Tremendous Support for the Srey Lak Program for Girls
Thank you for your continuing support of Dharma Care’s Srey Lak Program for Girls (SPG). Since our last update in April 2024, donors have contributed just over AU$6000.00 (last year, AU$8500.00) for the girls’ school tuition, board and/or PIO’s general expenses.
Dharma care is currently supporting 13 girls at People Improvement Organisation (PIO), this article provides an update on activities.
Dedicated Leadership Behind the Scenes
As always, I am grateful to John Thompson (PIO’s Project Manager) and Malyda Mean (PIO’s Deputy CEO) for providing me with information to enable this update. John and Malyda work tirelessly to look after all the children at PIO. Every day, Malyda posts PIO news on the school’s Facebook page.
Student Life at PIO
There are currently 839 students enrolled at PIO, of whom 472 are in primary school and 367 in high school. Unfortunately, PIO’s boarding school, known as the Shelter, has had to close due to lack of funding and new government regulations.
For the most part, students at PIO come from low-income families, many with multiple disadvantages, but PIO staff and volunteers from all over the world ensure that every student receives a world-class education. The students are highly motivated, with a strong belief in the transformative power of education.
Beyond the Classroom
In addition to their regular studies, PIO students participate in a variety of extracurricular activities offered by staff, volunteers, and supporting organisations: for example, dental hygiene classes; instruction on first aid (the founder and CEO of PIO, Phymean Noun, in purple jacket, also attended this class); and in June 2024, senior students learned how to ride and look after horses (pictured here is one of DCI’s girls).
Every student is provided with regular health and dental check-ups. In 2024, senior dental students from the University of Puthisastra provided dental check-ups and treatment.
Support from Around the World
Supporting organisations, both within Cambodia and other parts of the world, donate vital educational equipment to PIO. For over 10 years, the Australian charity ConnectED has supplied PIO with used iPads and laptops, enabling students to further their studies.
The staff, led by PIO’s project manager, John Thompson (pictured in blue shirt), organise competitions of all kinds to motivate the students. These may be English speech contests, or math competitions. The photo here was taken at PIO’s annual maths competition in 2024: the winners were the fastest to complete 10 challenging questions.
PIO students celebrate the Khmer New Year (April), known as Sangkran, with lots of games.
At Christmas every student receives a gift from the Box of Hope, an organisation whose mission is to ensure that children living in poverty can experience the joy of receiving a gift.
From the Dump to University: Real Stories of Change
In recent years, many more students choose to go on to university after graduating from high school. You may recall that Han Phally who started life on Phnom Penh’s municipal rubbish dump (Han Phally’s Journey from Rubbish Dump to University) went on to study at the National University of Management with support from DCI. In March 2023, she married a fellow PIO student and soon after had a baby. She completed 3 years at university but is currently giving priority to being a mother.
The Dy Sovan Sisters: Why Your Support Matters
Girls like the Dy Sovan sisters, Khemery and Khemara, arrive at PIO dressed in rags, hungry and malnourished, with little prospect of breaking out of a life of destitution and deprivation. Without the intervention of schools like PIO and supporters like DCI, their future would be a bleak one of back breaking labour at best, and at worst, vulnerable to abuse like being trafficked to become sex workers. The Dy Sovan sisters, like other students at PIO, are therefore highly motivated to do well in their studies to break free from a life of marginalisation and to broaden their future prospects.
Make a Difference Today
If you would like to help girls like Khemera and Khemery, please visit Dharma Care’s Srey Lak Program for Girls to make a donation.
All donations are welcome and will go toward educating vulnerable children and vastly improving their future prospects.
- Big or small, all donations help in the operation of PIO.
- The cost of tuition per child per year is AU$1000.00.
- AU$1655.00 per year for university fees.
Donations through Dharma Care are tax deductible. 15% of donations go to Dharma Care to cover administrative services. This charge is well below the industry average of 22%.
Update kindly provided by Miyako Armytage. (April 2025)