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DONATE NOW! It’s ACE supporting the Happy School and reating Happy Kids. |
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$10.00 buys books and stationary for one student for one year |
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$30.00 buys rice for one student for one year |
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$40.00 buys one child a scholarship to State School for one year |
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The Happy School was established as a community initiative in the Psar Duem Tkou commune, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In response to the large number of children unable to access basic education, the local council launched an education outreach project, known as an ‘outsystem school’. Initially this school project was run without resources on borrowed land.
The classroom was made up of plastic tables and chairs on a dirt floor covered by a tarpaulin roof. Click here for photos of the school development. Despite the lack of facilities, it was still a place where underprivileged children, who were unable to attend state school, could go to gain basic literacy and numeracy skills. In January 2003, a small number of foreigners were asked to help out at the school by teaching children English and Art for a few hours a week.
They turned up for work one day in April to find that the school had been blown away in a storm. The volunteers, determined to re-build the school, wrote to family and friends in Australia and Ireland asking for help. Their friends responded promptly, holding dinners and fundraising gigs, raising a combined total of $5000 USD.
This was enough to build a storm-proof classroom and cover operational costs for the next 18 months. The classroom was christened ‘The Happy School’ and opened for business on the 15th of June 2003. It is a place for Cambodian children to play and learn in a safe, colorful and supportive environment.
You can watch a video of our story here:
