Students learn in a computer room of Banteay Meanchey province’s Visakha of Hope Wat Khchas Orphanage Center in January. SAR SOKHA VIA FB
Orphans from the Visakha of Hope Wat Khchas Orphanage Center are receiving training in life skills after receiving a donation from Sar Sokha – secretary of state for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport – that helped with building a study centre and upgraded their accommodations.
Rinh Bun Chhuoy, manager of the orphanage, said that with the support of Sokha and his family, 126 orphans have had their accommodations upgraded and the orphanage has also received donations of clothing and food.
“At this time, we are training them in computer literacy skills and English language and other vocational skills, in addition to the general knowledge classes from state schools so that they will acquire this knowledge as capital for their futures,” he said.
He continued that since the establishment of the orphanage in 2010, many of the orphans have gained success in life, with some of them pursuing their studies overseas and others now running small and medium businesses of their own.
“The majority of the children who have studied and stayed at the orphanage have no parents and relatives to depend upon. They come from many provinces, such as Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Prey Veng, Tbong Khmum and Svay Rieng,” he said.
The new study centre was built on one hectare in Bos Sbov commune’s Khchas village of Banteay Meanchey province’s Preah Netr Preah district within the compound of Prasat Srah Kandal Pagoda, also known as Wat Khchas.
Its construction began on January 1, 2021 and was completed on October 28, 2022 and cost $700,000. The centre will be officially inaugurated later in May of this year. The orphanage has also planted crops and raised fish and chickens without using chemical pesticides or fertilisers to supply the orphans with healthy food.
A total of 166 students are studying at home and abroad with the support of Sar Sokha and Mao Malay Ke Kim Yan. Of that number, there are 11 kindergartners, 54 primary school students, 56 junior high school students, 14 high school students, one university student and 30 university scholarship students in India.
“Seeing the plight of the children, especially their failure to study or learn, my family and I, especially Mao Malay Ke Kim Yan, have supported the building of the centre to allow them to stay and learn there,” Sokha said on Facebook.
The post stated that the charitable donations had joined with the government’s efforts in alleviating poverty and developing human resources in Cambodia and he thanked the chief monk and monks as well as the pagoda’s clergyman committee for providing the one-hectare plot to build the centre. He also thanked donors at home and abroad for donating funds to build it.
