Running for ISF in Siem Reap, Cambodia

This year, I'm running the Angkor Wat Half Marathon to fundraise for the Indochina Starfish Foundation (ISF), an NGO which believes that Cambodian children living in extreme poverty can build a brighter, more sustainable future when they have access to quality education, healthcare and sport. With your support, we can make a difference, one child at a time.

Today, approximately 40% of Cambodia’s population live on less than $2 per day. Consequently, children often work long hours outside school, or are taken out of school completely in order to help financially support their family.

ISF offers a fast-track education programme to almost 700 disadvantaged students living in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, who have either never been to school or who have had to drop out due to extreme poverty. Its programme condenses two years of education into one year to enable students to ‘catch up’ to the correct grade for their age and enter state school after completion. Once enrolled in state school, ISF offers students ongoing support to complete their primary and secondary education.

ISF also believe that valuable life lessons and opportunities can be found outside the classroom and currently runs Cambodia’s largest grassroots community football programme. Opportunities to play sport competitively are limited for the majority of Cambodian children and opportunities for children with disabilities to play sport in Cambodia are almost non-existent.

ISF's inclusive football programme comprises almost 4,000 young players of all abilities. They offer weekly training sessions and integrate social impact training, covering topics such as substance abuse, gender equality, children’s rights and many more relevant issues related to the communities where they work. In addition, ISF runs a number of annual tournaments, festivals and a youth league.

The more we raise, the bigger the impact we'll make.