We hope you are all enjoying the summer. Although it is summer here, in Cambodia school has just recently finished. As you may recall this past year K.I.D.S. was able to support 10 young people to attend a very good post-secondary hospitality and tourism training program. Through generous donations we were able to send the kids to school as well as provide them with a safe place to stay with Hak, one of the great people we work with in Siem Reap, Cambodia. K.I.D.S. has sponsored these students since grade 6 in hope that one day they would be able to break the cycle of poverty and find employment outside of the brick factories, ending a life of hard labour.
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Well, the good news is...All of the students passed their difficult final exams and the "REALLY" good news is that 9 out of 10 have found employment in the tourism industry. The tenth student is upgrading in English and we know he will be successful in finding employment as well.
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When we met these students as small kids 8 years ago it was heartbreaking to see them in brick factories pulling heavy carts, stacking mountains of bricks and sometimes running dangerous machinery to help their families survive. When K.I.D.S. sponsorship freed them from hard labour and allowed them to focus their internal fires on education, there was no stopping them! Learning English, French, computers and hospitality skills like cooking, baking, housekeeping, reception and hotel management they took full advantage of the opportunities awarded to them. They have once again proved that education combined with persistence pays. Over the years watching these young people work so hard to change their futures has been inspiring and only by having your support has their success been possible.
Thanks to K.I.D.S donors these young people and many more students, who are at different levels of education in our sponsorship program, are not only changing their lives for the better they will also change the lives of their children and future generations. They asked us to pass along their gratitude.
With Utmost Thanks
Until next time,
Adrianne and Rick