Helping Hands Cambodia

About us

Helping Hands is a grass-roots aid organization empowering young Cambodians living in poverty to help themselves.

Helping Hands was established by Deborah Groves in 2006, and is based in the village of Prasat Char, around 25km from the centre of Siem Reap, Cambodia. The organisation was registered as a Cambodian local NGO in February 2007, and today, is managed by Globalteer, a UK-registered non-profit charity.

Our main vision is to ‘give a hand-up’, not a ‘hand-out’. Through education, we empower our students and their families to break out of a life of poverty in rural Cambodia

Our Mission - 'Helping people help themselves'

At Helping Hands, our aim is to give people a 'hand up', not a ‘hand out’. We want to enable the Cambodian people to help themselves. Through education, we empower our students and their families to break out of a life of poverty. Our aim is to build up the pride and dignity of individuals, family units and the village community as a whole.

We have three key areas of focus: Education, Health Care and Social Care.
• Education:
We teach up to 300 students between the ages of 4 and 20 years old, from Monday to Friday. The core curriculum includes lessons in Khmer Literacy, Numeracy, English Language, Arts and Crafts, Sports and Music. We also teach Health & Hygiene and Life Skills.
In addition to the education we provide on-site, we provide University Scholarships to up to ten young adults each year. We support the young adults with school fees, educational materials and emergency medical care, to encourage them to continue their education, and pursue the career of their choice. For students wishing to pursue vocational training, we have close relationships with a number of hospitality and training schools in Siem Reap.
• Health Care
Nutritional Health: A key part of our Health Programme is to provide our students with a healthy and nutritious breakfast each morning. This breakfast contains fresh vegetables grown in our own onsite organic garden, and is prepared within the guidelines of the World Food Program.
Medical Health and Hygiene: Our students receive weekly Health and Hygiene lessons, and are encouraged to practice hand-washing and tooth brushing daily. We provide our students with toothbrushes and toothpaste, and arrange dental care for those needing treatment. First-aid treatment is provided on site at the school, and we also pay for transportation to the free children’s hospital in Siem Reap for students who require more urgent medical care. We also support our students and their families with the additional food costs incurred whilst staying in hospital.
• Social Work:
Our dedicated Social Worker works to build up and maintain trusting relationships with our students and their families.
Uniforms and Stationery Supplies: We provide all students with a tailored school uniform at the start of the school year. The school uniform is essential for our students to attend their half day Government School. We also provide the necessary stationery supplies such as pens, pencils and books so our students are fully equipped to learn!

Jess Robinson is the Community Programme Manager of Helping Hands Cambodia.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.