TWO SPRING OF HOPE STUDENTS REALIZE THEIR DREAMS
Meet Vert Samry
Vert Samry on left.
“I would like to tell you that since this school started in my village, many children, including myself, can speak English and use computer. I love Spring of Hope School because it has changed my life. My future will become bright because of your support”
Twenty-three-year-old Samry studied at Spring of Hope School from 2014 through 2018. She is the seventh of eleven children; three of her brothers were also SOH students.
In 2019, Samry graduated from high school and enrolled in Western University in Phnom Penh to study the teaching of English. But after two years, Samry was unable to continue her studies. Her parents, who are rice and tobacco farmers, needed to pay the school fees for two of her brothers, so she returned home. That same year, she was granted a full scholarship to a university in Indonesia. But when covid-19 hit that country, she had to abandon her plans once again.
In 2022, she moved to Phnom Penh to find a job and save enough money to resume her studies. She now works five days a week teaching English to a kindergarten class at a private school in the capitol.
With the help of a generous donor, Samry renewed her full-time studies at Western University in March 2023, where she will earn a degree in English. She will be the first member of her family to complete college.
Meet Phe Makara
“Spring of Hope School is the reason I can speak English and use a computer. I really appreciate this opportunity. With this knowledge, my university life will be easier. Spring of Hope School is like a Spring for me and many other children that gives us hope, knowledge and the bright future ahead of us.”
Makara comes from a small farming village near Svay Khleang, where Spring of Hope School is located. She studied English at SOH for four years until she graduated from high school in 2022. Her younger sister is also a student at SOH.
In March 2023, Makara began her studies at the National University of Management in Phnom Penh, where she is working hard to attain her goal of becoming a lawyer. She is also breaking ground there for other ambitious young Cambodian women, as most of the other law students are male. Makara is now working to acclimate to life in the big city, where she is becoming used to the busy roads, the traffic jams and more. And as her proud parents would attest, she is the first in her family to attend university, thanks to our school’s sponsors.