WHY CAMBODIA?



After the brutal years of the Khmer Rouge and 30 years of war and civil unrest, which decimated the Cambodian population and destroyed the country’s infrastructure, Cambodia is still suffering from the effects of horror and atrocity.
No society, this century or the last has been as willfully devastated as Cambodia. From 1975 to 1979, Polpot and his murderous Khmer Rouge turned the lands of a gentle, peaceful nation into a genocidal blood bath, slaughtering or starving to death more than two million people.
Compare Cambodia today with the dark abyss of that Khmer Rouge epoque and it looks a pretty picture, but look at its more successful neighbours and a pessimistic reality begins to take shape. Far from its previous glory, Cambodia nowadays ranks as one of the least developed countries in the world.
The goal of Polpot’s regime was to create a totally agrarian society and as a result Cambodia’s entire education system was destroyed. Now there are over 3000 villages without schools, over fifty percent of women are literate and because of the lack of opportunities, parents often send their children to brothels instead of schools.
Cambodia’s disturbing health and education sectors as well as other human development indicators, combine to illustrate a grim future for the majority of Cambodians. Furthermore, corruption and even more political instability hinder economic and social development. There is no doubt that the continuance and further instigation of international help at all levels is needed to improve the situation. Koh Kong Kids is in Cambodia to show Cambodia and the rest of the world how easy it is to give back to the Cambodians what they have been robbed of for the last 40 years – quality education. We believe the best method to achieve economic and social change is by implementing education strategies and focusing on Cambodia’s future leaders – its children.



Only 26% of students enroll in secondary school.

53 percent of the female population is illiterate.
On average Cambodians only attend school for three and a half years.
  38 percent of households live below the poverty line.
47% of children who go to primary school do not reach grade six.
Average income US$244 per person.
74 percent of deaths are due to water borne diseases.
• 44 percent of Cambodian children under five years old have stunted development.
• 2.2 million Cambodian children are living in poverty.
• 80,000 children have been orphaned by HIV and AIDS.


For more information on the history of Cambodian education
www.countrystudies.us/cambodia/52.htm
Cambodia history www.mekong.net/cambodia/banyan2.htm
www.foodsecurityatlas.org/khm/country/utilization/childrens-nutritional-status