We have finally arrived at the end of the year 2020 and the Bayon School needs your help more than ever to face this complicated period that we are all going through. This is why we have concocted this list of the Top Ten reasons to support us at Christmas! Now it’s your turn to convince your friends to sponsor us!
Becoming a sponsor of the Bayon School means:
1. Joining a large family that has been working for 30 years for the emancipation and development of young Cambodians.
Initiated in the 1990s by a monk who took in orphans from the war, the Bayon School has set itself the goal of providing quality education and medical support to underprivileged young people living in the Angkor temple region. Over the years, the association has diversified its activities to contribute to the economic and social development of the most vulnerable populations.
2. Enabling the most vulnerable families to compensate for the loss of their activity and continuing to provide them with food security despite the seriousness of the situation.
Although the country has only been slightly affected by COVID in terms of human loss, its consequences have been disastrous for the economy. In Siem Reap, 78% of the hotels have closed or ceased operations. The Angkor temples saw a 98.7% drop in foreign visitors in May 2020, compared to May 2019. As a result, many of our families suddenly lost their main sources of income.
3. Giving the most disadvantaged families access to drinking water and toilets.
Because health is a basic human right, the association is mobilizing its forces this year to provide the most fragile families with access to drinking water and dignified sanitary conditions, by installing sand filters and toilets.
4. Giving access to quality education to more than 250 children, and as a result, giving them the tools to build a better future.
Each year, the Bayon primary school welcomes 250 students and provides them with two balanced meals a day, school supplies and uniforms. More importantly, the school allows them to blossom, to contribute to their personal development and to learn in good conditions.
5. Contributing to the improvement of the Art-Culture-Sport program.
If quality education is vital to give children a chance to build a better future, it is at least as important to encourage their personal development through play, as well as cultural and sport activities. This is why, at Bayon, we want to continue to develop and improve the extracurricular activities that we offer them every week.
6. Accompanying our former students throughout their studies.
Because schooling does not stop at the end of primary school, we follow our students throughout their studies. They have access to social support, tutoring, a bicycle, a monthly scholarship as well as an annual forum dedicated to vocational training to guide them in their career orientation.
7. Contributing to the opening of an agro-ecology school that will enable the new generation to develop sustainable farming techniques.
In January 2021, the Bayon agro-ecology school will open its doors. The one-year training program we are offering has a dual purpose: to provide practical and professional skills in agro-ecology, and to stimulate young people’s initiatives to create small farms and organic food businesses, connecting producers and consumers in the local market.
8. Supporting the activity of 11 families of farmers and enabling them to form cooperatives.
The Bayon is committed to providing the necessary tools and training to farmers so that they can grow organic vegetables that will be used primarily to supply the primary school canteen. Helping them to structure themselves as a cooperative means helping them to develop a network of outlets where they can sell large quantities of organic vegetables.
9. Financing the training of about twenty female students in pastry and bakery.
The Bayon Pastry School has been training tomorrow’s bakers and pastry chefs for 6 years now. Today, and more than ever in a job market made uncertain by the COVID crisis, we are striving to give them every chance to find a job.
10. Enabling our Pastry School students to take reinforced English courses in the best language school in Siem Reap.
Cambodia is a country that attracts many tourists because of its rich history and culture, and so it is essential for our students to speak a good level of English in order to get a job that will allow them to flourish and help their families.
Bayon team thanks you most sincerely for your generosity, which allows us each year to continue helping those who are the most in need; without you, nothing would be possible.