Why Cambodia?
Since its independence from the French colonial powers in 1953, Cambodia has been
subjected to many years of exploitation by successive regimes that had gained and lost
their powers. In 1975, the already fragile social fabric of Cambodia was dealt its final blow
when they came under the cruel regime of the Khmer Rouge.
In the short four years that the Khmer Rouge were in power, Cambodia was
systematically and thoroughly destroyed. Subjected to genocide and the extreme violation
of their rights, at least 1.5 million Cambodians died during the Khmer Rouge regime. They
were forcefully evicted from their homes and separated from their families. Unfortunately,
the thirteen years of civil unrest which followed cemented the future of Cambodians. They
continued to suffer from long periods of starvation, forced labour and extreme hardship.
The two difficult decades under the Khmer Rouge and the civil war caused tremendous
disruption to the communities’ development and progress. Many children were denied the
opportunity to receive proper education. Cambodia has become one of the poorest and
least developed countries in South-East Asia, with low adult literacy and high drop out and
repetition rates in primary and secondary schools.