Education, mentoring, safe housing and financial support
These aspects are crucial to give young Cambodians a fair chance in life. In order to make significant progress in these areas, Dom-ray works together with international and Cambodian organisations and funds various local Cambodian projects.
Projects and partnerships
Since its foundation in 2007 Dom-ray has been working very closely together with the Cambodian organisation New Future for Children (NFC). NFC was founded back in 2003 to offer disadvantaged and vulnerable children a safe home and good quality education. Throughout the years NFC has transformed from orphanage to a community education centre. It now provides free English and computer classes, sports and cultural activities for disadvantaged children in Phnom Penh.
In 2013 NFC and Dom-ray also started offering these educational opportunities in rural Cambodia through the CountrySide Education Project. This project aims to motivate children to attend and complete regular education and to take part in our extra-curricular activities, including English and computer classes. The project also aims to motivate youngsters and their parents to consider further education at university and we provide scholarships in order to facilitate this. While studying at university, students can live in affordable and safe housing, which we provide through our MidwayHouse Project.
Always moving forward
Throughout the years Dom-ray has established partnerships with many international and Cambodian organisations, which allowed Dom-ray to initiate several new projects and activities. For example, in collaboration with our UK partner Golden Futures, we pay a lot of attention to mentoring and to career development for the youngsters involved in our projects.
Self-reliance is the most important element in all our projects. That is why we don’t just focus on the children themselves, but also offer support to their families and the community as a whole. This way we hope to break the vicious circle of poverty in a sustainable way and for as many families as possible. Would you like to learn more about our activities? Then have a look at the project updates on our website, sign up for the newsletter and/or follow us on social media.
Improving education, but also using education to improve
Promoting education
Generally, children in Cambodia attend primary and secondary school. However, underprivileged children are still at high risk of not completing their education. Due to financial difficulties, parents may not have the means to cover the costs that come with schooling. They may not prioritise school for their children, but will ask them to help generate income. Dom-ray strives to change this mentality and strongly promotes education. And with success; many of the youngsters involved in Dom-ray’s projects are the first ones in their families to complete their primary and secondary school levels and to continue their studies at university.
Facilitating education
If children and their parents can’t afford the costs that come with attending school, Dom-ray will aim to cover these expenses. For example, if they can’t afford their school uniforms, books or stationary, Dom-ray will try to cover these expenses. To help students get to their often distant school we provide them with bicycles.
Expanding educational opportunities
Dom-ray gives disadvantaged Cambodian youngsters the opportunity to study English and computer skills. We ensure all necessary materials are available and that skilled teachers provide these lessons. We also provide guidance to highschool students to help them establish their plans for their future and make a decision as to what major they want to study at university. Dom-ray has also developed an online and freely accessible study choice platform that Cambodian high school students can use while exploring their options for university.
Safe and affordable housing
Student dormitory in the capital
We offer underprivileged students the opportunity to move into our student accommodation in Phnom Penh. This allows them to live and learn together in safe and affordable housing and helps them acquire the skills needed for an independent and successful existence.
Path to independence
One of our goals is to ensure that the youngsters involved in our projects can successfully transition into independent members of Cambodian society. Students living in our student accommodation are completely responsible for all daily operations, including housekeeping, grocery shopping and cooking. This leaves them with great autonomy and responsibility, mimicking an independent lifestyle. Our aim is that upon completing their studies, these students are ready to live independently.
Full circle
In exchange for the support that we provide these youngsters with, we ask them to contribute to our projects during or after their studies. This way we increase our impact even further and we hope that young people also inspire each other. For example, English students contribute to our language lessons and social work students undertake home visits. These are just a few examples of how ‘our’ students give back to Cambodian society.
