Mission
“To restore hope, dignity and promise to these once proud and prosperous people”
Our Story
From humble beginnings as a grassroots charity, New Hope Cambodia has become an internationally respected non-government organisation (NGO) supported by individuals, businesses and service groups worldwide.
New Hope Cambodia now offers a range of services and facilities including:
- Two three story schools providing free education
- A medical centre providing free health care to students and staff.
- Provides a free cooked breakfast every morning prior to starting school. All children are required to wash their hands prior to eating and must brush their teeth after eating.
- A community development program that provides emergency support for families in critical need.
Open dates
New Hope Cambodia is open weekdays, and closed weekends. Click here to view Cambodian Public Holidays for current year.
Where it began
In 2007 Soth Kemsour, an ex-Buddhist monk and the son of a village chief, purchased some land in Mondul Bai, Siem Reap province which is located in one of the poorest slum areas in Cambodia.
Once a military base, Mondul Bai was the home of some 300 families which comprised of soldiers and their relatives, sex workers and displaced men, women and children. It also contained many dysfunctional families. Many men had been killed whilst serving in the army and numerous adults, both men and women had died of disease. Children often had to either rely on elderly relatives and siblings for care or had to simply fend for themselves.
In order to survive many of the young girls fell victim to the sex trade and then had children themselves. Without any means of support these young girls had no future and many of them died prematurely from sexually transmitted diseases.
The people of Mondul Bai had no formal education and their employment opportunities were extremely limited. Their living conditions were appalling and their access to food was scarce.
Kemsour couldn’t ignore the chronic malnutrition, ill health and the horrific living conditions he was confronted with everyday.
As Kemsour appreciated that education plays a vital role in breaking the cycle of poverty he, to the dismay of his new wife, sold all their assets and built a small grass hut where he taught English and Japanese.
From these very humble beginnings New Hope Cambodia was born.
