The RHS Helping to Build a School in Cambodia
Senior School, Charity
This Wednesday, a group of 32 Year 9 and 10 students were given a sneak preview of our new charity initiative – a partnership with United World Schools to build a school in the rural province of Ratanakiri, Cambodia.
We aim to raise enough money to build a school in a village deep in the jungle of Northern Cambodia by July 2018, when our students will be invited to visit and teach the children there.
Two volunteers from the education charity who promise to ‘teach the unreached,’ worked with the girls. They learned about the situation and background in Cambodia and shared these through making films, live pitches, posters and presentations looking at how the poor quality of education and healthcare, massive levels of deforestation, and the legacy of the Pol Pot genocide has had a very negative effect on the indigenous people of Ratanakiri.
The good news is that by building a school the life chances for villagers are massively improved. The rate of under-5 child mortality of 23% is cut in half; child trafficking and child marriage are also significantly reduced where the children and their parents have access to education, bringing them many more opportunities.
The girls learned a great deal about global citizenship and many were able to make significant strides towards achieving a UWS Global Citizen award. Lizzie Wallbridge from UWS said: “It was great to see the girls’ enthusiasm for learning about the situation in Cambodia. This charity not only makes a big impact on lives of some of the world’s poorest communities, but also teaches the students in UK schools the importance of making a difference. I am sure this will be the start of something big!”
Our Year 9s and 10s also began to plan fundraising activities for our official launch of the link in September. Expect to hear much more about these exciting developments then!