The Children of Cambodia Foundation is a charity established to support primary school children in the village of Phum O which is a rural community approxmately 60 kms north of Siem Reap.  The Foundation raises funds in Australia and purchases requirements for the school and students from the local community of Siem Reap.

My name is Meredith Liddle. I am a Director of the Children of Cambodia Foundation.

Our journey began in August 2009 when my husband Gary and I visited Cambodia on a holiday. Our tour guide Bunrith was great at introducing us to Angkor Wat and its surrounds but his passion for his people soon became apparent, particularly their education and the overwhelming illiteracy problem.  It was from here we decided early in 2010 to establish our Children of Cambodia Foundation.

In March 2010 I returned to Siem Reap and Bunrith took me to the village of Phum O where I met the principal of the local primary school. The discussions about the 630 students and what we could do for them were long and varied, but eventually the need for exercise books, stationery, uniforms and a fresh water well to be dug in the grounds became the priorities.

In October 2010, after we had done some fundraising, Pam Shanks (another Director) and I returned to the school and we were able to watch the well being dug. We also went to the peoples’ market with Bunrith and bought 300 uniforms and 650 exercise books and pens/ pencils so every student received a book, pen or pencil. Pam also bought 10 bicycles which were given to the children most in need. The children were given the uniforms and books on the Friday and on the Monday when we went back to the school to see how the well was coming along we were met by a very happy principal. He told Bunrith that 25 new children had come to the school asking if they could attend. This was exciting as the principal had never seen these children at the school before and one of them should have been in grade 4.

We have achieved our short term plan to provide more uniforms, stationery, library books and bicycles. We will need to look at the buildings and play equipment that are in need of repair although we have completed some paving between the buildings so the children aren’t walking around in mud during the wet season. 

Our plan for the future is to take on another primary school in the area, while still maintaining the original school with exercise books, stationery, uniforms and bicycles that it needs. We know there are a lot of schools in need of our help.

We are only a small foundation and our main aim is to help the children get a primary school education in their Khmer language. We have had many generous donations from a small circle of people which we hope will expand considerably over time.

All donations go directly to supporting the children.

The long term joy for us will be when the principal tells us that more children have approached the school looking for an education. The ultimate will be when we hear of students who want to go on to secondary and even tertiary education. Finding a way to help achieve these last two steps will be a future challenge for the foundation.

“Education is the way”

Meredith

Children of Cambodia Board of Directors:   
Meredith Liddle    Gary Liddle    Pam Shanks    Geoff Shanks    Jared Liddle    Rebecca Liddle    Emma Saddington    Doug Thompson