SimplyHelp Cambodia

Assess:
Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world. SimplyHelp was approached and asked to assess the need in Cambodia. We met with local people, businesses, temples, and the government.

SimplyHelp learned Cambodia was in need of people with computer skills, and had a high demand for people who can work in the clothing and textile industry because textile is Cambodia’s number one export product.

Plan:
SimplyHelp Cambodia’s Director, Mr. Vuthi Seng, is well connected in the community. He built a team of two computer teachers, one tailoring teacher, one manager and one administrative assistant.  They worked together to build up the computer school in the capital city.

With the tailoring school, SimplyHelp wanted to reach poor people in rural areas, because these people often cannot afford to travel far for education.  Mr. Seng spread the word and gathered information from local people about poor villages that would benefit from this training. The school was set up in that area and moved after graduation to a new village. The school has moved 8 times since it was established. When a village is chosen as next destination for the school, someone in the village will offer to open their home and turn it into a temporary school.  The villages are always located in the middle of rice fields, and mostly all the residents of the village are rice farmers or cow herders. For the villagers, to have a school on your property is very prestigious so oftentimes the schools are on the land of the village chief or another prominent village member.

Act:

To teach these valuable sewing skills, SimplyHelp Cambodia sends Ms. Sereywat from Phnom Penh – a highly qualified sewing teacher and a master in her profession. Ms. Sereywat goes to a village for two or three days a week and trains two assistant teachers who teach on the days Ms. Sereywat is not in the village.  There are about 40 students per class and there are 2 classes per day. This allows the students to go to school either in the morning or afternoon, and they can then work their land the other part of the day.

To teach these valuable sewing skills, SimplyHelp Cambodia sends Ms. Sereywat from Phnom Penh – a highly qualified sewing teacher and a master in her profession. Ms. Sereywat goes to a village for two or three days a week and trains two assistant teachers who teach on the days Ms. Sereywat is not in the village.  There are about 40 students per class and there are 2 classes per day. This allows the students to go to school either in the morning or afternoon, and they can then work their land the other part of the day.

The Computer School relies on word-of-mouth promotion and has established a very fine reputation over the years. Every three months, 100 students are selected to receive training.

Evaluate:

SimplyHelp has evaluated the impact of its schools by tracking what alumni do after graduation.

• 10 % of former SimplyHelp tailoring graduates start their own business, some have taken apprentices, and 80% finds work in textile factories.
• Students at the Computer School fill out evaluation forms at the end of their training. Suggestions made by them (acquiring a printer, learning Quickbooks etc.) are used to improve the school.
• The school relies 100% on word of mouth. The fact that 200 students want to register every three months is a strong indicator that the classes have an impact on people’s lives.
• Successes have been countless – the majority of graduates go on to University or find a good job - business managers, or administrators/ teachers for the Japanese NGO’s.

Sustain:
SimplyHelp Cambodia is in the process of becoming self-sustaining by raising its own funds and tapping into local funding resources. As part of this effort the Computer School has started to charge a minimum fee ($5) for the computer training. SimplyHelp has annual fundraisers for the schools in Cambodia and will continue to support the school.

SimplyHelp continues to evaluate the schools and adjusts the training whenever changes in demand for particular skills occur.

As demonstrated above, it is clear that SimplyHelp Cambodia is an educational model for economic and societal success; it is critical to support these kinds of educational endeavors which not only help individuals of impoverished countries build a new life for themselves, but also helps to perpetuate a self-sustaining community and ultimately an integrated global economy.