'Tis the season of giving
Dear friends and family,
As many of you know, for the past four months I have been traveling through Southeast Asia as part of a college study abroad program, first spending two months in Thailand and now two in Cambodia. A significant portion of my time has been dedicated to service work, which has involved teaching across a variety of subjects and assisting with office work such as grant proposal writing. Through these experiences, I have been exposed to the awesome responsibility needed to keep a non-profit organization running.
In Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia where I currently live, I have had the pleasure of working with an organization called the Advanced Center for Empowerment (ACE), whose objective is to provide educational opportunities to underrepresented youth across the country.
Since the Khmer Rouge genocide stripped Cambodia of its schools and intellectual leaders thirty years ago, there has been a severe shortage in the number of youth with the right skills to match the economic needs of the country. Rural communities in Cambodia make up 80% of the population, and they have the least access to education and basic services. As a result, a majority of Khmer citizens live in poverty, including those who migrate to the city seeking better opportunities. Rather than attend school, however, they are pushed into slum communities, where it is estimated that over 10,000 people of Phnom Penh currently reside. To make matters worse, universities in the city don’t provide student housing, so people from the countryside who are able to study in the city often end up in cramped or dangerous living quarters. Sometimes they have to quit school altogether.
In 2009, ACE opened a program called the Dormitory and Leadership Center as a solution to this housing crisis. The center accommodates young adults from the countryside while they attend college in the city. Apart from being full-time students, individuals at the center volunteer in the local slums teaching English and organizing development projects, and many hold part-time jobs. After eating dinner at nine p.m., students often attend life skills and leadership training workshops facilitated by volunteers, making for an incredibly busy but rewarding schedule.
To hear the story of a past ACE resident, click here.
The Dormitory and Leadership Center is operated almost exclusively through donations, which cover the costs of rent, electricity, staff, volunteer training and scholarships, among other things. In the past few months, ACE has had to cut down on staff due to financial strain, and any more shortening of staff could affect the efficiency of the whole organization. Furthermore, in order to achieve its project goals for Wat Thann - one of the local slums - ACE still needs to raise roughly $2,000 by the end of the year.
Thus, after witnessing firsthand the positive and life-changing impacts of ACE’s work, I have committed to assisting with fundraising efforts. But I am a full-time college student with a limited income; I cannot do this alone. So in this month of giving, I am requesting your support. Please help ACE keep the young adults of Cambodia in school by donating through this website. No contribution is too small or will go unappreciated. With each dollar, one student takes a step away from poverty and a step closer to finishing college. Access to education is a universal human right, which can only be achieved through solidarity.
Thank you all for your attention and encouragement. I could never have achieved any of this without the support of such a loving community.
Happy holidays and be well!
Warmly,
Amy
