The story of a girls dormitory
In rural Cambodia 25% of the students live at school, another 25% live with relatives or friends in local villages. It is too far for them to go home each day.
Living in the dormitory they have to clean the dormitory each day. They have to wash their own clothes and cook all meals for themselves.
The night before their final exams a huge storm blew over a tree destroying a dormitory.
At 2am the girls were evacuated. 4 were taken to the nearest hospital – 35km away.
The roof was destroyed. The rain ruined the bunk beds.
The girls had to be moved into other dormitories – which were already full.
The trees around all the dormitories were cleared. It was months before it could be used again.
When it was repaired, the girls moved back in. But there were no bunk beds, so they had to sleep on the floor. That went on for 6 months until Covid closed the school.
Finally new beds arrived, donated from Thailand. Everyone leant a hand to move and assemble the bunks. When almost complete, Covid closed the school again.
In January 22 the school finally reopened. Students came to school on a Saturday to clean the classrooms and dormitories.
A week before school started the girls could move back into their dormitories.
The dormitories are home to many girls and boys. Many struggle to afford food and books to live at school.
At To Grow An Orchid, we sponsor some of the poorest students to enable them to remain at school and complete their education.
If you would like to help us, your donations would be most welcome.
About To Grow An Orchid
Founded in 2019 by local entrepreneur Dave Hunt to help young people in rural Cambodia to finish school and to raise some levels of IT education.
In rural areas the majority of the population are farmers with incomes around £120 a month. Poorer families struggle to send their children to school. TGAO funds the poorest students to help them complete their education to Grade 12.
In IT the basics of Internet and the impact of social media incl. fraud, private information and passwords are not taught. TGAO has written and funded courses for schools to give to their students under the name of ITClub-Cambodia.