The Cambodia Literacy Integrative project is the next phase of an education project funded through a global grant, which started two and a half years ago. The project’s two main objectives are to decrease dropout and illiteracy rates in Cambodian schools as well as increase the interest and funding from communities in their schools.
 
During a recent trip to Cambodia, Rotarians Manon Mitchell and Kurt Kowalchuk witnessed several project successes. However, drop out rates continue to be a problem for economic reasons. As there are fewer jobs, parents move to Thailand, taking their children with them.
 
Innovations and best practices were identified and can continue to have a substantial impact in this rural area of Cambodia with the implementation of another project starting in the fall. Further collaboration will expand the project to include Kindergarten. Our club has been funding Tuk Tuk Charity for the last three years. TTC seeks to empower teachers and increase educational opportunities for disadvantaged communities in early childhood education. Our club’s recent donation provided funds to hire a graphic artist and purchase the technology required to create a series of books. Jack the Giant is a bilingual (Khmer and English) book.
 
We are looking at integrating Tuk Tuk Charity into the next education project so that we cover all grades from Kindergarten to Grade 6. Another innovation Tuk Tuk brings to the table is the inclusion of low cost solar-powered “raspberry” devices accessible through a Wi-Fi hot spot, which enables teachers to access resources and upload their own. Our partners in Cambodia are currently engaging in community assessments, and Manon is hard at work looking for funding so that we can start the project by October 1st, 2020.
 
Watch for Rotary CLIP’s website coming soon!