While our early mission originated in the remote and rural pathways, our approach has also evolved to bring options to students living in poverty in urban areas too. Since Siem Reap is one of the poorest provinces in Cambodia, the myriad of challenges that impoverished students face in accessing education can be the same in the city as in the villages. A large number of families uproot themselves from rural communities in search of a better life and proper employment opportunities, creating what is the ‘urban poor’ situation in Siem Reap – and resulting in many city kids in need of support to access school. 

The urban pathway has primary school components where we are still involved but at each of these, we have been able to gradually reduce our support, since the school and communities have collectively fortified their commitments to students’ education. Therefore we no longer need to offer programs such as teacher support or libraries, and with food insecurity no longer a concern in these areas, we have been able to remove our food and wellness programs too.

• Uniforms and school supplies for roughly 70% of the students (from the most impoverished families) (Grade 1 onwards)
• Bicycles on graduation at Grade 6
• Enrichment programs:
• English (Grades 5-6)
• Chess & Sports Clubs (Grades 5-8)
• Workshops on a range of subjects from nutrition to hygiene to environment – supporting kids’ understanding of how to look after themselves and the world around them 
• Solar Power & Facilities budgets

*Note that Chey Learning Center is not yet up on its feet but will be situated inside Chey Primary School.  

• Two technology labs; one for Grades 7-9, one for Grades 10-12
• eLearning
• Enrichment programs:
• English (Grades 7-12)
• Chess & Sports Clubs (Grades 5-8)
• Workshops on a range of subjects from goal setting to leadership to critical thinking 
• Mentorship & Career counseling
• Scholarships:
• At age 17, (usually around Grade 10) those students who wish to opt out of school can apply for Vocational Training which we facilitate
• Grade 12 students can apply for High School Scholarships for their final year, and for University Scholarships

• Uniforms and school supplies for roughly 10% of the students (from the most impoverished families)
• Bicycles on graduation at Grade 6
• Facilities budgets, internet etc

High School graduation rates among the Chey and Wat Bo cohorts are our highest. We also award the lion’s share of High School and Uni scholarships to these students, which speaks strongly of the discrepancies between government support of secondary schools in urban and rural areas.

ULC is the newest addition to our Learning Center program, and brings to our urban students what their rural counterparts have had access to for some time. These students all stay at home for the duration of their high school years and attend good public schools, bolstered by our programs at ULC. The program mix at Secondary School Level for this pathway is specifically focused on grooming students for tertiary education and/or joining the urban workforce with marketable skills. 

• Workshops on a range of subjects from goal setting to leadership to critical thinking
• Mentorship & Career counseling
• Enrichment programs:
• Lending Library & Library Activities 
• Chess & Games Clubs
• IT Lab and eLearning (Grades 10-12)
• Internet Cafe
• Research rooms & facilitation of research projects 
• Scholarships 
• At age 17, (usually around Grade 10) those students who wish to opt out of school can apply for Vocational Training which we facilitate
• Grade 10 students can apply for three-year English scholarships
• Grade 12 students can apply for High School Scholarships for their final year, and for University Scholarships