Some Facts on Cambodia

Most of my blog posts have been riddled with photos of me having fun, getting tattoos, breaking bones, etc, but I feel like I should do a small post about Cambodia and some of the kids I work with. It's hard to describe what it's like here without experiencing it, but I'll try my best!

Cambodia's one of the poorest countries in the world. 30.1% of the population is currently living below the national poverty line, which is $0.61/day. This is an extremely high percentage for a population of 14.5 million people. 28% of children under the age of 5 are severely malnourished/underweight and 40% of children are chronically malnourished.

Unfortunately, the majority of my students come from families like this. When many families are unable to support themselves financially, they turn to their children to do the job. Almost every one of Anjali's students was a former street kid. That is, they had to beg or sell souvenirs to tourists in order to make money for their families. Many of these kids had to work during school hours and were unable to return home until they'd earned XX amount of dollars for their families, making attendance at school virtually impossible. Most, if not all, of my students have lived a life like this until they came to Anjali.

It might seem difficult to comprehend then why families would allow their children to come to Anjali instead of continuing to make money. Anjali subsidizes these families with bags of rice weekly. Every Friday the kids are given rice to take home to their families. This provides the families with some sort of food. They also provide interest free microloans to families whenever they may need it.

In Cambodia, all public school has fees attached. Students have to pay for uniforms, books, exams, supplies, etc, which is difficult for many families. Anjali subsidizes public school for its students as well. Students attend Khmer school in either the morning or afternoon and then come to Anjali. This provides students with a well rounded education in both English and Khmer.

Siem Reap is also one of the poorest provinces in Cambodia, which seems bizarre considering the number of tourists that flock here annually. It's an unfortunate reality for the local population and has been a real eye opener for me.

Hope this provides some info on where I am and what it's like! Despite the poverty Cambodia is so beautiful. I never want to go home.