My name is Tim.

Some of you will know me as The Farmerlosopher.

I am an Australian man, and I now call Cambodia home.

I have dedicated my life here to helping the most vulnerable women and children.

I have run schools and built schools. I build homes for the homeless, nourish the hungry, provide medical intervention for the ill, and sanctuary for the most vulnerable.

And I educate women and children through scholarships.

I am here to save lives and change lives.

And I need your help.

You too can save lives and change lives.

The key to breaking the poverty cycle is through education, providing a basic fundamental human right to children who would otherwise be denied, and creating generational change that enables the poorest of the poor to become self-supporting, independent, and free to pursue their dreams.

With the help of good people like you, I have funded full scholarships for dozens of children who would otherwise be denied an education.

We have contributed to the building of many schools where schools did not exist.

We have provided learning materials, school busses, musical instruments, libraries.

We have paid the salaries of teachers.

We fund the education of vulnerable women, and provide life changing employment opportunities.

Do you remember Cheata?

A few months ago, a good friend of mine contacted me for help.

Her neighbour’s son is deaf from birth, and as such had never been accepted at school… “Do you know of a school?”

Of course I do, and I arranged a meeting the next day with a fabulous NGO in Kampot that provides arts based education to people with physical and intellectual disabilities.

We are sitting in reception, waiting for our appointment with the Education Director, when someone calls out my name from behind.

I turn to an elegant and glamorous young Khmer woman waving generously and smiling broadly.

Oh my God… it is Cheata.

I was introduced to Cheata many years ago when she wheeled herself into my school, because she had seen our poster advertising that we provide scholarships.

My Deputy explained to her kindly and politely that our school is a kindergarten and primary school, and that the scholarships are offered to kindergarten and primary school students. Our kindergarten and primary school does not offer scholarships to 26 year old women... but let me introduce you to Teacher Tim.

And so I sit with Cheata. She is 26 years old. She has just finished year 12, however she failed. She had finished so late, because as a young child she was not allowed to join school because she was born with a severe birth defect. It was only through her tenacity and determination as she grew older that she was permitted to attend school. When Cheata’s mother was pregnant, she had a terrible fall which injured the foetus, and Cheata was born with legs and hips that do not work. Disabled children are commonly left to die at birth, and are rarely permitted to attend school. She has never been able to walk. Cheata came into the school on a contraption that is a cross between a wheelchair and a bicycle, that she sits in and peddles with her hands. She lifts herself out of her vehicle onto crutches, and walks with her arms, dragging her dead legs behind her.

We spoke briefly and I told her I would be in touch shortly.

It wasn’t a very long or arduous conversation with my deputy for us to agree that Cheata is exactly the woman who deserves our support.

In the following days we invited Cheata back in for an interview, where I grilled her about her family history, how she came to be where she is today, why she wants to go to university, what she wants to study and why, what her career aspirations are, and why she cannot fund her studies herself?

Cheata is from a farming family in the far northeast of Cambodia near the Vietnamese border, many days away from Kampot. Her father is also disabled, and so their entire family income is generated from the work that her mother does on the farm. In order for Cheata to go to school as a teenager she had to move to Phnom Penh by herself. She is living in Kampot now, by herself, with no family or friends.

She wants to study a bachelor degree in business management, however because she failed year twelve she will not be eligible to enrol, so she wants to study a two year associate diploma in English Literature, which will enable her to gain meaningful employment, and act as a bridging course to then pursue her studies in business management.

I told Cheata that we would deliberate over her request, and that we would get back in touch.

We deliberated for seconds.

Cheata studied full time on a full scholarship, funded by people like you.

Fast forward to today, and Cheata has graduated from university with her diploma in English Literature, and next semester commences a Bachelor of Business… and she has just started in her new role as the Human Resources Manager of this NGO.

I think I might explode.

This is the life changing opportunity that you can help deliver.

Please think about if this is something that you would like to do.

Please talk to your family.

Talk to your friends.

If you are looking for an opportunity where every cent you donate makes a tangible difference every day to the lives of the children and women that need it the most, this is it.

Every cent goes to changing lives.

There is no CEO working in a corner office in Melbourne, earning six figures, there is no hierarchy of management, there are no enormous teams of marketing and PR professionals, there are no company cars and fancy offices.

There is a small team of dedicated humans on the ground in Kampot, Cambodia, who tirelessly work to change the lives of the most vulnerable children and women on the planet, every day.

Peace and love.

Tim.