“That was the first time I had shoes,” said Saran, a wide smile cast across her face as she told of the moment she was first able to attend school in Phnom, Penh, Cambodia. 

Most of us think nothing of slipping on our shoes as we skip out the door, jump into our cars and head to work, school, or maybe just to do that morning coffee and bagel run. 

Without realizing it, we just experienced an almost countless series of privileges. If you did get that morning coffee, you just spent more money than 1/3 of the population earns in a single day (UNICEF). If you walked into the coffee shop with shoes on your feet you are luckier than 300 million children around the world. 

Perhaps your breakfast is resting on the corner of your desk at school; it’s because you walked through a set of doors that 600 million children and adolescents only dream of reaching. Part of the workforce? It was that same education that made you employable and safe from poverty. 

The statistics are sobering, but it’s impossible to truly numericize the human experience. Instead, we have stories from people like Saran to cast light on the significance of changing just one life. She has a warm and cheerful demeanor, a testament to her resilience despite early struggles. 

“My father died when I was two-years-old, and my mother left her province to stay in Phnom Penh. I would go with mom to the garbage dump,” said Saran, referencing the municipal garbage dump on the outskirts of the capital city. “After about three years, I saw Phymean.”

Phymean Noun is the Founder and Director of People Improvement Organization (PIO), JustWorld International’s partner organization in Cambodia since 2004. Ever since then, JustWorld has funded the operational cost of a Kindergarten through Grade-12 school, which supports 1,500 students and 50 in orphanage. 

Saran’s life was one of many that changed the day Phymean arrived at the municipal garbage site with a simple, yet profound question. 

“So, who wants to study?” Phymean asked.

“I said ‘Me! Me!’. Then I went and told my mother. I said ‘Mom, I want to study! Mommy, I want to study!’” Saran said. 

Saran’s mother had no choice but to try and quell her daughter’s dream, explaining that they didn’t have the money to support her studies or purchase the supplies she’d need in order to attend school. 

“I told her but now we can study because we don’t have to pay for it! Phymean had the books, the uniforms and the shoes,” said Saran. “I studied at PIO for years."

Saran’s studies at PIO are complete, but she’s still in class each day. Only now it’s as a teacher, bringing the dreams of Phnom Penh’s children to life, just as PIO did for her. 

PIO offers much more than books and uniforms. A robust curriculum is supported by proper nutrition in a hot, balanced lunch, and even an on-site doctor fully funded by JustWorld to treat students and their families. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation services dramatically curbs the risk of disease due to unclean water. Each of these measures ensures students are both healthy and learning, as you cannot have one without the other.

Children don’t return home empty handed, either. The JustWorld rice program provides students with good attendance 5 kg of rice every month for their family, which is enough to feed a family of six for that entire month. 

A school like PIO is critical in Cambodian communities, a country which still sees 36.1% of children involved in child labor to support their families and only 35.8% of girls attend secondary school. Yet with the help of leaders like Phymean Noun and equestrians from around the world, JustWorld is fighting to change those statistics everyday. 

“There are still so many children who need our help, and it is up to us to make sure we do our part to make this world a better place. I am beyond inspired about the future of our organization,” said JustWorld Founder and President Jessica Newman. 

Together, we can walk in Saran’s shoes towards a brighter future.

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JustWorld International

Established in 2003, JustWorld was founded to provide equestrians a way to support carefully vetted education programs for impoverished children around the world. Thousands of JustWorld Ambassadors from more than 40 countries have since committed to “ride for the cause” and assist JustWorld in accomplishing its mission to help build brighter futures for these children and their communities. Equestrian-based companies and events worldwide support JustWorld’s efforts, and the governing body of the global equestrian sport, the FEI, has endorsed JustWorld as its official charity partner. In 2022, JustWorld is helping improve the lives of nearly 10,000 impoverished children around the globe on a daily basis.

To donate, become an ambassador, or learn more about JustWorld, please visit www.justworldinternational.org or follow @justworldinternational on Facebook and Instagram.