Reach Out—Far Out: from Egypt to Cambodia

The Salam National School of Cambodia, with its four current teachers posing for The International Educator in the foreground (photo: AISE).

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Two years ago, students at the American International School in Egypt’s (AISE) West Campus embarked on a journey of discovery and commitment, not only to help the world but to help themselves become culturally aware. It all began with a book, Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof.

AISE students learned about Cambodia’s genocide, and decided to do something significant to help its children. They decided a school for underprivileged Cambodian children would be the best place to start.

The students were able to raise a total of US$13,500, by soliciting donations and organizing two school walkathons. They created presentations, educated their fellow classmates, and learned a valuable lesson about the importance of helping others.

The “Salam National School of Cambodia” took five months to build. It has four teachers and 158 students from six to 13 years old, and is located in Kompong Speu Province, Baset District (90 kilometers from Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Pehn). This is a very rural, poor district of Cambodia, where many young girls are at risk of being sold into the sex trade. The school partners with Girls Be Ambitious, an organization that pays families US$10 a month to keep their girls in school.

Community-based service learning projects encourage students to move beyond the safety net of their own country and make connections that may otherwise have received little consideration.

AISE’s long term goal is to continue relations with Salam National School of Cambodia in the years to come, and students hope that both donors and beneficiaries will become increasingly aware and culturally accepting. Students, who give, grow, and gain outside the classroom through service learning projects make the practice a part of their own lives. “Our students’ completion of this project has been the proudest point in my teaching career so far,” stated Ms. Wave, a teacher at AISE.

For their next project, AISE students hope to contribute more locally: to Hospital 57357 in 6th of October City, Egypt, which treats children diagnosed with cancer.

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