PCEF Projects
Volunteers are an extremely important part of what we do and we appreciate your help in continuing our development as an organization. People of all ages and backgrounds are welcome for stays of a few days, months or more, depending on our needs.
Projects
Village Support
Kamong Phluk floating village.
The village of Kampong Phluk is an unusual place to live. During the wet season (July-September), the Mekong River becomes so full that its flow is reversed, resulting in the expansion of the Tonle Sap Lake to five times its normal size. Kampong Phluk is flooded and becomes a “floating village”. During this time, the only way to travel around the village is by boat. In November, the flow of the Mekong river reverses once again and the water begins to recede. By the end of January, it is possible to drive to the village by car, motorbike or bicycle. It is a strange sight to see so many houses atop very tall stilts. Five thousand people call this unique place their home.
In January of 2010, we opened a school in the Kampong floating villages, we started teaching in houses. At that time, we had almost 35 students. We now have over 241 students in the Kampong Pluk floating villages.
Lvea farming village.
Lvea village is Pagna’s home village. He was born and raised in this farming community set amid beautiful rice fields stretching as far as the eye can see. It is located 30km outside of Siem Reap and though it is a quiet, peaceful place to live, the villagers endure great privation and hardship due to lack of resources. This is an extremely poor village that up until now, has received no assistance from the government or outside sources. We aim to change that.
In December of 2013, we opened a new school in Lvea village at the request of the villagers.
We started teaching in Pagna’s father’s house while we tried to raise enough funds to build a small school. Thanks to many wonderful donors, we were able to do it! The new school was built in May of 2014 and at that time we had almost 200 students. Today, 8 years later, we have over 400 students in Lvea village. In addition to building the English school, our goal is to institute several community outreach programs which will benefit the community as a whole rather than just the children. We believe that by offering assistance to family units rather than individual children we can provide a more holistic and sustainable way out of poverty.
Although we succeeded in raising enough funds to build a school, we still require donations to complete the project. Here are some of our most urgent needs: building the floating school with classrooms (for the Kampong Phluk floating villages)– $120,00; a toilet/bathing area for the volunteer quarters (In Lvea farming village0 – $1200; school generation – $2088 /month; desks – we need fifteen desks to fill in new classrooms (floating villages) – $825; books (655 student books and 655 workbooks which cost $5 each)– $3275; school uniforms for 655 students- $3930.
If you are able to assist us in any way with these expenses, please visit our Support us page to make a donation. As always you will have our undying gratitude and an open invitation to visit the school when you visit our beautiful country.
Sponsorship
We are very happy to announce that one of our students, Bhe Sithon, has received an academic sponsorship from Angela Leefe, a kindhearted woman from England.
Sithon is 16 years old and currently attends Grade 8 at Ta Ey Secondary School. She has a thirst for learning and is an outstanding student, ranking first in her Grade 7 class last year. Sithon also attends English classes at Pagna Cambodian Education Fund (PCEF) English school where she assists in teaching the younger students their ABCs. She is the third of eight children and lives with her family in Lvea Village. Sithon’s mother is a homemaker and her father is a rice farmer. Although her father works many long hard hours in the rice fields, he doesn’t earn enough to both support his family and pay for his children’s education. A monthly donation of just $20 can change the entire trajectory of a child’s life. In her scholarship application, Sithon told us, my dream is to study until I graduate from college so that I can help support my whole family. Thanks to the generosity of Angela Leefe, Sithon is well on her way to achieving her dream.
Congratulations Sithon and thank you very much, Angela Leefe!