D: What problem is Dare & Dream
aiming to address?
L: Cambodian girls face various
barriers to attain any level of
education and more so for
higher education. Some of those
barriers include poverty, security,
cultural norms and restrictions,
insecurity, poor infrastructures,
long distances, lack of sanitation
and clean bathrooms, etc. Dare
and Dream seeks to address the
following four issues: (1) Reducing
girls drop-outs, (2) Building female
role models, (3) Building future
female leaders, and (4) Breaking
cultural concepts.
D: What sets Dare & Dream apart
from other initiatives that aim
to address the same problem in
Cambodia?
D: Could you tell us about Dare
& Dream?
L: Dare & Dream started in early
June of 2017. It is an online/offline
consulting platform working with
rural girls from low income families.
The aims are to empower girls
to pursue higher education, to
inspire them to chase their dreams,
and to build a girls’ networks
platform to help them go into
further education. Our online
platform refers to mentorship
support requiring internet access.
The girls can contact us by any
communication channel such as
email, Facebook, mobile phone,
skype, and the like. Our offline
platform refers to direct meetings
and consultations in Phnom Penh
or in any province.
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Dare and Dream services include:
(1) Mentorship support, (2)
Scholarship Support that includes
proofreading applications and
mock interviews, (3) Matching
young women to favorable
universities, internships and
careers, and (4) trainings which
include providing leadership
opportunities for mentees or
membership and training services
for other stakeholders or partners.
D: Who comprises the founding
team of Dare & Dream? Would
you like to share what inspired
you all to join together to
start it?
L: We are a team of three
Cambodian women: Ms. Laitheam
Eang, a sophomore student
majoring in Global Studies and
Social Entrepreneurship at
Change Magazine September 2017 www.changemag-diinsider.com
Thammasat University, Bangkok,
Thailand, Ms. Kagna Mourng, a
graduate from the University of
Hawaii, USA, and a fellow of the
Asia Pacific Leadership Program,
and Ms. Saren Keang, a Master’s
student in Sustainable International
Development and Coexistence
and Conflict at Brandeis University,
USA.
One of the motivations that
connect us is our deep passion
to empower young women in
Cambodia. That, obviously, binds
us in the first place. But as we got
to know each other more closely,
we learned that we also shared
very similar backgrounds that have
brought us to where we are now—
from unprivileged rural families
through faith, hard work, and
perseverance.
L: Dare & Dream provides first
hand support since girls lack
capacity, then we sharpen
them with our various support
mechanisms as described
above and match them with the
opportunity. Finally, we empower
them to be self-sufficient and be
able to take some spare time to
volunteer helping other girls to role
models like them too.
D: What is (are) the comparative
edge(s) of Dare & Dream?
L: Our service is more direct and
closer to the target group which
provides room for them to interact
with the expert and coordinator
faster and more convenient. It is
marketable and more innovative
than other traditional organizations.
D: Have you developed a
prototype service? If so, what
is it?
L: The prototype services in the
online platform is by FB public
groups, closed groups, email and
phone communication. We have
started it about a month ago.
We want to know the number
of girls who are able to reach
to us online, what are the main
challenges and difficulties in online
communication, what their needs
are, what we can offer them, and
what can we improve in the next
three months. So far, our routine
contact is by phone.
D: What have you done so far
to solve the problem? Did you
encounter any difficulties? How
did you get over it? Have you
made any improvements to Dare
& Dream since then?
L: Since we have started our
project in early June 2017, it is only
in the first phase of our startup
process. Our current problems
are lack of human resources like
local experts, limited funding,
developing a good strategic
plan, and lack of technical
support to design the online
platform. Another issue is the
communication between the three
founders. We are living in three
different countries which makes it
a main constraint to come up with
detailed plans quickly. However,
these problems cannot stop us to
make Dare & Dream happen in the
beginning of 2018. We schedule
bi-monthly meetings by Skype
to prepare our strategic plan, to
update our work and arrange
the tasks among the three of us.
Recently, we have a partnership
with Development Innovation
Insider and a few organizations.
D: Would you like share
something that touched you the
most since you started Dare &
Dream?
L: The most touching thing since
we started Dare & Dream is seeing
girls gradually becoming fearless
and believing in themselves. Some
girls have reached us online in
The online platform is a new
concept for Cambodian girls in
rural areas. With the increase
in the use of smart phones and
the internet, we believe that
Cambodian girls will be familiar
in using new technology such as
Facebook, email, skype or other
applications. At the same time, we
would like to train these girls how
to access social media and to get
benefit from technology.
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