hiyo

CAMBODIA: The Ponheary Ly Foundation

Thanks to Randy for approving this as a FlyerTalk Cares cause! It seems appropriate, as I first heard of Ponheary on FT. Then when I bumped into her in Cambodia, she was with another FlyerTalker ! It was really a moment.

In 2006, while researching a trip to Cambodia in the Asia forum on FlyerTalk, I came across several guide recommendations for Ponheary Ly in Siem Reap. In November 2006, my wife and I were at Beng Melea, 70km from Siem Reap, and met a FlyerTalker (who can identify herself if she wants) and her guide. The guide was Ponheary! They took us under their wing, and so began our association with Ponheary and subsequently with the PLF (Ponheary Ly Foundation). The PLF was started in 2006 to support rural primary and secondary education in Cambodia.

The Ponheary Ly Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 in the US. It was founded in 2006 by Lori Carlson, an American traveler to Cambodia, who met Ponheary Ly and became inspired by her dedication to helping to rebuild her country by sending poor, rural children to primary school. You can read more about Ponheary and the history of the Foundation by clicking here .

Ponheary’s strategy is a simple and effective one. Government schools are in place in the rural communities, but they are not well attended, because children’s families, who live on about a dollar a day, cannot afford the necessary supplies and uniforms to enroll their children. It costs approximately $20 per year to equip each child for school. Ponheary visits these villages, makes rosters of all the children not attending school and sponsors them. There are currently over 2,000 children in 5 schools sponsored in this way.

The Foundation also supports the schools with Breakfast Programs, Teacher Subsidies, Bike to School Program and Wellness Programs to make the educational experience more beneficial to the children, knowing that the majority of these children will find it impossible to continue on past primary school.

One of the schools is located in the jungle and the land surrounding the school is an active land mine field. The children in this school suffer from high rates of Malaria, Dengue Fever and Tuberculosis. The PLF has engaged the services of a doctor who goes to the school each day to treat individual cases and keeps the students and teachers at Koh Ker School well. You can read more about this special school here .

I encourage you to explore the links provided in this post and give consideration to donating to the Ponheary Ly Foundation. It would be hard to find another cause where your contributions would have more effect. I have DVDs and brochures from the Foundation available. They were donated by a supporter, in keeping with the PLFs promise that 100% of donations go to the children. PM me with your address and I will mail them to you.

My wife and I will be in Cambodia this July to visit the Koh Ker school. We will be taking a Polaroid camera and film to give each of the 150 students a photo of themselves. We will also document the trip with photos and video and make a detailed trip report. In conclusion, I will mention that my corporate charity matching plan enables me to effectively double my donations to the Foundation. Most corporations have a similar program. Remember, it is a 501(c)3, and contributions are tax deductible.

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Ponheary Ly Foundation - youtube video how it works (8')

Visit to Koh Ker School with PLF youtube video <1> and <2>

Ponheary Ly Foundation / Profiles in Courage video on YouTube - part 1

Ponheary Ly Foundation / Profiles in Courage video on YouTube - part 2

Ponheary Ly Foundation / Profiles in Courage video on YouTube - part 3

vivrant

Thank you for this. I will forward to my parents who met her during their trip to Cambodia. They would definitely help her out.

studio76

Having met Ponheary, her brother, and several of their friends, thank you for posting this. They are an honest passionate group who create much good will for their homeland. Hopefully we can all contribute as well.

imm2b

Ponheary was our guide for our visit to Siem Reap in 2007. I heard about her work with the school and the children, but didn't know about her foundation. This is great news!

hiyo

Here is a LINK to the first Ponheary Ly Foundation Newsletter.

hiyo

Here's a LINK to the latest Ponheary Ly Foundation newsletter.

hiyo

Here's a video from Lori Carlson, who runs the Ponheary Ly Foundation in Cambodia.

The Magic of School Supplies

Nice. My wife and I will be in Siem Reap in a month and I will post some photos and videos of our visit to the Koh Ker School.

hiyo

Here's a link to the latest Ponheary Ly Foundation newsletter.

My wife and I leave in the morning for the region, and will be in Siem Reap 6-11 July.

ironmanjt

See you there!

You might want to reconfirm your reservations, PG just did a major sched change to REP, and we found our flight had been cancelled.

dtsm

Does she and/or her brother offer guide services. I did a google but all I came up was the foundation

jiejie

I'll be leaving for Cambodia in about a week, and will be there for most of July. Part of that in Siem Reap general area. I'll try to hook up with Ponheary Ly and/or her foundation there and if I can get additional updated info on local contacts, etc., will post here.

hiyo

Sent you a PM with her email and local (Cambodia) phone number. They both do guide services.

hiyo

Sent you a PM with my email and Cambodia phone number if you would care to meet for a drink or whatever.

wired2theworld

Hiyo-
I am so thrilled to see someone write about Koh Ker school and the Ponheary Ly foundation. It is such a worthy cause and deserves all the attention it can get.

I've known Ponheary since my husband and I toured with her in 2002. My mother and I went to Cambodia and visited Koh Ker school in December 2007 when the foundation was still considering adopting it. Before we'd left the US, we'd collected $2400 in donations from family and friends and once we got to the school, while a dollar goes a long way there, we could see it was just a drop in the bucket.

What has happened there since 2007 is nothing short of a miracle. Kids are learning. Kids are graduating. It's amazing what love, money and attention can do for a child.

I was just in Vietnam and met up with Lori in Saigon. She told me the story of your trip out to the school and the Polaroids. Small world, eh?

Thanks for focusing attention on this worthy project.

hiyo

Welcome to FlyerTalk, wired2theworld. As a result of talking to Lori before leaving for the region, I found some of your posts on another travel board, which led me to your excellent website. I think you will find FT is a wonderful, useful community for those who travel.

Here's a LINK to the PLF newsletter article about our trip to Koh Ker. I also have video and my wife photos of the day. We are still sorting through all the footage, but I will post soon.

As you say, it is stunning how much can be done, with what to us may not be much money. The day with the kids and teachers at Koh Ker, along with Ponheary and Lori and the doctor, was amazing and unforgettable. The transformation in the children over the past two years is, in a word, miraculous.

I hope to see more of you on FlyerTalk, and I hope you continue to keep writing your insightful and entertaining website. When I first read it, I was a little shocked at how many travel philosophies and practices we have in common. I will leave it to you to post a link, or put same in your signature line.

Welcome again and safe travels.