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Lisa and Jim

Farewell to Our Great Volunteers

Spitler School sadly said goodbye to a couple of amazing volunteers. Jim Latt has been providing his educational expertise, sound advice, and hard work for almost seven years. Jim has decided to relocate to Europe, but we will know where to reach him, and we hope he will always be “on call.” We wish him nothing but the best in the future and will always be grateful for his immeasurable contributions to Spitler School.

We also bid farewell to Lisa Hoffmeyer, who has completed a third stint as a volunteer at Spitler School. We hope that she will find her way back to Cambodia in the future and continue her great work with the staff and children at Spitler School.

Jim Latt at celebration Lisa and Sarin Lisa and Jim Lisa with Spitler Staff Jim teaching Spitler students

Previous Spitler graduates with their bikes

Graduation is Coming! – August 31st

Previous Spitler graduates with their bikes

Our first graduation class was 27 students in 2010. That year we asked our donors to help us raise funds so that we could provide each of those graduates with the means to continue their education at a government middle school. To attend middle school each student need a bicycle for transportation, a school uniform with closed toed shoes, and some basic school supplies. Of that original class most finished middle school, several finished high school, and three of them are attending a university.

Because of the generosity of our donors we have been able to continue this tradition with every graduating class. The class of 2017 will be the largest class to date with 116 students. Once again we are asking our friends to help us provide these basic needs, which will allow each of these graduates to continue their education in middle school.

The cost for each student is $90 (bike $60, uniform $18, shoes $7, school supplies $5). If you are able to help one or more students we would sincerely appreciate for support.

We look forward to sharing stories and photos from the 2017 graduation ceremony planned for August 31.

 

Starkey Hearing Foundation Visit

Starkey staff, Sarin and Spitler children

Spitler School was pleased to receive a visit from representatives of the Starkey Hearing Foundation in May. According to Foundation’s website and the World Health Organization, more than 360 million people have disabling hearing loss, with the greatest prevalence living in developing countries. Most cannot afford hearing aids or even have access to the care they need.

Teachers at the school identified six children they thought may have hearing issues and the Starkey team came out to conduct some examinations. At first the kids were a bit nervous about the whole experience even though  one of the examiners was Khmer and  was able to explain what would  happen during the test. After the first boy got examined and had his ears cleaned, the others could see it was not such a big deal and they began to relax a bit.  Thankfully the team found that none of the children had hearing problems and they all got a well deserved medal for their bravery.

Thank you Starkey Foundation!