CUSP Coming of Age

Just over six years ago, the idea of helping bright, young, rural, poor Cambodians get a college education became what is now known as the Cambodian University Scholarship Project or CUSP. I would like to share a story that tracks the first six years. It was March of 2006 and our team was at a World Vision sponsored birthday party. 300 young Cambodians, who did not know when they were born, were being celebrated and we participated. Kathi Bonallo, a member of our team took a picture of a 12-year‐old boy who was sitting behind her at the festivities.

In 2009 Kathi visited the dorm students and there was this smiling boy who recognized her from 2006. His name is Hit Lin, the boy that had sat behind her at the birthday party had been selected as one of the first group of twelve students. Kathi and her husband Fred began sponsoring Lin through CUSP. In August 2011, Kathi visited the dorms again when the photograph on the left was taken. Kathi and Lin have become friends, they are connected on facebook and they regularly send letters back and forth through people traveling to and from Cambodia. This summer Kathi sent “The Pearl” by Steinbeck for Lin to read and improve his English fluency.

At English Camp in August 2012 Lin distinguished himself as one of the highest performing students.

Hit Lin graduated from High School in 2012 and entered the Royal University of Phnom Penh studying computer science. He told me this summer that when he first came his classmates ignored him because he was a poor boy from the provinces. All of CUSP students are chosen from the poorest families in rural villages. Most have only one parent or none. However, Hit Lin smiled when he told me that after he scored 2nd in class during the first semester, he suddenly became very popular. Here is Hit Lin from this August.

CUSP presently supports 35 students attending High School and 12 students in college or vocational school. We have graduated 23 students from College in these 6 years. Thank you for your support for CUSP. Your investment is paying off in young Cambodian lives. We are working hard to maximize your dollars directly to the students in Cambodia. We encourage our sponsors to try to communicate with their sponsored student and establish a relationship. If you would like to have the experience that Kathi has had and make a deeper friendship with a young promising Cambodian then contact me about travelling to Cambodia and helping teach at our English Camp this coming August. Thank you also, for considering CUSP in your year-end giving.

Ray Durr