Humanitus is pleased to have been able to offer an initial one year sponsorship for a young Mkak student.
For a paltry $350 this young student can now continue with his high school education and hopefully be able to look forward to a brighter future. This amount includes - school fees for one year $264, new bicycle $70, 2 x uniforms $16.
Rung is a 16 year old boy from Mkak village. He was one of the highest achieving students at Mkak primary school and started high school 2 weeks ago. Sadly he had stopped going to high school as he could not afford the $1 per day the teachers 'charge' for private lessons. In addition to the $1 per day for lessons, his mother could not afford uniforms or a bike for him to travel to school.
Whilst Jeffrey Richards, Margaret Froude and Piseth Luon were visiting the Mkak primary school on December 28, 2013, a note was delivered to Piseth. A very brave Rung had written an extremely polite note to Piseth explaining the reasons why he could no longer attend high school.
A meeting was called with Rung, and his very proud and humble mother. Rung told us that he loves his native language and enjoys studying. He said his dream was to go to Thailand to earn money to help support his family. Sadly this is a dream of many children in rural cambodia and they ultimately end up being exploited, trafficked or worse case scenario never seen again.
His mother was widowed in 2013 with 8 children - the youngest child having downs syndrome. She just manages to feed her family with the small amount of rice she grows.
We told Rung and his mother that Humanitus would sponsor his schooling and purchase a bike, uniforms and books etc. on the proviso he promised to study hard, get good grades and never go to Thailand. He was somewhat overawed but heartily agreed and started back at high school on the following Monday. We wish him the very best for his future and look forward to regular updates on his progress.
Teachers in Cambodia are amongst the lowest paid in the developing world with many receiving a monthly wage of only $50. To supplement their income, and that of their superiors, they charge $1 per student per day. In many public Cambodian schools if you cannot pay the daily tuition fee you have very little chance of learning.
Humanitus hope to be able to offer scholarships like on a regular basis to the poorest students who show the most promise.
