Borey Keila Center

At the end of July 2005, PIO identified a growing and critical need for schooling in the slums of Borey Keila located in the center of the Phnom Penh. These slums are home to about 10,000 families including hundreds of kids who are too poor to go to school.

PIO is holding classes at Borey Keila twice a day for over 150 kids. We are slowly improving the conditions at Borey Keila to build it into a strong community center, similar to what PIO has done with the Stung Mean Chey School.

Your support is needed to help us grow this center. Please contact PIO if you would like to donate to help us expand our programs at Borey Keila.

Stung Mean Chey Center

Stung Mean Chey (SMC) is the name of the municipal garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. About 10000 people live in the slum that borders the dump. The workers at the dump are mostly children, barefoot and shirtless, some as young as 4, who work to earn less than a dollar a day. Many children at Stung Mean Chey start work as early as 3 am and often leave well after 7 pm.

These children were not receiving any education before PIO started its center and were poor and illiterate with little future prospects. PIO opened its first schoolrooms at Stung Mean Chey in August 2004, running classes around the kids work schedules at the dump so they could still earn a living. As the school is located right in the center of the community and is provided free of charge, more and more parents are allowing their kids to attend. When we first opened over 3 years ago we were bribing kids to come by giving them food. Today it is a different story with over 200 kids attending class we are now struggling to keep up with the demand for more classroom space.

Borei Santhipheap II

Borei Santipheap II is a newly developed area on the outskirts of the city that is the settlement area for many of the people who lived in the riverside slum close to the center of the city. The city needed the land for development and relocated the residents to Borei Santipheap II. The area is located far from the city center and lacks a proper education facility.

The community committee in Borei Santipheap II made a formal request to PIO to open an educational facility. PIO agreed to this request and opened a center with 4 classes and one library. Our funding for Borei Santhipheap II is not yet secured. We need YOUR support to continue these efforts and to build a center that the students and community can take pride in.

Please contact PIO if you would like to donate to support our efforts at Borei Santhipheap II.