The Cambodia Project
Encyclopedia
The Cambodia Project is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop secondary education opportunities for underserved children in rural Cambodia. The Cambodia Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization recognized under the Internal Revenue Code of the United States, Public Charity Status 170(b)(1)(A)(vi).
The Cambodia Project was founded in 2006 by Jean-Michel Tijerina, after a trip to Cambodia
during which he discovered a need for improved access to basic country infrastructure and education. The organization is managed by staff located in both New York and Cambodia. Development professionals and students from international graduate schools provide technical advice in key areas, such as education planning and economic development. The schools include Columbia University
, Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
(Sciences Po), University of Texas at Austin
, and Stanford University
. The organization's main priorities are:
* To rebuild the secondary school education system after the loss of many educators during the genocide under the Khmer Rouge
.
* To build new schools in rural areas of Cambodia not served by other schools.
* To provide children access to secondary education regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, or disabilities.
The Cambodia Project Mission:
The Cambodia Project's mission is to provide inclusive education to all children from grades 7 to 12, encouraging them to think critically and providing them with vocational skills. Today, only 31% of children and 28% of girls are enrolled in secondary school.
The Cambodia Project will work with three separate communities south of the capital, Phnom Penh
: the first in Kep
municipality, the second and third in Takeo
and Kandal
provinces. The government of Cambodia and the World Food Program recognize the populations in these areas as some of the country’s most vulnerable to the cycle of poverty due to low income, lack of access to education, and basic healthcare. The first school is strategically located on the border of Kep and Kampot in order to allow tuition paid by working-class families in Kampot to subsidize tuition for the most needy in Kep.
The Cambodia Project has been working with local government officials and communities to provide replicable school models, educational resources, and trained teachers in both the public and private education systems. The CPI model is designed so that each school would become financially self-reliant and locally managed by the end of four years.
Education Objectives
CPI will employ educators from a pool of qualified public school teachers in the region and recruit graduates from the local teacher training colleges, providing employment opportunities in an otherwise narrow job market. One-third of teachers will be hired part-time from neighboring public schools to supplement their government income. School management committees and community task forces will support teacher monitoring and evaluation.
Comprehensive Healthcare
A major barrier for children completing secondary education is illness that takes them out of the classroom. CPI plans to address this issue through an onsite health clinic that offers preventative and routine care for simple health needs and referrals for more complex health conditions.
Environmental Sustainability
The Cambodia Project schools are designed to be environmentally sustainable, based on LEED
standards, by deploying energy-efficient technologies, efficient utilization of resources and promoting environmental education. The design will potentially give students experience regarding the operation and maintenance of green technology as part of their vocational training.
Economic Sustainability
To finance school operation costs, CPI has developed a sustainable funding model, which is a combination of diverse revenue generating streams. For example, microfinance
will be used to provide loans for tuition, entrepreneurial graduates and students’ families. The aim is to facilitate economic development in the school areas. Revenues from this program will be utilized for scholarships to subsidize the lowest income students’ tuition. Other anticipated revenue streams will come from an agriculture program, crafts, ecotourism, and strategic partnerships with NGOs to provide conditional cash grants to families to ensure student attendance, tuition subsidies, and equitable teacher salaries and incentives.
Implementation and Fundraising
Corporate support for The Cambodia Project currently comes from Google
, the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, the Susan Hartwig Family Fund, Michiels Architecture & Partners, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, and Raffles Hotels.
Summer 2008 Field Mission:
The summer 2008 in-country field team selected the land site for construction, recruited local contractors and architects, initiated engineering plans for construction, met with students and families for needs assessments and local NGOs and businesses in exploring revenue generation options for sustainability, researched Khmer curriculum for secondary education and teacher professional training, met with pertinent government officials as well as local and international NGOs for research and partnership exploration in regard to education and economic development, and presented a medical needs assessment for the school community.
Summer 2009 Field Mission:
On June 1, 2009 twenty of the organization's 84 members will be traveling to Cambodia. The team will spend the summer recruiting and training teachers for the school, in collaboration with the Takeo Teacher Training College. To develop a health clinic for the students and their families, part of the team will be working with local hospitals and clinics in Takeo, and Kep.
A documentary filmmaker will accompany the team. He will film the progress of the field team and also follow the organization over several years. He plans to produce a film about the Cambodia Project.
The Cambodia Project was founded in 2006 by Jean-Michel Tijerina, after a trip to Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
during which he discovered a need for improved access to basic country infrastructure and education. The organization is managed by staff located in both New York and Cambodia. Development professionals and students from international graduate schools provide technical advice in key areas, such as education planning and economic development. The schools include Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...
(Sciences Po), University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. The organization's main priorities are:
* To rebuild the secondary school education system after the loss of many educators during the genocide under the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
.
* To build new schools in rural areas of Cambodia not served by other schools.
* To provide children access to secondary education regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, or disabilities.
The Cambodia Project Mission:
The Cambodia Project's mission is to provide inclusive education to all children from grades 7 to 12, encouraging them to think critically and providing them with vocational skills. Today, only 31% of children and 28% of girls are enrolled in secondary school.
The Cambodia Project will work with three separate communities south of the capital, Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
: the first in Kep
Kep, Cambodia
Kep is a coastal city and former beach resort in Cambodia's Kep Province, 173 kilometres southwest of Phnom Penh.The city was founded in 1908 during French colonial rule and was originally named Kep-sur-mer. Many of the French-style villas are overgrown and run-down, but Kep is slowly being...
municipality, the second and third in Takeo
Takeo
is a common masculine Japanese given name.-Possible writings:Takeo can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:*武夫, "warrior, man"*武雄, "warrior, brave"*猛雄, "fierce, brave"*健男, "health, man"...
and Kandal
Kandal Province
Kandal is a province of Cambodia. Its capital is Ta Khmao town . The province completely surrounds, but does not include, the national capital Phnom Penh...
provinces. The government of Cambodia and the World Food Program recognize the populations in these areas as some of the country’s most vulnerable to the cycle of poverty due to low income, lack of access to education, and basic healthcare. The first school is strategically located on the border of Kep and Kampot in order to allow tuition paid by working-class families in Kampot to subsidize tuition for the most needy in Kep.
The Cambodia Project has been working with local government officials and communities to provide replicable school models, educational resources, and trained teachers in both the public and private education systems. The CPI model is designed so that each school would become financially self-reliant and locally managed by the end of four years.
Education Objectives
CPI will employ educators from a pool of qualified public school teachers in the region and recruit graduates from the local teacher training colleges, providing employment opportunities in an otherwise narrow job market. One-third of teachers will be hired part-time from neighboring public schools to supplement their government income. School management committees and community task forces will support teacher monitoring and evaluation.
Comprehensive Healthcare
A major barrier for children completing secondary education is illness that takes them out of the classroom. CPI plans to address this issue through an onsite health clinic that offers preventative and routine care for simple health needs and referrals for more complex health conditions.
Environmental Sustainability
The Cambodia Project schools are designed to be environmentally sustainable, based on LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
standards, by deploying energy-efficient technologies, efficient utilization of resources and promoting environmental education. The design will potentially give students experience regarding the operation and maintenance of green technology as part of their vocational training.
Economic Sustainability
To finance school operation costs, CPI has developed a sustainable funding model, which is a combination of diverse revenue generating streams. For example, microfinance
Microfinance
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
will be used to provide loans for tuition, entrepreneurial graduates and students’ families. The aim is to facilitate economic development in the school areas. Revenues from this program will be utilized for scholarships to subsidize the lowest income students’ tuition. Other anticipated revenue streams will come from an agriculture program, crafts, ecotourism, and strategic partnerships with NGOs to provide conditional cash grants to families to ensure student attendance, tuition subsidies, and equitable teacher salaries and incentives.
Implementation and Fundraising
Corporate support for The Cambodia Project currently comes from Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, the Susan Hartwig Family Fund, Michiels Architecture & Partners, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, and Raffles Hotels.
Summer 2008 Field Mission:
The summer 2008 in-country field team selected the land site for construction, recruited local contractors and architects, initiated engineering plans for construction, met with students and families for needs assessments and local NGOs and businesses in exploring revenue generation options for sustainability, researched Khmer curriculum for secondary education and teacher professional training, met with pertinent government officials as well as local and international NGOs for research and partnership exploration in regard to education and economic development, and presented a medical needs assessment for the school community.
Summer 2009 Field Mission:
On June 1, 2009 twenty of the organization's 84 members will be traveling to Cambodia. The team will spend the summer recruiting and training teachers for the school, in collaboration with the Takeo Teacher Training College. To develop a health clinic for the students and their families, part of the team will be working with local hospitals and clinics in Takeo, and Kep.
A documentary filmmaker will accompany the team. He will film the progress of the field team and also follow the organization over several years. He plans to produce a film about the Cambodia Project.