Studying Grade 10, Rattana is one of the 330 students currently participating in the Battambang Education Project run by our local partner, Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang.
Rattana has been living at one of the project’s student centres in Siem Reap since 2017.
At the time he left school, Rattana was 15, studying Grade 7. He took on a variety of back-breaking, low paid jobs to help support his family.
His only solace during this period was studying catechism in Church with friends. It’s there that Rattana came to the attention of the Battambang Education Project – and his life changed forever.
“Life is happy. I have food, friends, schooling, and regularity in so many aspects. I have learned many new skills.”
Rattana
“Before I entered the student centre, I had already stopped school for three years because my family could not afford to feed us well, or pay the fees for my school requirements,” explains Rattana. “Living in the student centre, life is happy. I have food, friends, schooling, and regularity in so many aspects. I have learned many new skills.”
Rattana is now planning to complete his studies and pursue a career as an electrical engineer.
Education and poverty in Cambodia
The vast majority of Cambodia’s 16 million people live in rural areas, where families endure the constant burden of poverty.
Families struggle to find the money needed to keep their children in school. Many young people must leave school early before learning the skills that could transform their lives.
Without education, young people remain trapped in the cycle of poverty.
On top of this, to cope with the ongoing challenges of poverty, an increasing number of people in the Battambang region cross over the border into Thailand looking for work. Children of these migrant workers have become among the most vulnerable of all, left in danger of trafficking and exploitation.
It’s here, where the need is so great, that the faith of our supporters is creating real change.
Battambang Education Project
With help from our kind donors and supporters, Battambang Education Project is providing the education vulnerable young people need to break free from the cycle of poverty.
The Project seeks out and prioritises the most vulnerable students in nine provinces of Northwest Cambodia – including orphans, children suffering neglect or abuse, and those who’ve never received any education.
