Our executive director, John McCollum and his wife, Kori, recently traveled to Cambodia, Thailand and India to visit all 35 of our children’s homes. John took a lot of photos, and here are a few of his favorites from Battambang (and a couple from Angkor Wat).
It's official. The first month of class at the beautiful new Battambang Secondary School is complete! Ever since the school dedication earlier this year, it's been a busy couple months for our leadership in Cambodia: we've interviewed and hired teachers, outfitted classrooms, evaluated and purchased curricula, and enrolled students.
And, after all that hard work, the real work of has just begun. Not only are we providing Asia's Hope kids with a first-class secondary education, and we've also set ourselves the ambitious goal of being a resource to the surrounding community — offering free and deeply discounted tuition to underprivileged youth who would otherwise be unable to attend school.
These kids are Asia's Hope, and we're thankful for everyone who believes in these kids as much as we do, and especially the individual donors and churches who've made this project possible.
It's only been three months since a the staff, children, and a group of Asia's Hope supporters, gathered during the first week of March to dedicate and break ground on the Battambang School and Training Center. In that short space of time, construction crews have prepped the land, completed work on a wall, and finished work on the foundation — and, already, work has begun on the support pillars and the masonry walls.
Over the coming years we'll continue to grow in Cambodia, adding new homes and creating new families, but, perhaps most importantly, we'll continue the hard work of building a world class organization — an organization that provides the best care and the best opportunities for education and enrichment, allowing kids to thrive, breaking cycles of poverty and injustice.
The Asia's Hope campus in Battambang, Cambodia.
That's what the Battambang School and Training Center represents — a doubling-down on this extraordinary commitment, laying foundations that will enable our kids to build bright futures for themselves and for their children. Futures of empowered agency, free from exploitation and abuse.
Thanks to some amazing donors, the first phase of this project — the construction of the school and training center — is fully funded.
Now its time to secure ongoing, operational funding, hiring teachers and tutors, purchasing books and supplies. We are looking for a sponsor or sponsors to help us fund the approximately $5,000 a month it will take to run this school.
You, your business, or your church, can help. If you or someone you know might be interested in sponsoring this project, please contact us today!
Our leader in Cambodia, Savorn Ou, doing what he does best. Leading.
Crews sink reinforced concrete pillars into the Cambodian clay. The first step toward a foundation that will last generations.
Our staff inspect the first two rows of support pillars.
Masons continue on the boundary wall, even as work on the foundation begins.
Just last weekend, our staff and kids in Cambodia, along with donors and friends from Crossroads Church of Mansfield, OH, joined together to dedicate a new campus expansion and to celebrate the beginning of construction on the Battambang School and Training Center. This is a big deal. The purchase of this 4.45 acre plot of land, sitting contiguous to our existing campus, will give us a strong foundation for expanding and improving the work of Asia's Hope in Cambodia. We'll have ample room for recreation — a soccer field is already in the works — for 3-4 new children's homes, and for a school and training center.
Already, we have broken ground on this last project, the Battambang School and Training Center, a 12-room classroom and meeting facility which will become the venue for the education and training of Cambodia's next generation of leaders. We are now looking for partners to help with ongoing support for school and training center operations — please contact us if you'd like to help.
We are extremely grateful for the love, hard work, and sacrifice, of our partners from Crossroads Church who made this possible!
To learn more about this project and how you, your church, or your business can get involved in raising-up the next generation of leaders in Cambodia, please reach out to us!
The Asia's Hope Campus in Battambang, Cambodia.
Representatives from Crossroads Church, Steve and Deb Ritchie, cut the ground-breaking and dedication ribbon. Thank you!
