Cambodia Scholarship Program
The Cambodia Scholarship Program started in 2005 when John Walsh and Brandon and Andrea Ross sat down to try to figure out what problems needed solving and how JWOC could accomplish solving them with the available resources.
Here is John's recounting of how the program came to be...
"I remember in 2005 when we needed help scouting wells, teaching at our schools, and translating in the villages. It seemed like there was so much to accomplish on a shoestring operating budget. But what we lacked in financial resources we saw all around us in human resources. Especially at our language schools, students were showing up to learn multiple languages because they knew it was a way to a better future. Our schools were packed with students. So we thought we should help these students continue their education and give them an opportunity to gain work experience by volunteering with JWOC. We found amazing donors to help support our idea and with 5 original students, the program began. What it has become! I never could have imagined.
The program is bettering everyone - the students, JWOC, and community - and it is blossoming because of these talented individuals. They are so inspiring because they put in so much work to make a better life for themselves, their families, and their country. I am so proud of the JWOC scholarship students - dedicated to their studies, eager to volunteer in their community, and grateful for the financial support. You really need to meet these students, or better yet - get involved by sponsoring a student and they will tell you all about it!"
Today the Cambodian Scholarship Program has over 60 students attending school in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The students study tourism, management, finance, English and accounting and they all donate 5 to 10 hours a week to JWOC. JWOC just added 20 new students in Cambodia thanks to Se's Challenge, a recruitment effort started right here by our students. The letter below went out in January 2009 and exemplifies how far the project has come in the last 5 years...
Dear Journeys Within Our Community Supporter,
Being a part of Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC), I have had many moments of pride, of knowing that what we are doing is important and valuable. But perhaps none of these moments were as strong as when I read a recent letter from Se, one of our scholarship students. I have included excerpts from the letter Se sent to all of his fellow scholarship recipients as I could not better his eloquence …
“…I will keep my eyes open to see our scholarship students become the future leaders of Cambodia. If you look back in the past, you will probably see lots and lots of things done by us. No one can tell you what’s going on in the future; but I can tell you that what JWOC has done was possible because of all our hard work that we have done together.My idea is this: we 43 SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS sponsor 1 NEW STUDENT. It will happen if we just donate 10$ each, each year, so it becomes 430$ total.
Will we, the students, be able to join 10$ each in order to sponsor one student for one year? Do you want to see how happy a student is when he/she gets a scholarship just like you used to be? Why don’t we create a new page of history in JWOC by making it happens? I myself can’t answer these questions without you all.”
After Se sent out the letter to his fellow scholarship students and got positive responses of support, he asked Journeys Within Tour Company and B&B and then went on to ask the JWOC Board of Directors to match his donation. We have and now we want to extend this New Year’s challenge to everyone.
For those who are already supporting students, please continue so we can make sure to see them through to graduation. It is great to see the relationships many of you have formed with your students - your support and encouragement are an integral part of their success. For those who haven’t supported a student yet, we challenge you to get involved.
Because of our donors’ support for these amazing scholarship students, we are educating the leaders of the future and, as Se clearly demonstrates, they are leaders with admirable social conscience. Thanks to their involvement in the JWOC projects, our students in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia believe, and see, the good that they can bring to their own communities. They know their own strength and their potential for positive change. We now ask you to support this change and meet Se’s challenge.
Sponsoring a student is just $400 per year and in return our students all volunteer at least five hours a week for JWOC. Together, let’s show Se and our other scholarship students that we support their desire to better their community and their world. Let’s let them inspire us.
Below we have included a quick ‘How to Donate’ section or please feel free to contact Camilla McArthur, JWOC Co-Managing Director, at Camilla@journeyswithinourcommunity.org with any questions.
All the best,
Andrea and the JWOC team
Se's Challenge helped raise money for 19 new students who enrolled at university in March 2009. They are currently learning about the JWOC projects and will be instrumental in keeping those projects thriving in the future. Congratulations to Se and the current scholarship students for inspiring so much support and congratulations to the new JWOC class!
