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Rural School Project
Overview
In rural Cambodia, hundreds of villages still lack a functional
primary and secondary school. AAfC’s Rural Schools Project,
founded in 1999, has led the effort to construct over 300
primary and lower secondary schools – with matching
funds from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank –
to help promote education in rural Cambodia. After construction,
each school is sponsored by a donor to provide value-add improvements
to further strengthen student education, such as English/computer
teachers, Internet, and access to clean water.
How You Can Build a School (and crack the digital
divide)
The construction cost of a rural school is $13,000. For each
donation, $10,000 is used directly towards the construction
of the school (matched by the Asian Development Bank for a
total cost of $30,000 or above). The other $3,000 is used
by AAfC for a general school account that funds performance
monitoring, maintenance, the school opening ceremony and overhead.
Each school will be named after the donor (or a name he/she
selects) and listed on our Rural Schools Project map. The
school is 3-6 classrooms, includes desks, chairs, and a well,
and is built on land donated by the village or is added to
an existing school site. Once a school is completed, it is
given to the village. All AAfC schools are recognized by the
Cambodian government as state schools, and are staffed by
official state teachers who follow the Ministry of Education
curriculum.
Education, Internet
and Health
Donors are encouraged to add school features in three areas:
Education, Internet and Health. Donors may also contribute
just $13,000 to build a school with no further involvement
or obligation.
Education:
Our project seeks to supplement government curriculum by providing
students with additional resources and learning opportunities.
All new donors are strongly recommended to add the Education
improvements to their school.
School improvements:
• Full-time AAfC trained English/computer teacher:
$4,000 funds two years
• Bookcase of books: $150 one-time cost
• 3 solar panels to power a donated computer: $1,850
one-time cost
• Total: $6,000 funds two years, $400-2,000
each additional year
Internet: Our
project seeks to leapfrog rural Cambodian students by giving
them access to computers and the Internet. We have also adopted
a package of software to allow students to access the Internet
in the Khmer language, using a Khmer keyboard, word-processing,
and web-browsing. Students use these resources to learn typing,
Internet search, email, and more.
School improvements: A school can
gain access to the Internet through two methods: a satellite
or motoman [link to motoman article, NY Times by Jim Breake
from IHT]. A satellite dish provides high-speed 24-hour Internet
connection. In our unique motoman system, a motorcycle connected
to wifi provides a school with once daily Internet access
to email, newspapers, and web search. Satellite dishes are
subject to limited availability and fluctuating prices. The
motoman system is only available for schools within close
vicinity to a satellite dish.
• Satellite and generator: $18,000 funds two years,
$3,000 each additional year
or
• Motoman connection: $5,500 funds two years, $1,500
each additional year
Health: Many
students in rural villages suffer from a lack of health care,
unsafe drinking water and lack of nutritious food. Donors
may add two water filters to the school to allow access to
clean water at the school. A “Victory” vegetable
garden in which students receive one free, nutritious meal
each day, includes building materials, seeds, one gardener,
one cook, and a garden well when needed. Finally, a school
nurse recruited from a local clinic promotes health education
and gives students regular health check-ups. These features
combine reduce student malnutrition, increase attentiveness,
and raise attendance.
School improvements:
• Hagar water filter: $300 one-time cost
• 1 “Victory” vegetable garden,: $7,500
funds first two years, $2,000 each additional year
• School nurse: $4,000 for first two years, $2,000 each
additional year
Other information (please also see our FAQs section):
Each of the schools, named after the donor, is equipped with
three solar panels, sufficient to provide enough energy to
operate a computer for four- five hours a day. The village
children will be taught to use computers with the view of
providing them skills that can assist villages in benefiting
from services and knowledge available in more populated areas.
It is also aimed at establishing telemedicine services and
making it possible for village children to connect by e- mail
to other children in Cambodia and around the world.
After receiving the donation, a school site is chosen and
will be completed in three to eight months, depending on distance
from the capital and the season.
Many donors are average people who believe that bringing
education to rual children will ensure a more peaceful and
bright future in Cambodia, whose population underwent so much
trauma during the Khmer Rouge regime when schools stopped
functioning. A priority of this project is to establish schools
in poor, rural areas whose children have been deprived from
any educational facilities or been forced to learn outdoors
for lack of funds to construct schoolhouses. The campaign
bears the catchphrase: "Put a Roof on Their Head."
Our English/computer teachers are either university graduates
or raised at the Future Light Orphanage and trained by AAfC
in English/computer skills. The annual cost is used to cover
a monthly salary, and a stipend for food, accommodation, transportation,
and medical expenses. After two years, donors have the option
to reduce the cost to $400 a year by substituting a bright
graduate or State teacher who have received AAfC training.
The computer training recognizes the brightest kids and opens
up the opportunity to challenge their curiosity, to seek and
gain knowledge not provided in the regular curriculum. A bookcase
is supplied with books donated by a number of publishers.
All new schools are equipped with a well to give students
access to water at the school. However, many wells dry up
or break within the first three years of use. Donors can fund
an additional well for $1,800. This water is often not suitable
for drinking, and an additional water filter is recommended
to provide clean drinking water.
How to Contribute
Checks can be issued to *American Assistance for Cambodia*
for $13,000 for the basic school construction, or $19,000
for the standard school with a teacher, computer, solar panel
and bookcase of books. Donors should add the additional funds
for any other school improvement features. Contributions are
tax deductible. AAfC is registered as a non-profit organization
in Delaware and recognized by the IRS as a 501 (c) 3 organization
for U.S. tax deductions. For information on obtaining a tax
deduction in Japan, please contact us at: bernie@media.mit.edu
Other tax-deductible donations to the Rural School Project,
of any amount, are welcome. Contributions will be used to
train teachers to raise their skills, buy school supplies
and textbooks, add computer and English teachers, transport
books and equipment and pursue Internet links to the schools.
Checks
Checks can be mailed to: Bernard Krisher, American Assistance
for Cambodia, 4-1-7-605 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (150-0012)
Japan
Bank Wire:
Please send funds to the account of: American Assistance
for Cambodia in the Ridgewood Savings Bank, Queens Blvd. and
108 Street, Forest Hills, N.Y. 11375. Account number: 648899;
Tracking number: 226071033. Please advise us by e-mail, fax
or mail when you have transferred funds.
PayPal: A donor
can give secure dollar donations using PayPal:
1. Go to http://www.paypal.com
and register an account
2. Once you are logged into a PayPal account, click on “Send
Money.” Enter in the email Bernie@media.mit.edu
and the amount you would like to donate.
Credit Card:
Please email name, address, and credit card number
and expiration date to Bernie@media.mit.edu.
We accept Mastercard and Visa.
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