When I first met Nan Chuon I wasn’t terribly impressed. A lot of people come to us looking for funding for their projects, and Nan was young and had never done anything like the village school program he was attempting. Well, not actually attempting; he was doing it – and doing it on a shoestring. Plus he had no supporters of any substance and it was a pretty bare bones venture. I made no commitments--we just talked.

We did invite Nan to be one of the 28 participants in the Sustainability Workshop we held in Siem Reap a couple of months ago. He attended and participated constructively. After he attended Workshop, he submitted a project proposal for a chicken growing and fish-raising program to enhance the sustainability of his school. It wasn’t a great plan.  Sophal, our Country Director for Cambodia, and I sent it back to him giving him suggestions on how to improve it, and connected him with some local resources that could help with financial analysis and business planning. What he returned to us a short time later was much, much better.  

Sophal and I visited Nan’s school, about 30 minutes out into the countryside from Siem Reap. Everything we saw in the photos was there, but what we hadn’t seen was how clean and orderly everything was. We did not see how neatly dressed and attentive the teachers were. We did not see so many parents gathered around and supporting the school for their children. The grounds were well maintained. Vegetables were planted and growing. Additional space was being cleared. We took note. SE Asia funded a small grant of $1,500 to see how he and his organization would make use of that nominal resource.

Within days the progress began. Sheet metal for the roof was delivered. Siding for the walls showed up. Labor was expensive so Nan and some local villagers did the construction themselves. In a short period of time the remodeling produced a relatively watertight building. It was an impressive performance.

I firmly believe that once he scales his ambitions down a bit and takes logical steps instead of trying to fund it all at once, he’ll have a supportable sustainability project– and the kids he is educating will have a much more stable school to attend.