WHAT WE DO
Our top priority is developing quality education and, by doing so, providing free, quality education to vulnerable Cambodian children, especially girls.
We LOVE what we do, and feel passionately about transforming lives and giving children choices - through education.
WHY?
The education system was systematically destroyed during the Pol Pot regime. Most of the teachers were executed, which meant that when schooling resumed in the 1980’s there was a chronic shortage of qualified teachers. The lack of quality teachers and widespread poverty is a huge issue.
We can transform education in Cambodia. Education is the largest lever for social change in Cambodia. Education breaks the poverty cycle, protects girls from sex slavery, boys from slave labour and opens the door to a bright and purposeful future for each child.
We help develop quality teacher trainers, producing a new generation of teachers with interactive teaching techniques, focusing on child centered learning.
CCT helps deliver professional development workshops in 17 Provincial Teacher Training Centres, producing approximately 1600 new graduate teachers a year.
CCT also helps train in-service teachers and supports 23 schools.
A CCT supported school is a beacon of light in a poor, Cambodian village.
By working with families, we remove the barriers to a free, quality education.
By working with teachers, we provide the support and resources they need to become more effective in the classroom.
It is a powerful combination, and it works.
OUR SCHOOL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY
Unsupported schools in poor villages are depressing to visit. The buildings are dirty and decrepit, there are no working toilets, the children lack basic stationery and the teachers have very few resources to teach with. Once we identify a school in need and have the financial backing to support it, we consult with the locals about their needs as a community.
We work closely with trusted, credible Cambodian networks and individuals directly within rural communities. This partnership enables us to together identity the needs of the community and the school and to work together to meet them. We employ 8 Cambodian staff and these wonderful people work at the local level to ensure we achieve direct, measurable and sustainable results.
100% OF YOUR DONATION GOES DIRECTLY TO OUR WORK IN CAMBODIA.
All of our volunteers donate their own travel and accommodation costs when working in Cambodia or in New Zealand and donate their time and expertise. Neither Denise Arnold, nor any of the Trustees or volunteers draw a salary from CCT or take money from the charity for their expenses. They all believe passionately in what CCT is doing.
Where CCT does have administration costs, these are covered by donations, by the volunteers or by Lyon O’Neale Arnold, lawyers in Tauranga, of which CCT founder Denise Arnold is a Director. What costs CCT cannot avoid (bank fees and Xero costs) are covered by specific donations by individuals.
Every dollar donated goes to a specified purpose if the donor has one or the projects in Cambodia where it is carefully spent to get the maximum impact. Where possible supplies are purchased in Cambodia to support the local economy and to make our New Zealand dollars go further.
CAMBODIA
REBUILDING AFTER THE LOST GENERATION
Cambodia is a nation in recovery from great trauma. Pol Pot and his communist Khmer Rouge movement led Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During this dark reign, two to three million Cambodians out of a total population of seven to eight million died from execution, disease, starvation or overwork. Pol Pot’s vision was to create a nation of labourers; educated people and teachers were targeted and killed. The whole social structure of Cambodia was destroyed. A generation of leaders and teachers was lost. Education is vital for the rebuilding of Cambodia, and we feel compelled to support Cambodians in this transformative work. We’d love you to join us.