Good Kind

Children in Poipet are hungry for education but lack basic materials.

At Preh Jesu Baptist, for example, up to fifty children attend a weekly Sunday School program that teaches literacy, songs and bible verses. Sunday School is free but the children are encouraged to bring a notebook so that they can record their lessons. The problem is that most of the students don't have a notebook. Instead, they borrow one from an older brother or sister, even though each page has already been filled! They want to please their teachers and they're keen to learn. They just need an exercise book.

Johnny recently opened a teaching centre at his home, just a few hundred metres from a local high school. He charges the equivalent of US$1.25 per month for daily one-hour English classes. However, some students can't afford the additional US$1.25 for a textbook. They either share with a friend or just listen in the class.

A few months ago some French-Cambodian friends in Siem Reap expressed an interest in helping.

Siyoen grew up in Cambodia but fled to France in the early 1970's. She married Michel and together they raised a family and opened several businesses. Now approaching their retirement years, Siyoen and Michel own and run the Good Kind Guesthouse in Siem Reap. In Khmer it's called the Good Heart guesthouse. Good Heart is a fitting name because Michel and Siyoen have a passion to help Cambodians continue their education.

Last weekend they gave cash to buy school supplies for Poipet. For the children at Preh Jesu Baptist we bought notebooks, crayons, pencils and scissors... fifty at a time. For Johnny's students we bought English textbooks, teacher's resource books and other equipment such as dictionaries, a thesaurus and white board markers.

Siyoen and Michel have been in Cambodia for less than one year and they've never visited Poipet but they're finding practical ways to invest in the country that is now their home.