In a remote Cambodian village, nearly 80 elementary-aged students huddle into three overcrowded classrooms. At 9 a.m., the heat creaks in, unbearable as the dry-season sun presses down on the rusted tin roof atop walls of dilapidated timber. Any space not filled with desks and students in the stifling structure is lined with small collections…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Sparking Interest in Science and Technology in Rural Cambodia
Experiments are opening doors for a teenage girl named Sona. The oldest of five children in a farming family from Pailin Province, Cambodia, she is used to shouldering responsibility. Throughout her 14 years of life, her parents have taught her the value of hard work, which she’s persistently applied to her education. Recently she channeled…
Operation Christmas Child
Discipling Children in the Dumps of Cambodia
Samnang* comes from a family of scavengers, also known as waste pickers—people who earn a meager living by collecting recyclable materials from garbage dumps, streets, and landfills of Cambodia. But God used the new items inside the shoebox gift she received at age 13 to help draw her to a relationship with Christ. Today, she…
Women's Programs
Moms and Babies Starting Stronger in Cambodia
A child’s first 1,000 days can change everything. The nourishment they receive—or don’t receive—makes a world of difference. If the brain remains stunted during that window, there is little hope of reversing the damage. Samaritan’s Purse BEST (Best Early Start Today) program in Cambodia is giving families a foundation of health and nutrition training that…
Animals, Agriculture & Livelihoods
The Business of Blessing
For families living in the slums of Cambodia, life is anything but easy. Collecting plastic and growing vegetables in urban ponds are traditional ways that residents have generated limited income. With new construction across the country forcing the poorest people to relocate, even those opportunities are dwindling. As a consequence, rates of domestic violence, gambling,…
Operation Christmas Child
‘Thank You So Much for Bringing Me to Jesus’
Millions of Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts are packed for boys and girls in need around the world each year, many of which include an email or physical address inviting the child to write back. If you have ever packed one of those boxes and wished you could hear from the child who received it,…
Animals, Agriculture & Livelihoods
Supporting Gospel Ministry Through Chicken Farming in Asia
Bao travels around the countryside of Cambodia proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. A devoted Christian for many years, he is often seen as an outsider by many of his fellow countrymen in this predominantly Buddhist nation. But this only fuels his desire to keep preaching! His traveling ministry seemed to be in…
Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
Bringing Fresh Water to the Hills of Cambodia
What is a beautiful setting worth without access to clean water? Rolling green hills and picturesque mountains surround Cambodians in Pailin province on the border with Thailand, but their sources of drinking water are often contaminated with bacteria such as E. coli. That’s why, over the past year, Samaritan’s Purse provided nine schools and over…
Animals, Agriculture & Livelihoods
Life Changed Because of the Bees
Seangly and her husband farmed in Cambodia but after he became too sick to work, they fell behind on their bills. Money and other essentials became scarce. Seangly feared for her family’s future. “I was sad and concerned,” she said, “that one day our land and house will be confiscated.” Samaritan’s Purse came alongside Seangly…
Animals, Agriculture & Livelihoods
Beehives Bring Big Benefits
Smoke billows out of the pot in Lorn Siangley’s hands as she seeks to calm her bees. She is working to inspect them after her harvested honey sold out. Siangley and her husband, Pom Poun, both in their early 50s, received five hives from Samaritan’s Purse a year ago. They were trained in beekeeping in…
