Educational toys for the Sunshine School
Educational toys for the Sunshine School.
Lily Foundation tries to bridge the gap between donors and those in need with the help of local businesses. We have a large network and try to connect people with each other. A good example is Panha Sabay and The Sunshine School.
Who and what is Panha Sabay
Panha Sabay is a new business whose start-up activities began in 2017.
The founder of Panha Sabay is Ineke and she has been actively volunteering in a few educational projects around the city of Siem Reap, Cambodia, since 2009. During this time she learned a bit about the public educational system in this country and saw an unfulfilled need she wanted to meet. Many young students struggle to keep up with learning basic skills such as reading, understanding Khmer (the native language of Cambodia), and math due to the fast-paced environment of the traditional classroom. Sometimes this struggle becomes so great that students make the decision to quit school; a decision that has life-impacting consequences. And so an idea was born!
Panha Sabay develops and produces educational toys for the children of Cambodia. Often these children go to school for only a few hours per day with basic materials being taught in a fast-paced environment during those first few years of school. Panha Sabay offers students an opportunity to practice their elementary school subjects in a fun and playful manner beyond the classroom. Because the toys are self-correcting, children can work independently, at their own pace, and build confidence in their ability to apply what they’ve learned.
Sustainability is very important to us, therefore whenever possible natural or recycled materials are used to create our toys. Beyond the eco-friendly benefits, using these materials also allows the toys to be affordable, making them available to many more Cambodian families!
The Sunshine school:
The Sunshine school was founded by Ms. Han. Han herself is still a student studying at university in Siem Reap. She comes from a village under the shadow of Siem Reap international airport. Many children in this village do not have the opportunity to learn English, so she decided to start giving English lessons to children from the neighborhood under her mother’s house.
Many children were malnourished so she also decided to give a daily meal to all the children attending this little school. Han’s sister, only 16 years old, cooks for these children. In addition to English classes, a computer class is offered and there is also a library. Han herself plays various instruments such as guitar and violin and she therefore wants to offer music lessons to these children in the future. Her big dream is to join Cambodia Idols one day.
Because Han was not trained as a professional teacher and does everything with passion and commitment, it is not always easy to teach the students responsibly.
Now Lily foundation comes into the picture. Since we have been helping The Sunshine School with the meals program for several years, the link with Panha Sabay is now established.
With the donation from Lily foundation, we bought products from Panha Sabay and Ineke personally handed the games to Han and explained the various games. Han was so enthusiastic that she immediately started playing the games with the children. The children were also thrilled with the games. These games is a huge asset to the Sunshine school and the children will learn English in a playful way.
A network is very important to bring the right persons together however even more important is to work with people who have passion and commitment to achieve their goals. Ineke from Panha Sabay and Han from the Sunshine school are 2 of the many examples who do everything with passion and commitment.
Lily Foundation is proud to work with such inspiring people.
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