By Greg Mellen, Staff writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (Calif., USA)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - It started as little more than a concept. Over the years, it slowly evolved and took shape.
And now, from its meager beginnings, despite a minimal budget, and withstanding internal strife on the American side of the Pacific, Progressive United Action Association is a Cambodian success story.
The brainchild of Cambodian genocide survivor Oni Vitandham, Progressive United is one of a growing list of non-governmental organizations that are working to bring English-language training to Cambodia.
Just five years after opening its doors, Progressive United now teaches about 1,300 students, most in destitute rural provinces where children flock to the places that teach English.
Although Khmer literacy has climbed dramatically in recent years to 73.6 percent, Cambodia still ranks only 126th worldwide among 176 nations rated in the 2005 United Nations Development Program Report.
Progressive United's ability to meet the need is limited only by the number of qualified teachers it can find and the money to pay them - two enormous obstacles.
According to its 2005 tax forms, Progressive United raised about $122,000 in donations, mostly from Cambodian-Americans in California.
That was an unusually robust year and currently, according to interim chairman Michael Blasdell, the in-country budget is between $1,500 and $2,000 a month, from which 14 schools are run.
Of that money, about half goes to teacher salaries, which average $50 a month. The pay is low but competitive with the salaries of teachers in government schools. The teachers in Progressive United's two Phnom Penh schools also receive room and board.
The organization opened its first school in 2002 and now offers free classes, most in far-flung villages in the hinterlands.
The emphasis is on free.
There is no shortage of entrepreneurs offering English-language classes for a fee in Cambodia. In Phnom Penh, the classes are ubiquitous and often overflowing. Free classes, however, are a rarity. And in Cambodia, even modestly priced schools are a major expense.
When Progressive United opened its first school near Phnom Penh, it was just down the street from another school that charged students $9 to $10 a month for lessons.
"We had five students the first day," says Blasdell, the organization's interim director. "By the end of the week, we were full and hired five more teachers."
Buoyed by the success, Progressive United forged ahead.
"The village (schools) followed in rapid succession," Blasdell says. "We needed to take advantage of the momentum."
That momentum stalled briefly when Washington insider and AIDS activist David Brooks Arnold was appointed president of Progressive United in 2005.
According to organization members, he shifted the group's focus to HIV/AIDS issues and stopped spending on the schools.
Arnold has since left and the schools are back in a growth mode.
Future plans include opening more schools and an ambitious project to build a three-story facility in Phnom Penh with 10 classrooms, office space and living quarters for visiting dignitaries and faculty.
Alex Morales, an educator at Cal State Long Beach who developed an affinity for Cambodia while volunteering with Progressive United, is leading the drive for the new facility. His brother, a builder, volunteered to guide construction and Morales will raise the money. Blasdell owns property that will be used for the site.
The Progressive United schools meet a critical need in Cambodia. Although education is constitutionally guaranteed to all in Cambodia through the ninth grade, drop-out rates remain high.
According to a 2006 report on "Human Development Indicators" by the United Nations Development Program, 50 percent of Cambodian school children drop out before completing sixth grade and 65.5 percent fail to finish ninth grade.
"That basically means that every other Cambodian child, even now ... may not be able to read and write," the report said.
"We have to get kids into schools and that's not happening," says Douglas Gardner, the head of mission for the United National Development Program in Cambodia. "The U.N. and UNDP are trying to ring the bell."
And now, from its meager beginnings, despite a minimal budget, and withstanding internal strife on the American side of the Pacific, Progressive United Action Association is a Cambodian success story.
The brainchild of Cambodian genocide survivor Oni Vitandham, Progressive United is one of a growing list of non-governmental organizations that are working to bring English-language training to Cambodia.
Just five years after opening its doors, Progressive United now teaches about 1,300 students, most in destitute rural provinces where children flock to the places that teach English.
Although Khmer literacy has climbed dramatically in recent years to 73.6 percent, Cambodia still ranks only 126th worldwide among 176 nations rated in the 2005 United Nations Development Program Report.
Progressive United's ability to meet the need is limited only by the number of qualified teachers it can find and the money to pay them - two enormous obstacles.
According to its 2005 tax forms, Progressive United raised about $122,000 in donations, mostly from Cambodian-Americans in California.
That was an unusually robust year and currently, according to interim chairman Michael Blasdell, the in-country budget is between $1,500 and $2,000 a month, from which 14 schools are run.
Of that money, about half goes to teacher salaries, which average $50 a month. The pay is low but competitive with the salaries of teachers in government schools. The teachers in Progressive United's two Phnom Penh schools also receive room and board.
The organization opened its first school in 2002 and now offers free classes, most in far-flung villages in the hinterlands.
The emphasis is on free.
There is no shortage of entrepreneurs offering English-language classes for a fee in Cambodia. In Phnom Penh, the classes are ubiquitous and often overflowing. Free classes, however, are a rarity. And in Cambodia, even modestly priced schools are a major expense.
When Progressive United opened its first school near Phnom Penh, it was just down the street from another school that charged students $9 to $10 a month for lessons.
"We had five students the first day," says Blasdell, the organization's interim director. "By the end of the week, we were full and hired five more teachers."
Buoyed by the success, Progressive United forged ahead.
"The village (schools) followed in rapid succession," Blasdell says. "We needed to take advantage of the momentum."
That momentum stalled briefly when Washington insider and AIDS activist David Brooks Arnold was appointed president of Progressive United in 2005.
According to organization members, he shifted the group's focus to HIV/AIDS issues and stopped spending on the schools.
Arnold has since left and the schools are back in a growth mode.
Future plans include opening more schools and an ambitious project to build a three-story facility in Phnom Penh with 10 classrooms, office space and living quarters for visiting dignitaries and faculty.
Alex Morales, an educator at Cal State Long Beach who developed an affinity for Cambodia while volunteering with Progressive United, is leading the drive for the new facility. His brother, a builder, volunteered to guide construction and Morales will raise the money. Blasdell owns property that will be used for the site.
The Progressive United schools meet a critical need in Cambodia. Although education is constitutionally guaranteed to all in Cambodia through the ninth grade, drop-out rates remain high.
According to a 2006 report on "Human Development Indicators" by the United Nations Development Program, 50 percent of Cambodian school children drop out before completing sixth grade and 65.5 percent fail to finish ninth grade.
"That basically means that every other Cambodian child, even now ... may not be able to read and write," the report said.
"We have to get kids into schools and that's not happening," says Douglas Gardner, the head of mission for the United National Development Program in Cambodia. "The U.N. and UNDP are trying to ring the bell."
2 comments:
Ohhhh ... enough with the
lipservice already, just tell us
how many student is ready to be
CEO, Senator, ..., or US Prez.
Watch YouTube "Sihanouk & Vietcong"
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