Educate Cambodia

IBT Sponsorship in Cambodia

IBT believes in corporate responsibility and getting actively involved in the education of adults and children in developing countries. We proudly sponsor a vital Cambodian educational program and encourage you to support this worthwhile project.

For more information on the project, and how you can help, visit the website www.thislifecambodia.org.

This Life Cambodia: The Beginning

During a volunteering trip to Cambodia in 2007, Wendy met a remarkable 24 year old Tuk Tuk driver. Chourn Sambath, worked very long hours, undertaking immense physical work. During chats on the daily pickup and drop off, he explained he was working hard so he could build a classroom for the children in his local village. He also told her he wanted to teach English at the school.

The decision to assist was simple. Innovative Business Training proudly provides teacher training scholarships for the school principal and teachers at Puok Community School. They travel to Phnom Penh to study an internationally recognized Diploma of Teaching.

This sponsorship program has real benefits for the teachers, children and the community with sustainable outcomes.

About Cambodia

Cambodia has a population of approximately 14 million and is one of the poorest countries in South East Asia. It has a sad and a brutal history.

USA bombing raids in the early 1970s killed thousands of Cambodians and turned many many more into refugees. When the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975, they immediately evacuated the cities and sent the entire population on forced marches to rural work projects - justified by an extreme view of establishing a Utopian Agrian society. 

Estimates vary as to how many people were killed during this reign, but figures range from one to three million. The brutality of that period led to the complete destruction of cultural, economic, social and political life in Cambodia. It is only in recent years that reconstruction efforts have began and some political stability has finally returned to Cambodia.

The new battle is to rebuild and re-educate a proud and culturally rich population. Organisations such as the Self help Community Centre (SHCC) direct funding to school and community groups, which finance efforts towards the rebuilding of infrastructure, housing, health and education in Cambodia.

“The enemies of the state on the Khmer Rouge's "death list" during Pol Pot's four-year reign of terror were "the intellectuals, the doctors, the lawyers, the monks, the teachers and the civil servants . . . students . . . former celebrities, the poets . . . the rebellious, the kindhearted, the brave, the clever, the individualists, the people who wore glasses.''

- Teeda Butt Mam, Cambodian refugee

View Cambodia Sponsorship Slideshow