Short Summary
Four years ago, anti-sex traffic worker and Buddhist monk Waha Long decided he was tired of seeing the subsistence rice farmers of Sambat Village miss out on Cambodia's economic growth simply because they could not speak English. Determined to offer a better future to Sambat's children, Waha built the Cambodian Underprivileged School to offer free English lessons to the village's children. Working with a small number of textbooks and the few English-speaking tourists he could convince to come to Sambat for a day or two at a time, Waha strives to teach the children enough English to find employment in Cambodia's booming tourist industry.
Now, Waha is dreaming bigger. He wants to build a 5-computer room to expedite English-language acquisition through videos, interactive teaching tools, and independently paced lessons. As anybody who has ever learned a foreign language knows, these are vital tools in language acquisition. For Waha's students, the difference they could make might be that between a life in the rice fields and one of the many jobs available for English speakers in the tourist industry.
What We Need & What You Get
Waha needs $4,000 to build the computer room. This includes material and labor for the actual building itself, and five used computers. If fewer funds are raised, Waha will:
-Build the room with fewer computers ($3,000)
-Hire a second English teacher for however many months the funds raised allow ($150/month)
All contributors will receive a thank-you email and picture from the schoolchilren, sent from the computers you've helped to fund! Those who contribute $49 can watch the English of one of the students improve through bi-monthly email updates. Donors of $250+ will have their names or the name of their choice written on the building.
Other Ways You Can Help
For those unable to contribute, you can still help!
-Spread the word through social media and email to those who can!
-Write to Lonely Planet Cambodia and tell them to list the Cambodia Underpriveleged School as a worthwhile day-trip from Siem Reap
My Background
Because of he has irregular access to the internet and difficulty navigating it, I have set this page up for Waha (who you can email at sambatvillage@gmail.com, but response times may vary). As for me, I am a 21-year old college student who spent three wonderful days teaching (and learning!) at the Underprivileged School in August 2012, and have assorted human rights experience from environmental to LGBT to anti-torture advocacy.
Unfortunately the camera I was working with died while I was trying to make a video of the school, so none is uploaded here. I have lots of pictures of the school and surrounding area if you'd like to see!
