Asia Foundation video demonstrates much in common with LO

This touching video released by the Asia Foundation closely mirrors the stories of women supported by our GATEways project who have graduated from our Girls' Access to Education program and now need our support to for tertiary education. Moreover, the Asia Foundation's scholarship project is provided through a local organization that we also partner with for our Phnong Education Initiative, Kampuchean Action for Primary Education, further highlighting our overlapping methods and aspirations.

GATEways was created in response to the astonishingly high rate of matriculation by our first GATE graduating class - more than 70 percent of these high school graduates were accepted into universities! This roughly equals the matriculation rate in the US, but because these scholars are from the most adverse communities in one of the poorest nations on earth their accomplishment is nothing short of remarkable. Witnessing their capacity and ambition for higher learning, and knowing that Cambodia desperately needs to replace the intellectual class that was decimated a few decades ago by the Khmer Rouge, we eagerly agreed to unroll a new program to support these young women.

The young women in this video are highly representative of those we sponsor through GATEways. Please listen to their stories, and if you are interested in sponsoring one of our graduates to attend university, you can contact our executive director, Erika Keaveney, for more information at erika@lotusoutreach.org.