The Asian Economist

My name is Nhuong Son and I am doing an online fund raiser through the America Giving Challenge. The winner of this challenge will receive $50,000 to help their charity. This is my story in why I hold this cause so dear to my heart.

Since I was born and bred in Cambodia I understand how difficult it is to obtain an education when you have no money and more importantly when food and clothing are scarce in itself. For most children in Cambodia this is a story that is all too common. Most children are illiterate and work on the family farm. As the country industrializes and leaves behind the agrarian lifestyle, these children grow up to be migrant workers with nowhere to go. Unlike those children, I was lucky enough to come to America and receive an education.

My years at The Westtown School and Drew University has reemphasized the importance of education. Through my research I have found that education is the KEY to success and a livelihood. Now I understand why my parents constantly berated me when they did not see me doing homework or reading. Education can pull people out of poverty because it has helped me and my family. $40 out of your pocket can fund English classes for a Cambodian child for an entire YEAR! Just think about that, that’s you and three friends forgoing eating out for ONE night.

Literacy is key to education and jobs for poor children. This project teaches Khmer to 100 children of illiterate farmers, and English to over 500 students seeking to move beyond subsistence farming.

This holiday season please give the gift of education for these children because as we all know the children are the future.
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Project Needs and Beneficiaries

Thousands of Cambodian children grow up illiterate, with few educational options. The Sharing Foundation’s Khmer literacy school helps farm children learn their native alphabet and numbers well enough to attend elementary school. Its English Language Program offers village students, ages 8-18, the opportunity to learn Cambodia’s language of commerce, allowing them to obtain jobs in tourism and word processing. These students are so dedicated that some meet on their own to study on weekends.
Activities

The literacy school runs three sessions a day for 120 children of Roteang village’s poorest families. Ten bilingual Cambodian college graduates teach English to 500 students in 19 sections offered daily after school hours at the village school.