The PLF is sponsoring three students to finish primary school at Koh Ker and live on the premises.

Keng, Theara and Theary in the Koh Ker librarx

Sith Theary, the oldest of the students, is 16-years-old and is in sixth grade.  She lives at Koh Ker School with her sister, Sith Theara, who is 11-years-old and currently in grade 4 and their younger cousin, Kei Keng, who is 7-years-old.

Since their parents passed away at a young age the sisters were raised by their aunt, who eventually married and had a son, Keng.  The family struggled to support themselves and the students attendance at school became increasingly infrequent. The Principal of Koh Ker School and Dr. Kim, who attends to the students’ health, went to find the students and brought them to the school, where they have been living since October of 2010.  Their parents recently moved to Phnom Penh to look for work, and the students, especially Theary, who is motivated to continue to high school, choose to stay at Koh Ker in order to finish their studies.

Kevin O’Leary, a compassionate traveler who was passing through at the time, donated money so that they could remain at Koh Ker.  Now, we plan to integrate this special project directly in to the Foundation in order to continue facilitating their education.   They receive fifty dollars per month for their food, and Sok Srey Mao, a kindergarten teacher at Koh Ker who lives in a house on school premises, looks after them.

Ponheary in the library chatting with Theary

x

Theara is currently second in her class, and Theory is third in her class.  Next year, Theary will be in 7th grade and she plans to  move to the new dormitory at Srayang to attend secondary school.  She wants to become a teacher when she finishes school.

It costs $50 per month to feed these three children. If you’d like to support this effort click here!

By Elizabeth Palumbo