future with opportunities he once could never have imagined. He knew he could create an easier life for himself, and his parents pushed him to excel in the professional world he had fought his way into. But Khom was more drawn to helping open doors for others rather than simply walking through the doors now open to him.
Khom decided to put his education and skills to work helping other children and families in rural Cambodia gain valuable access to a proper education that would help them enjoy similar opportunities he had experienced. His vision of building a school to help his people open more doors for themselves burned deeply inside of him. Again, with a passion and drive to succeed, despite limited resources, Khom quickly made his dream a reality and EDIS was soon offering foreign language and technology skills to young students in remote Cambodia.
Because Khom met many people along the way who were instrumental in helping him see a way out of the fields and find opportunities he had only imagined, he knew other kids just needed to be exposed to learning opportunities that expanded their minds and stimulated their dreams.
In his own words, Khom explains why he opened EDIS:
“I understand that if the younger generations do not receive proper education and upbringing, things will never change. I had the good fortune to be able to attend college and university and achieve my masters’ degree. In doing so, I had secured a stable and safe future for myself. After working for 10 years in Phnom Penh, I realized this was not what I wanted. What good was this safe life if the majority of my fellow Cambodians are to struggle and suffer continually? Surely my knowledge and skills would be better used for the good of many rather than just my own. And that is why I opened this school; because I want things to change.”
Students and staff:
Students are happy and excited for their opportunity to study at EDIS. They come with a smile and have beautiful Khmer attitudes of happiness and joy. The staff all strive to do their best with the limited resources available to them. The staff consists of one full-time Khmer teacher, Somnang Cheath, and three part time teachers SreyLak, Sreymey, and Sreyneang. And Khom, the director, works tirelessly day and night to make sure EDIS students can thrive and learn each day.
Edward International School currently has one full-time volunteer here from the U.S., that being me, Jeff Pearson. Due to COVID-19, I plan to be here on-site through the end of this year and likely into next year, which makes EDIS feel fortunate to have a native English speaking volunteer, at no cost to the school. I will be helping with fundraising and future sponsors, as well as recruiting volunteers and training staff.
Current need:
It looks like schools in Cambodia will begin to reopen in August, with EDIS being able to open around September. In order to achieve that, EDIS needs to enter into a new lease agreement on its new location, which will require a substantial deposit and current rent before they can begin setting up the classrooms and office. The lease on the schoolhouse of three years expired in April and was not renewed as the owners needed the space for their own needs.
However, because the new location is not set up for classrooms, there will be a great deal of preparation to get the rooms ready for students before EDIS can open back up. This of course creates a burden on the school as there has been very little income since the school closed, and all of it has come from donations.
While EDIS is fortunate to have a new location that includes space for the director’s family, future volunteers and staff member on-site, there is substantial work to be done both setting up the classrooms and securing the funds for rent, which will be $220 per month and require a three month security deposit. (See below for itemized list of needs to reopen.)
All four classrooms and the office will need new whiteboards, the walls all need to have teaching materials and posters made and put up, and the pre-school and kindergarten room needs new tables suitable for smaller children as well as padded floors for their activities.
The school needs to upgrade the bookshelves to help build their library as well as install shoe racks outside of each classroom to keep things orderly and clean. New banners announcing the new location, which were recently donated, also need to be installed.
The school is able to keep their costs down by reproducing teaching materials and workbooks, which they have done at a print shop in the past. If they can raise enough funds to purchase their own copy machine, they can keep these costs down even more.
Currently students pay a modest tuition of $13 per month, but the actual budget needed to provide the desired education would run $25-30 per student. The ultimate goal is to find sponsors to entirely fund the school, increasing the staff, which will result in more students being able to access an education at EDIS.
The school is currently making videos of English dialogues and lessons, free of charge, available to students who can access the internet, and for those who are unable to attend classes in person. We would like to produce live teaching courses, but there is limited access to the internet in the village and this will be difficult to achieve on a widespread basis. We are trying to obtain much needed equipment for these recorded and live class sessions. We desperately need a screen for the projector that was donated last year, as well as two microphones and suitable lighting for recording the videos.
I will continue to be on-site and actively involved in this project through the end of this year and then remotely when I return to the U.S. I am currently setting up an organization in Oregon and will file for federal 501(c)(3) status this month (July 2020). I will collect receipts when available and monitor funds so they are used responsibly and for the direct benefit of the students of EDIS as illustrated above.
Please help with this project by making any size donation and sharing this with everyone you know. Feel free to reach out with any questions you have or additional support you would like to offer. I will personally respond to all inquiries.
Thank you for reading about this wonderful project and helping any way you can. Below are links for the school and an itemized list of the school's needs.
Sincerely,
Jeff Pearson
Volunteer at Edward International School, Cambodia.
Links:
EDIS Facebook page
EDIS YouTube page
EDIS website
Itemized list of expenses to re-open the EDIS to students:
3-month security deposit for new lease: $660
August rent (to prepare the school to open): $220
September rent (estimated first month back to classes) $220
Bus payment, $385 per month (July & August): $730
Teacher salaries August (1 FT; 3 PT): $575
New pre-school tables and chairs: $400
Course books and workbooks (100+ for new school year): $325
Whiteboards (4): $300
Shelves with cubby holes for shoes and personal items (4): $300
New sanitation / hand washing station: $185
Projector screen: $135
Bookshelves: $130
Supplies for posters and wall materials: $105
New pre-school padded floor: $75
Dry erase markers, refill ink, and erasers: $70
Organizer and beneficiary
Drake Pearson
Beneficiary