Education is the key to alleviating poverty. Education empowers otherwise marginalized children and creates opportunities which can lead to a permanent change for the better – not just for them, but often for their entire family. Raise and Support the Poor strives to not only provide access to education but also to give its students a rewarding academic experience.
Access to education
Attending school is a privilege which many children in the Cambodian countryside are denied. Schools and teachers are scarce and most families cannot afford to pay for tuition, school supplies or transport to and from school.
So far two RSP Schools offer free primary education to more than 500 children in the two villages Domdek and Toul Khpous where the students learn how to read and write in Khmer, acquire basic English skills and learn about their country’s history and geography. Upon graduaton, many students go on to attend secondary school, some kilometers away. By means of the Bicycle Project RSP helps its graduates to travel to and from secondary school. Finally, the Students of Tomorrow Scholarship Program enables particularly promising RSP students to attend university to gain an advanced degree.
A rewarding academic experience
At RSP, we aim to provide students with an academic experience they will look back upon with joy and pride for the rest of their lives, even if many of them will need to return to working in the rice fields upon graduation. The experience of applying themselves and receiving appreciation and rewards for their efforts, however, will stay with them for good.
One of the ways to reward their efforts is the “Children Smile” Project during which students, their families and their teachers celebrate the end of exams each year. In future, RSP would like to expand its academic curriculum to include some extra-curricular activities, such as the Traditional Khmer Music Project.
School Project: Free education for hundreds of Khmer children
RSP currently runs two schools in two different villages: Domdek and Toul Khpous. The schools offer free primary education to more than 500 children. Your donation helps us to keep the schools running and realize our ambition to build as many as nine more schools in our community.
Bicycle Project: Transportation to secondary school for RSP graduates
Help RSP graduates to proceed to the secondary school some kilometers away by sponsoring one or more bicycles for our Bicycle Project.
Students of Tomorrow Scholarship Program
With help from our sponsors, the Students of Tomorrow Scholarship Program ensures that each year, up to twelve particularly gifted and driven students are able to attend university in Phnom Penh and complete a study of their choice.
Children Smile Project: Encouragement and rewards for our students
The “Children Smile” Project supports one of the highlights of every RSP student’s academic year: a big “School’s Out” celebration which aims to celebrate the students’ efforts throughout the year and encourage them to keep up the good work.
Traditional Khmer Music Project
Raise and Support the Poor would like to provide students with the opportunity to discover and develop their musical talents. The Khmer Music Project will constitute a form of vocational training, as students would be able to lend their services to ceremonies, weddings and other occasions. In addition, these students will play an important part in keeping Cambodian culture alive. It will teach them to take pride in their country’s traditions and play a part in maintaining its rich history.
Fundraising for the Khmer Traditional Music Project will begin once enough capacity for their implementation is available.
Interested in more projects? Find out about RSP's Health Program!