Second hand motorbike is a game-changer for our dedicated mentors

I would like to share a quick bit of news from our Cambodia projects with you regarding the acquisition of a seemingly insignificant piece of equipment that is proving to be a real game-changer.

In the northern province of Oddar Meanchey we operate a really important boarding house for high school students, dubbed the OM House of Hope, that is overseen by an amazingly dedicated husband and wife team Chhay Song and Chek Toueng.

At times there are as many as 65 students living full time in the house where they not only receive free board and food, but mentoring and nurturing from Song and Toueng. Most of these young people only see their parents for a fleeting couple of weeks a year as they are forced to seek employment over the border in Thailand, so the House of Hope is a real beacon in their lives.

Up until a few weeks ago our tireless mentors had to travel on foot the three kilometre round trip to the nearest market to keep the meals up to our hungry teenage boarders, including lugging 20kg bags of rice on their backs. Well, now I'm very pleased to report that we have been able to stretch the budget to purchase them a good quality second hand motorbike (not easy to find in Cambodia) to make this chore so much easier.

They are so deserving of this moto and it's really pleasing to me that we have finally been able to make the purchase. Our House of Hope students, who all come from extremely impoverished backgrounds, consistently outperform their middle class peers in the public high school classroom which is testament to the grounding they received in our primary school, but also the 24/7 commitment of Song and Toueng. We are sure this bike will make life a whole lot easier for them. See pics below.