Back To School project blesses Cambodia orphans

Posted: January 5, 2011   By: Holly Drake

CAMBODIA – Unlike most students who worry if their grades will be good enough to stay in school, Kim worries about something much different: if he can afford to stay in school.

Kim is an orphan, without parents to care for him and his siblings. His older brother had to leave school in order to work to support Kim and their younger sister. Now 15, Kim is in the sixth grade at Boeng Cheung Primary School, but he doesn’t know how long the opportunity will last.

“I’m very worried about my studies because I have nothing,” he said.

Fifteen-year-old Pily is also an orphan; she lives with her elderly grandparents. Her grandfather is weak and cannot work, so her grandmother picks vegetables in the fields every day to sell to neighbors.

The family lives on an income of about $1 a day. And at times, they lack enough rice for the simplest of meals. Like Kim, Pily worries too that she will have to leave school because her grandmother cannot afford the costs.

But thanks to Operation Blessing, both of these teenagers will be able to remain in their classes. OBI’s Back to School program provided Kim, Pily and others with uniforms and school supplies that they could not afford on their own.

“Today I am very happy,” Kim said. “This program is very helpful for my studies.”

Pily is also grateful for the assistance.

“I will try my best to study hard because I want to have a good job to support my family in the future.”