"Poverty is not just
a lack of money;
it is not having the capability to realise one's full potential
as a human being"
~ Amartya Sen

Higher Education

We view investment into higher education as a fundamental driver of poverty alleviation. Improving access to higher education has a significant impact on earning potential and job attainment, but more than this, it increases the substantive freedoms and capabilities that enable poor individuals to flourish.

Without a government support system in place like in many developed countries, the high costs of university tuition block all but a wealthy minority of Cambodians from attaining a higher education.

Our Bright Futures Education Fund is a scholarship program that invests in bright high school students facing serious financial hardship. Students are funded to complete an undergraduate degree at a local institution. Almost all scholarship recipients come from poor farming families living in rural areas, and are the first in the family to study at the tertiary level.

(1) Amartyr Sen (2009), Development as Freedom.

(2) John Humphreys (2016), Education in Cambodia: Rate of Return and Personal Equity Finance. PhD Thesis, UQ School of Economics.

Bright Futures Education Fund

Hong, Sokphea

Sokphea is 26 years old. She lost both her parents at a very young age. We met her as she finished high school, being sheltered by a local care organisation SCCDO since 2013.

Sokphea has finished a degree in nursing from Punithastra University and a degree in Midwifery at Chenla University. She is currently working at Christopher's Hope Medical Clinic in the medical department, helping poor children. She is aspiring to open a clinic in her home province to support rural women with maternity health care.

Sokphea is the perfect example of how higher education can drastically change one's circumstance and future prospects.

Sineak, Vannarith

Vannarith is 23 years old and is studying a degree in engineering at Preah Kossomak Polytechnic Institute (PPI), Phnom Penh.

Vannarith's parents sent him to the capital city to be educated as their farming wages could not support a family. After finishing high school, our education fund has helped him to get to university and he is loving it.

Vong, Sokchea

This is Sokchea, a 23 year old learning to cook at Pour Un Sourire D'enfant in Phnom Penh. Sokchea is paving the way for more educated and skilled employees within the hospitality sector, already noted by his head chef as the top student in his class.

He anticipates opening a restaurant one day as a result of his Bright Futures Scholarship, instead of following the family path of farming.

Soktong, Dam

Dam Soktong is 21 years old. In March 2022 we enrolled Dam into Norton University, Cambodia’s first private university, established in 1996. Our newest scholarship recipient has begun his dream of studying a bachelor of Engineering.

The first in his family to study at the tertiary level, Dam is extremely grateful for the Brisbane community. He is avoiding factory work by getting a higher education.

Prak Bonat, Srey Nat

Srey Nat is 21 years old. Working in a factory straight after high school as she couldn't afford higher education, we asked her what she wanted to study. We enrolled Srey Nat in a bachelor of Accounting at Asia Euro University in March 2022 and funded her uniform and textbooks.

Muth, Lipha

Born in 2001, Lipha is the youngest of a poor farming family. Since her father passed away, her mother has been supporting her three brothers and two sisters, who are either in construction work or farming.

Lipha is extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to study an associate degree in Business Management at UME, looking to end up in a corporate business role making at least $300 a month.

Roeun, Layheang

Born in 2003, Layheang is about to undergo a degree in Marketing at UME. With a mother who passed away and a father who is a farmer, his future options have now broadened.

Ven, Sreyvy

Born in 2003 and having just graduated high school with higher than average marks, Sreyvy is starting her dream degree in Accounting. Coming from a very poor family with no house, her father passed away and her mother is currently supporting Sreyvy and her younger brother as a fisherman.

Hoeun, Chhlath

Born in 2000, Chhlath is the youngest of an extremely poor family living in Kampong Cham. With a father that ran away and an unemployed mother who lives elsewhere, his two brothers have been supporting him as plantation workers, something Chhlath would have become. Instead, he is undertaking a bachelor degree in Business Marketing, with the goal of teaching one day.

San, Chakiya

Born in 2001, Chakiya is the daughter of poor farmers. Her brother's job as an assistant in court has inspired her to study law, with the dream of becoming a police woman one day.

Saroun, Piseth

Born in 2001, Piseth lives outside of Kampong Cham with his parents and two brothers who are all farmers. He is studying Business Management at UME, trading a life as a farmer for working towards his dream of a career in the Education Department.

Hout, Poumra

Born in 2003, Poumra is one of three sisters in a farming family. With her two younger sisters still in high school, Poumra now has a chance to break the cycle of farming in her family by studying Accounting, Business Management at UME. She aims to become a chief accountant one day.

Sros, Sreynea

Born in 2002, Sreynea's mother and brother are factory workers and her father, unemployed. Living in a very small house outside of Kampong Cham, she is choosing to study an associate degree in Business Management. The shorter study time means it will be easier for Sreynea to urgently help her family by providing for them after her degree. Afterwards, she will go back to do a bachelor degree.