Especially during times of transition (Kamboo Project is becoming part of BAMBOOS), it’s important to stay engaged and keep up the momentum. Our president, Thomas Gilbert, has just returned from a 12-day trip to Cambodia, where he visited 17 schools, inspected existing projects, and explored new ones.
Thomas was particularly reassured to see that school administrators continue to maintain the school infrastructure we’ve improved with a high degree of personal responsibility, that hygiene practices are being followed, and that student attendance rates are being maintained at a high level. Thanks to your donations from the first half of the year, we were also able to award six new school scholarships (elementary school + secondary school + Gymnasium), and Thomas was able to meet each student in person.
He also visited a new elementary school, Tropaeng Thom Elementary School, which is in dire need of renovation but is staffed by young, highly motivated teachers who are eager to make progress. We have decided to include this school in our program. After onboarding and setting priorities, we will begin fundraising. In the communities adjacent to the school, approximately 100 children do not attend school at all—but this is precisely our core mission: to enroll disadvantaged children in school as early as possible and provide a safe learning environment, and then to hold the school administration accountable for their progress.
In addition, Thomas attended a moving ceremony as a guest of honor, where 103 12th-grade students from a high school celebrated the resounding success of a workshop—spanning several months—aimed at raising public awareness about preventing early marriage among girls.
Thomas: “It is precisely these success stories and the visible proof that these young people have better opportunities for further education that give me incredible energy to keep going. It all makes perfect sense. You can literally see the confidence on the faces of these young people—and on those of their parents as well.”
Kamboo Project has now conducted seven such workshops and has been able to count on the full support of local administrative and youth safety authorities for each one. More are already planned for this year.
