Organization

American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC)/ Japan Relief for Cambodia (JRfC) are independent nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing opportunities for the youth and rural poor in Cambodia. American Assistance for Cambodia is registered in the United States as a 501(c)3 tax-deductible nonprofit organization, and Japan Relief for Cambodia is licensed to receive tax-deductible donations in Japan through the Keidanren’s Council for Better Cooperate Citizenship (CBCC). Within Cambodia, AAfC / JRfC is recognized by the Kingdom of Cambodia as one nonprofit organization.

Mission

American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC)/ Japan Relief for Cambodia (JRfC) is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving opportunities for the youth and rural poor in Cambodia. AAfC operates interlinked programs across Cambodia in the areas of education, health, rural development, and technology.

History

AAfC was founded in 1993 by American journalist Bernie Krisher, former head of the Newsweek and Fortune Tokyo bureaus. After reporting on Asia for many years, he returned to Cambodia to found The Cambodia Daily, Cambodia's first English language daily newspaper, which he continues to publish today. The Cambodia Daily is an independent entity that does not solicit nor accept funding. Bernie also established media-related projects such as journalism training and a media library.

In the late 1990s, AAfC expanded its work to help improve the lives of Cambodians in other areas. Bernie set up a computer training center at the Future Light Orphanage and built the Sihanouk Hospital - Center of Hope. In 1999, AAfC began its Rural Schools Project, which allows private donors to build a rural school with matching funds. More than 470 enriched schools have been built in rural Cambodia, many of which are equipped with computers and have Internet access. Today, most of AAfC’s programs are interlinked with and dependent on our network of schools, teachers, and Internet connections throughout rural Cambodia. AAfC continues to work on implementing innovative programs to help Cambodia's youth and rural poor.

Major Accomplishments

• Helped construct more than 470 primary and lower secondary schools in rural Cambodia, equipped with optional value-added programs: solar panels, computers, Internet-access, English teachers, vegetable gardens, bookshelves of books, and nurses.
  
• Built the charity Sihanouk Hospital – Center of Hope, which provides free outpatient treatment for 300 patients a day and has two wards for hospitalized patients.
  
• Established the English/Computer training program at the Future Light Orphanage.
  
• Built and operated Cambodia's largest Free Media library, containing over 25,000 volumes.
  
• Equipped five IT training centers at Cambodia’s top secondary schools.
  
• Provided training and employment to two dozen villagers to sell paper and silk products.
  
• Treated hundreds of rural patients through its telemedicine program.
  
• Translated, published, and distributed a Khmer edition of Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone.
  
• Launched the Girls Be Ambitious program supporting hundreds of poor girls to attend school.
  
• Established A New Life Orphanage for children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS but they themselves are not afflicted.
  
  
• Established the Bright Future Kids Home, a sholarship boarding program for bright, talented children from poor remote villages to pursue their education at a prime secondary school, receive computer and English training on the premises and engage in enrichment programs at its Learning Center.