Welcome to ASPIRE school

We are currently in desperate need of any help we can get after being hit really hard by COVID-19, as it has meant we've lost most of our volunteers and sponsors. We are currently behind on payments for our credit/loans and fear that we might lose our property if we do not fulfill these payments. If you are interested in volunteering, please do not hesistate to contact us. If you are unable to volunteer, monetary donations are desperately needed and would be extremely invaluable to the school.

Welcome to Aspire Training & Education, a school and home for poor, homeless and orphaned children in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. The ASPIRE school was established in 2012 and is a registered non-governmental, non-profit school. Our volunteers come to ASPIRE and learn more about our children through education and play. A donation for even just one of the children from you will help immensely. If you look at our photo section, you will see the various activities that the children enjoy. These activities are enabled by our voluntary teachers and many generous visitors, many of whom have given their time and resources, adding to the opportunities we can offer our children, such as Khmer traditional dance, music, ASPIRE's souvenir shop and sports. I would like all these wonderful people to know how thankful we all are for their generous efforts on behalf of our children. We appreciate each and every one of them. Every adult who has worked here has done so as a volunteer. No salaries were paid to anyone, and have not been for some time, but everyone who works here has received comfortable lodging and plenty of food. Adults and children alike share the same basic but healthy lifestyle, and all enjoy to the same traditional and nutritious meals together.

 Mr. Sean Samnang dreamed of opening a school to help educate the children in Siem Reap. So on 14th November 2012, he started building a school called ASPIRE Training and Education School (Case number 3385) which would eventually be big enough to teach up to 200 students, pre COVID. There are still 20 children learning at the school, with an on-going programme for continued development. But now more so than ever the children of Aspire depend on the generosity and compassion of passing tourists and volnteers to provide their daily food, clothing, school expenses and all other basic needs.

Sean and his wife Borey have four children, fourteen year old David, nine year old Alisa, six year old Sophie and their youngest, at five years old, is Roland. They live with their extended ASPIRE family on the site at Trang Village. Sean has previously helped 5 ex-students into the work force and wishes to continue doing so for all children under his care.

THE SCHEDULE OF ASPIRE'S SCHOOL PROGRAM 

The students of Aspire school all come from backgrounds of extreme poverty and deprivation. Their ages ange between 5-16 years old. The weekly schedule runs for 5 days (20 hours per week) from Monday to Friday in the morning (8: 00 Am - 10: 00 Am) and ending in the afternoon (2:00 PM - 4:00 Pm).

AFTERNOON

Fundamentals of Aspire Project:

Aspire School: Aspire Training & Education, called ASPIRE (School & Home) for poor, homeless and orphaned children in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. The ASPIRE school was established in 2012 and is a registered is non-governmental, non-profit school. At the ASPIRE school, we believe everyone is equal and each person is worthy of the chance of having a better life. The purpose of our programme is to give these vulnerable children the opportunity to thrive, by upifting and assisting them in all their efforts.

Our Founder and his vision:

Mr. Sean Samnang is a local Cambodian, who was born in 1980 and grew up in a very poor family, working on a farm to pay his way through secondary school and university. He also worked for seven months in a tailoring factory for ten to thirteen hours a day just to complete his education. Receiving help and encouragement from a sponsor in Thailand, he moved to Phnom Penh where he worked for a charitable organization on a voluntary basis, where he received his board and lodging. Voluntary work in return for board and lodging is still a common practice in Cambodia today, and so all members of staff at ASPIRE are local volunteers. Since he himself had received help when he most needed it, Samnang wanted to be able to provide help and opportunities for others. He created an orphanage since 2009 is named Cambodia Orphan Save Organization (formerly COSO).  As a local Cambodian, he recognized the urgent need to help the many destitute and orphaned children living in his country. This situation was brought about because Cambodia’s education and health care systems were completely destroyed during the Khmer Rouge Genocide and Cambodia has been unable to make significant gains in rebuilding it due to the subsequent 2 decades long civil war. Now corruption is rampant and Cambodia’s education and health care systems remain in shambles. Siem Reap itself is one of the poorest areas in Cambodia with over 75% of the poor living in dire poverty.

Aspire is also a home where we provide 24 hours care for 20 children, supporting them with 3 meals a day, shelter, education and protection. As children from poor families and orphanages, some had never had this safety and security before. However, we currently have no sponsorships, making the provision of these things difficult. We are currently fully reliant on visitors to offer assistance at Aspire and help in whatever they can.

Lodgings: ASPIRE Training & Education includes Aspire Home Stay is a family a guesthouse for volunteers to stay at whilst they work with us.​ The funds earned from this will supports the Aspire project and community (food, electricity bills and staff's wage). The View Garden Villa has 25 rooms, keeping 70 people to stay (equipped with air-conditioner or fan), each room has own toilet, cool & hot shower, also has balconies, sitting areas, meeting room and top roof to see sunrise & sunset, the located 5kms from Siem Reap City only 15 minuts to drive. We are arranged the bedding, mattress, blanket, towel and pillow. Each volunteer is required to pay $20 US per day for accommodation sharing room, included food for sharing room. Aspire Home Stay is a safe place to stay and living as a family with delicious food 3 meals a day (breakfast & hot coffee, lunch and dinner). 

In order to pay for such a project, Aspire had to take out a substantial loan of just over $67,000 in 2019 and shortly after, we were in a global pandemic. Times were hard enough as it was, but now, as we begin to rebuild ourselves in the aftermath of COVID, we must begin to pay off this large loan. As it stands, we must pay $970.10 a month for the next ten years. This is just another reason why we must depend on the generosity of your donations, and why we encourage you to sponsor or volunteer. If you do, you can see for yourself where your money goes, and enjoy the amazing facilicites we provide for our volunteers as well as our students!

We also believe in preserving the Khmer culture so we teach the children traditional Khmer dances and Khmer musical instruments. Our staff is trained in good childcare practice and management skills. We aim to educate the children both socially and academically to take up a constructive place in Khmer society when they are adults. This includes the encouragement of our children to embrace the knowledge of local Khmer customs, including dance and music, so that this knowledge is not lost in future generations. Therefore, we have organized a traditional Khmer dance performance for visitors or tour group for watching. The performance includes dancing, playing musical instruments and singing by the children of Aspire. If you are interested, please book at least a day before visiting us and we can arrange this for you! 

With our persistance and financial management skills, we have worked hard to create this school to help our children in Cambodia. We have built a school for Khmer & English lesson, arts & craft, computer training skills, a guesthouse for volunteers or guests to stay in, a Peter Pan’s restaurant, a library, a hall for traditional Khmer dancing and music instrument, a souvenir shop, a chicken coop, a vegetable garden and more. Before COVID, we recruited 35 students from the community to study at ASPIRE for free, and aim to recreate this as soon as possible. We aim to be big enough to eventually teach up to 300 students! then we can continue to spread knowledge of Khmer, English, computer skills, traditional Khmer dancing and musical instruments, growing of tree fruits, vegetable gardening and raising chicken & fishes to the children of Cambodia.