ORGANIZATION What is this program? It is a group of people in the US and Cambodia who find sponsors for poor students in Cambodia. Who started it? Members of Cambodian Mission Team from St Luke's UMC in Highlands Ranch, CO Who runs it now? Laurie Gilbert in Highlands Ranch, CO and Dalay Lawrence in Sunnyvale, CA How long has it existed? It was started in 2000. How many students does it sponsor? It varies year to year, depending on the numbers of sponsor for each particular school year. Usually around fifty. Is this a religious organization? No, it is not a religious organization. Its mission is solely to connect struggling students with sponsors and to handle the distribution of the money to the students. That said, this program has been strongly affiliated with both the United Methodist church in Kompong Cham and St Luke's United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and many of the people who work on it are also affiliated with religious organizations. If this is an important point for you, please read the related questions in the "Student Questions" section below. How much of the collected money is spent on administrative or marketing expenses? Zero. Every penny that is collected from sponsors goes directly to the student they are sponsoring. No overhead or fees of any sort are deducted. So who pays the overhead expenses? Overhead expenses are practically nothing. Everybody involved donates their time, and minor expenses like postage are handled by the team running the program. This is not a formal organization - there is no office, license fees, etc. Why Cambodia? St. Luke's had a strong mission program in Cambodia for several years, and of course Dalay grew up there. While there are struggling students all over the world, the contacts and connections with Cambodia that have developed over the years mean that we can do the best job if we focus our efforts there. MONEY How does the money get to Cambodia? The Methodist church has helped us wire it. What is it spent on? The money is given directly to the sponsored students. They use it to pay for school fees, living expenses and books. Actual expenses for even a very frugal student will be well over $100 a year; the amount was chosen as being of significant assistance while still manageable for the sponsors. What proof is available that it is spent this way? The pastors who distribute the money usually have a personal connection with the student and will quickly become aware if the student (or their families) are wasting the money. What if the money is wasted? As a practical matter what will probably happen is that the student would be dropped from the program. The chances that wasted money could be recovered are very small. Is it tax deductible?
We use St. Luke's (a registered 501(c)(3) organization) to channel your sponsorship money to the students. Your contributions through St. Luke's qualifies as a valid charitable donation. This depends on the specific rules of your corporate match program. We would be happy to write a letter describing the way the money is used or speak to somebody if it would be helpful. Does all of the money I give go to a single student? All of the money from a single sponsorship ($100) goes to a specific individual student. Of course you can sponsor multiple students if you wish. How many people sponsor each student? There is only one sponsor for each student in a given year. Can I sponsor anonymously? Yes. Just let us know when you request your student. Can I give a different amount? One of the reasons the program is set up this way is to encourage the relationship between sponsor and student. For that reason, and also to keep things simple, we strongly discourage non-standard sponsorships. Of course you are more than welcome to sponsor multiple students a year. University students are a bit of a special situation; students frequently must move away from their families to attend university, and $100 is simply not enough for even the most careful student. Tuition alone is at least $400 a year. Consequently sponsors of university students will usually give more than $100. Can I use a credit card? No, it is currently not possible to use a credit card. Sorry! Can I donate on this website? No, that is currently not possible. STUDENTS How are the eligible students chosen? Pastors of Methodist churches in Mohaleap, Kompong Cham and Siem Reap and a couple of other trusted individuals find students who are in need of and deserving of sponsors. Can I choose the student I wish to sponsor? Yes, we will normally have several students available to be sponsored on the students page. How do we know they are really poor? Could they be getting support from another source? We will only ever have one sponsor for a given student in a given year. As a practical matter we do not know what other sorts of assistance they or their families are getting, but our intent is to support the most needy students. What kinds of students are eligible? Students can be in grade school or university in Cambodia. They do not have to go to a particular school or be studying any particular subject. Do the students who get the money have to be Christians? Must they attend church or do other things to qualify? No, there are no religious requirements for students to participate in this program, and they do not have to do anything special to be sponsored. However, because the people running this program are mostly associated with the Christian mission in Cambodia somehow, most of the students are in fact from Christian families. Will I get a thank you letter? Students are encouraged to write thank-you letters to their sponsors, but we cannot guarantee it. Can I meet my sponsored student? Several sponsors have been able to meet the students they sponsor in Cambodia. If you are planning to visit Cambodia and would like to meet your sponsored student we would be happy to help put you in touch with them. Be aware that many will have limited English ability. Could I bring my sponsored student to the United States? We do not want to discourage you from doing so, but be aware that the costs and legal issues doing that are likely to be significant. What if my sponsored student dies? Do I get my money back? Fortunately this has never come up. If such a thing were to happen and the money had not yet been disbursed we would get in touch with you to discuss the situation. What if my sponsored student drops out of school? Do I get my money back then? Even with your support, a few of these students may still not be able to stay in school. This usually happens because the student's family is so poor that the student must start working to help bring income for the family. In a few sad cases, students drop out because they join gang or become addicted to drugs and run away from their home and school subsequently. If/when your student is no longer in school, we will let you know and ask you if you want to continue by sponsoring a new student. Every year we confirm that every student on our list is expected to be in school. Can I sponsor the same student year after year? Yes! In fact we hope that you will. Current sponsors will always be invited to continue sponsoring their current students before those students are opened up to other sponsors. What is the Cambodian school year? Students start school in September or October and run through July. The sponsorship schedule varies somewhat, but we usually try to collect money by the end of September and start distributing it in October. Over time we will try to move that back into the summer so the students will start getting their sponsorship closer to the start of the school year. What sorts of expenses do elementary school students have? Teachers in Cambodia make absurdly low official salaries - $20-$30 a month, and the school day is only a few hours long. Teachers supplement their incomes with paid sessions in their homes which are called "tutoring" but work more like a traditional classroom. These sessions typically cost each student a few dollars a month. Students must also buy their own school materials and uniforms. Some very poor students will use their sponsorship money for food; after all it is hard to focus on your lessons while your tummy is empty! What sorts of expenses do high school students have? Many high school students want to take private English classes, and they usually have to get tutoring from multiple teachers. |