Denise Arnold – Cambodia Charitable Trust Trustee
	Denise Arnold and daughter Emily are in Cambodia on behalf of The Cambodia Charitable Trust to dispense money raised to assist children there. This blog is a record of their time in Cambodia.

It is wonderful to be back in Cambodia although this is the hot, dry season so temperatures range between 30 and 40 degrees. This means our trips to visit schools need to be planned to avoid having children out in the sun which is difficult. Schools in Cambodia usually have to run two shifts; morning classes, then a new set of students for afternoon classes. There is not enough room in the schools for all of the children to attend at once.

Our visit means both sets of children come to school to see us and receive learning materials. We often use the local pagoda if it is near the school to keep one half of the children out of the sun. The others go into their class. The heat is punishing.

We have completed visiting all of our schools we support, plus a literacy class run by a volunteer for children who are struggling. With only four contact hours a day at school, many children cannot read or write. The teachers also have no teaching materials to speak of, and there are no text books or library books.
The schools we are supporting have all got libraries set up now. A dedicated space that we are progressively filling. Tauranga Girls' College has helped raise money to provide library books to each school, with some for the literacy class too. This is a huge step forward.

Each month through local volunteers we provide school uniforms, which are compulsory, stationery, outdoor sporting equipment, teaching materials or undertake some maintenance around the schools. All within a carefully managed budget of course! Not every school receives something every month. We need to prioritise. However, when we come over to Cambodia we make a big push to get something to each school.
This visit for the schools in the Takeo province we gave library books and teaching materials (paper, glue, scissors, pencils, etc) to Ang Pongarey and Nikrotheream schools. However, in Ang Seyma school which we have only been supporting since our November visit, we handed out 300 school uniforms (about half what is needed) and stationery for each child as well. This was a big day for those students.

In the Kampot province we recognised the top five students in each class by giving them extra stationery (notebooks and pencils) and then gave stationery to each child. In Baknoem we gave the teachers a notebook and pen as well and some volleyballs for the school, and in Ang Chhum we finished providing uniforms to the poor children. However, in Krangsnay School this is the first real help we have provided so we also distributed 400 uniforms, about half of what is needed.
The children are so taken aback to be given anything it is quite sobering for us. One little girl at Krangsnay lost her pencil and she was heartbroken; she cried and cried. Fortunately we always have spares, as many children are not enrolled in school and attend casually when they are young. It is always great to have all the children come to school to receive their notebook and pencil. If we can encourage them to come to school we can combat the high rate of illiteracy. We are especially keen on keeping girls in primary school and getting them to go on to secondary school as they often are taken out of school to help the family at about grade 5 or 6 (age 11 or 12). It is often the family's inability to pay $10 for a uniform and stationery that tips the scale, so if we can provide that, we can encourage them to keep the children at school. I have just been reading Half the Sky and it reinforces my belief that education is so vital, but particularly educating girls as the alternatives for them are very bleak otherwise.

It is very rewarding to see the children we gave uniforms to at school. I am recognising them now, and with my small amount of Khmer I can have a limited 'chat' to them. They recognise me now. I am also getting to know the school directors. Their role is critical as the school is shaped by them; the work ethic of the teachers, the manner in which the school is run, the use of the library. They are getting to know what we want to see of them. Also, the conditions that come with this support are starting to become evident although it is a relationship that we are careful to develop slowly and we want to have a light touch in these unsophisticated schools. They are all in poor areas and the teachers themselves are paid a pittance.

As always, I have come away with a lot of things I want to see us achieve. It is amazing to see how much we can make a difference here. I am astounded at how effective our support is compared to the millions of dollars that are apparently spent in this country by big NGO's with often very little to show for it. We run on a small, carefully managed budget which is directed where we can get the most impact. The fact that we can pass 100 per cent of all donations on also makes a huge difference.
Tomorrow we start working with the human rights lawyers - a different focus, but part of the same overall solution. I believe it is critical to provide direct support for education now, but also help strengthen the access to justice for poor communities.