Runnning for ISF Cambodia

This year I am running the Angkor Wat Half Marathon to fundraise for ISF's Education Programme which offers education to Cambodian children who have either never been to school before or who were forced to drop out. I have been living in Cambodia and working for ISF since March and I have seen first-hand the life-changing work they are doing here.

ISF’s Education Programme provides almost 700 children marginalised by poverty with quality education and healthcare to give them a strong platform from which they can launch themselves into further education, training or employment. Their Catch-up Programme teaches two grades of the Khmer curriculum in one year. Once students reach the appropriate grade for their age, ISF supports them to study at local state school.

At the moment, approximately 40% of Cambodia’s population live on less than $2 per day. Because of this, children often work long hours outside school or are taken out of school completely in order to help financially support their family. Often, here in the city, in the streets and on the dumpsites, you will see children scavenging for plastic to recycle or you will be approached by them in the early hours of the morning outside bars and clubs, begging for money from tourists and expats.

The poverty they live in not only strips them of their childhood but it means that they miss out on education and vital life skills that are taught through peer interaction and play, and strong foundations to help them build a brighter future. Some of the life skills they learn at school at ISF are things we probably all take for granted like learning how to brush their teeth, how to wash their hands with soap and water, how to read and write and eventually, assuming they stay in school, how to use Google, how to create an email account, how to write a CV and how to apply for a job.

Your support will go a long way:

• $10 can provide a family with a monthly food parcel and help ensure that children can remain in school
• $20 can pay for educational materials and stationary for one student for one year
  
• $40 can buy a bicycle and helmet for a student who would otherwise have to walk more than 2km to school
  
• $120 can provide monthly food parcels for a family for one year
  
• $170 can provide breakfast and lunch (Monday-Saturday) for one student for one year
  
• $500 can provide stationary and educational resources for a catch-up class
  
• $1,600 can give a child catch-up education, nutrition, medical care and support for one year
  
• $2,600 can pay for a part-time local teacher for our Catch-up Education Programme one year