Since early 2005, the Cham Chao committee has been working to improve the education experience for the children. Our research led us to an organization called Progressive United Action Association, Inc. (PUAAI). Through a collaborative effort with PUAAI, Future Hope has become a reality.

Established in 1995 by Oni Vitandham, a former refugee and survivor of the Khmer Rouge, PUAAI’s primary goal is to help the children of Cambodia receive a solid education. PUAAI operates 14 schools throughout rural Cambodia with 21 teachers serving an estimated 2,500 impoverished students, ages 5 to 15. Subjects include English, computer skills and leadership. This will be PUAAI's first preschool in an orphanage. You can learn more about PUAAI at their website www.progre ssiveunited.org.

PUAAI Chairman Michael Blasdell and his staff will assist with the start-up and administration of the school, which is housed in a building constructed at Cham Chao in 2003. PUAAI staff have been working to upgrade the lighting and electrical in the buidling and purchased bright chairs, small desks, and chalkboards.

Sgnin Sokoeun (Ken)—CAMTOM’s in-country manager, will attend to the day-to-day operation of the school. The children will be taught in both Khmer and English and will attend school five hours a day, five days a week. PUAAI will provide a curriculum for the teachers as well as periodic testing for skill achievement. The curriculum PUAAI has developed is much more stimulating for the children than the rote learning they have been receiving at PSB for the last year.

The school will follow the children in their academic progress. This means that as the children get older, we could expand Future Hope to become a primary school.

Most important, however, opening this school allows us to maximize the impact of sponsor donations on the lives of the children. CAMTOM is very grateful to be working wth PUAAI. This partnership will significantly improve curriculum, provide opportunities for expansion and allow greater oversight of the program.

Mr. Sry Sreang is the bilingual teacher. He is 24 years old and lives in a village near the orphanage. He has elementary school experience and has taught kindergarten for a year. He will be teaching the children in English from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. daily. In addition to his responsibilities at F.H.S, Mr. Sry teaches Japanese to older children in the afternoon.

By the way, that's new board member Tiara Delgado filming in the background.

Ms. Long Lay Khim is 41 years old and commutes to F.H.S from Phnom Penh. She is college trained as a teacher and has many years of experience teaching children. Ms. Long will teach the children in Khmer each day from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. In addition to her responsibilities at Future Hope, Ms. Long teaches elementary school in the morning.

Both teachers are on probation for the next month, as required by PUAAI. At the end of their probation, our school principal and PUAAI will determine if they are fulfilling their responsibilities to our standards, then their positions will be made permanent.

We have two new board members! We were finding that raising funds, keeping the web site updated, setting up Future Hope and running the sponsorship program was a lot of work for six people who have jobs and countless kids to raise. We invited, and they graciously accepted, Kathy Rafferty and Tiara Delgado to join the board.

Kathy Rafferty lives in Arlington, Virginia and works for the Environmental Protection Agency. She has two children, Matthew, 6, adopted from Vietnam and Grace, 4, adopted from Kompong Speu Orphan Center in 2002. She also serves on the board of RATHCare, an organization of adoptive parents working with officials to lift the Cambodian adoption moratorium

Tiara Delgado is a documentary film maker living in New York. She is the founder of Global Vision Video, and has produced several documentaries on humanitarian issues, including "Fragile Hopes from the Killing Fields" and "Compassion and Controversy -- the US Moratorium on Cambodian Adoptions". She is in Cambodia this summer filming her next work on the Khmer Rouge tribunals. She is also keeping an eye on things at F.H.S while she is there.

We are thrilled that Kathy and Tiara have joined the board and we look forward to having their talents and insights as we work for the future of "our children" in Cambodia.

...are doing great. We now have 60 children attending school and many are taking computer classes as well. In our next newsletter, we will focus on our programs at KS. In the meantime, here is a picture of them in the soccer uniforms we recently purchased.

IGive.com
Do you shop on the internet? If so, IGive.com provides a great way to shop on line and help Cambodia Tomorrow at the same time. Cambodia Tomorrow is registered as a charity with iGive.com. When you register with iGive.com and shop in stores like Eddie Bauer, Lands End and eToys a percentage of your purchase is given to Cambodia Tomorrow. Join today and start shopping for the future of children in Cambodia.

eBay
Reggie Towers, a long-time Cambodia Tomorrow supporter and Cham Chao Committee member, is planning to sell items on eBay and donate all the proceeds to Cambodia Tomorrow (Seller: camtom888). eBay is a participant with iGive.com. If you register on the iGive website a percentage of your eBay purchase will be given to Cambodia Tomorrow. Stay tuned for information about the upcoming auctions.

Frequent Flyer Miles
Do you or someone you know travel frequently for business and have far more miles than you will ever use? If so, you can help Cambodia Tomorrow by donating these miles. Your unused frequent flyer miles can be transferred to Cambodia Tomorrow to allow us to make more frequent trips to Cambodia to oversee our programs. Currently, Board Members are paying for their travel to Cambodia out of their own pocket. Please email us at camtom@cambodiatomorrow.org if you are able to assist in this endeavor.

Organize a Fundraiser!
Cambodia Tomorrow has displays and brochures that you can use to help raise awareness of the needs of the children and encourage others to help. Organizing a fundraiser can be as simple as putting the display in a prominent place in your child's school or your church with a jar for donations. Please contact us if you would like to organize a fundraiser.