Description:

Despite its growing tourism sector, Cambodia remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in Southeast Asia. Development in the country is uneven and many rural communities remain poor as corruption and self-interest hamper the country's growth.

Lveng Russey Primary School is located in Russey Lok Village, Chikreng District, Siem Reap Province, Northern Cambodia. Due to its remoteness and lack of resources in the area, the village is quite poor. With a population of 1737 residents from 407 households, most families and individuals depend on rice cultivation for their livelihood. There is water, electricity and cellphone reception, but the village lacks a local health centre.

Established in 1979, Lveng Russey Primary School currently has 383 students (198 boys and 185 girls) aged 6 to 12 and employs 10 teachers (5 men, 5 women). There are three buildings on the school grounds with a total of seven classrooms.

One of the five classroom buildings is purpose built of good quality concrete and wood and is in fair condition and rated safe. However, the other two buildings were built by the municipality as temporary single classrooms and are structurally unsuitable to be used as classrooms with children inside. The very provisional structure and the materials used are inadequate and not sustainable. A thin foundation and bare structure of both buildings put the students and teachers at high risk. A strong storm could easily collapse or severely damage both buildings. The lack of actual walls, or walls at all, creates an extremely distracting, noisy environment. Dogs, chickens, wind, rain and dust, can freely enter the classroom. Both classrooms also lack essential interior amenities, such as quality chairs and desks for teachers and students. In addition, the zinc sheet roofs ensure unbearable temperatures in the rooms under the summer sun.

Students and teachers clearly lack a safe and appropriate environment to focus on their learning and teaching. There is therefore an urgent need for a new school building with four fully equipped classrooms to create a safe and motivating environment in which the children and teachers can learn, teach, develop and thrive. For these reasons we have decided to support this new project.

Implementation:

Lveng Russey Primary School is a state registered school. The government supports teachers' training and salaries and will provide the curriculum and materials for teaching and learning.

Our approach is to always involve the community in the project to encourage ownership and community development. For this project, the villagers have agreed to contribute by preparing the foundation for the building and organizing the school opening ceremony.

For the actual construction, we work with a trusted local contractor who coordinates all construction phases and purchases all standard materials locally.

Payment will be made in installments as construction progresses, with 5% of the total cost being retained as a guarantee of the quality.

The school is easily accessible all year round. Construction is scheduled to start in March 2022 and should be completed by October 2022.