Q3 2023

Our life on earth is precious and for that, we have to make our time here worthwhile. This means living a life of purpose. Making our purpose to cultivate ourselves as exhorted by the Buddha is unequivocally the highest cause. This is because, inevitably we would see the benefit not just in and for ourselves but in everything we come into contact with including our many relationships with people, the work that we do and definitely, intentionally or unintentionally make the world a better place. This dovetails with what a wise person meant when she said – “Be the change you want to see”.

A teacher at Cambodia Children Fund (CCF) which we support

That is the message we tell the people who work in our organisation. That as each strives to improve herself or himself as a person, the organisation would naturally strive to do the same. The result is that the work we do will progressively create a greater impact and bring the desired transformation not just in ourselves but also the lives of others.
 
Community Development
While it was heartbreaking to witness a young family living in a chicken coop, it was gratifying to see that we could help transform the life of a farmer with a walking disability as a result of stepping on previously unexploded but hidden landmine in the fields. While we are planning to help the homeless family with construction plans afoot, we are also seeking additional funding to include a toilet and kitchen which would cost an extra USD700 in addition to the USD1,500 which has been pledged by the Luff Foundation for the house. If any of you are wondering what you could do to help, this is an opportunity for you to practise generosity and transform the life of a homeless family. 

A homeless family                A disabled farmer           A family of young girls

The disabled farmer through his hardwork successfully planted vegetables to gain an income of USD50 a month through our income generating activities initiative to enable the hard core poor to gain financial independence and food security. From the same village in Anglungkuki, there is a family with 5 girls, the eldest being 14 who is a student of our English class. If not for the principal of our school, the girls would not be registered to attend formal education. From our experience, we know that young girls are especially the most vulnerable to social risks including becoming child brides or be exposed to human trafficking and the sex industry. We are intervening by providing work opportunity for the grandmother as a helper in our school while ensuring the girls attend school with food and family allowance. These are some of the people in the local community where our Integrated Projects Program unit is delivering aid.

WASH
A positive school experience includes a healthy environment with the availability of adequate basic facilities. The WASH Team which is responsible for the maintenance and availability of safe drinking water in almost 900 schools where we have built water tanks to store rainwater are required to also monitor that sanitation is adequate and school surroundings are clean. 

Open burning in a school before our          The same spot after our intervention 
intervention        

Complementary actions have resulted in schools having greater awareness for active waste management and vendors providing healthier foods with less plastic packaging.

School toilet before our intervention                Same toilet after our intervention

We are able to effect the change by leveraging on our continued support of schools with new facilities including the installation of water purification systems and in providing oral health through our Dental Program.

Before our intervention of waste generation and unhealthy foods sold in school

After intervention by our WASH Team, safe healthy foods were introduced and children used durable containers. Children are not just happier attending school but also healthier while helping to make the world cleaner.

DENTAL
We continue to receive strong support from Colgate in our Oral Dental Health Education initiative. Recently, Colgate made a significant contribution of over 50,000 toothbrush kits which would enable us to extend the coverage of our preventative dental care project to educate children on practical oral health. This is crucial as there is very limited dental services in government hospitals and poor understanding of dental health in the community. We are fortunate to have Colgate to be our corporate partner and are grateful for its generous contribution.

Delivery of kits by Colgate              Acknowledgement by our team to Colgate’s
                                                        team

EDUCATION
We continue to emphasize on the quality of our English classes and additional coaching for other subjects for slower students. As teachers are the cornerstone of the quality of our classes, we are providing extra attention for our teachers to improve their teaching proficiency through the support of a native English trainer, James who also conducts an advanced class for school leavers in our Head Office Building.

James provides both regular online and in-person workshops to our teachers in order to achieve our objective of providing high standard classes to more than 1,500 students who participate in our Education Program. We are measuring our success against students’ test results in both our classes and at school.
The success of our students can also be seen from updates we received from past students including the below: 

ET is a former student of BLCP computer and English classes at BLCP head office in Kampot. She has four siblings and lives with her mother who is a farmer. After graduating in accounting from the local polytechnic, she started learning English and computer skills at BLCP head office in 2022. With her enhanced skills she was able to secure a job as an accountant where she is required to use the computer and to communicate in English.

CHET is a former student in BLCP Computer and English classes at BLCP head office. He comes from a family with nine siblings with both of his parents as farmers.  He graduated from high school in 2021 and during high school, he studied English and computer skills at BLCP classes.  
While currently studying weekends for an electrical degree at the university, he works as a Credit Officer in LOLC microfinance. He attributes his ability to secure such a job to his ability to use the computer and to communicate in English.

We continue to deliver by Doing It Better in all the programs that we are undertaking because we know that it is our life purpose while you are doing the same and providing us with your continued support…