Education for Girls, Food for Their Families in Cambodia

By Shae Davidson

Chhorn Dim lives with her elderly parents in Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia, where she takes care of her nieces and nephews. Her two older sisters work as laborers in Thailand and send home what they can to supplement the money their father makes doing seasonal farm work.

Dim’s family was constantly worried about making ends meet, and she considered dropping out of school to help support her loved ones. But her educational prospects—as well as the paths open to her in the future—were transformed when she received a scholarship from longtime BGR partner Lotus Outreach International and the nonprofit invited her family to participate in their Rice 4 Education program.

After two decades of providing innovative scholarship programs and educational opportunities to girls in Cambodia, Lotus Outreach International has now passed the torch of this wonderful program to our new partner for this project, Lotus Outreach Australia. Their programs continue to help young women escape the cycle of poverty by offering access to education that would otherwise be out of reach.

The Rice 4 Education program was developed as a support for Lotus Outreach’s early scholarship programs. Program organizers realized that scholarship funding alone would not be sufficient to keep girls like Dim in school, as many of the girls came from families that were facing severe economic hardship and therefore relied on the girls’ labor. By providing rice to the students’ families, the Rice 4 Education program enabled these girls to continue their education rather than drop out to help support their parents. In recent years, droughts and floods in rural Cambodia—ever more frequent due to climate change—and economic instability have contributed to skyrocketing food prices. Today, almost 100 percent of the students Lotus Outreach supports need food aid.

The bags of rice Dim’s family receives each month has helped them use their resources to meet other expenses. They no longer have to worry about daily food shortages, giving Dim the opportunity to focus on her studies. She bicycles from her home to school each day, where she excels in her classwork. Inspired by the caring staff members at her school, Dim plans to become a teacher in order to help other at-risk students. She also wants to give back to her community more broadly, and has devoted time to exploring human rights, gender equality, reproductive health, immigration, and other social issues. Together BGR and Lotus Outreach Australia are helping Dim transform herself and her world.

BGR Board member Shae Davidson completed a Ph.D. in U.S. History at Ohio University, with research exploring the importance of inclusive community partnerships in building food systems. His past experience includes serving as a museum director, a humanities instructor, and a researcher. Shae currently works at a nonprofit that supports survivors of gender-based violence.