At ABCs and Rice, rice is the students' incentive to go to school and get an education instead of being out on the street. With good attendance at ABCs and Rice, twice per month, each child gets to take home 6 kg (13 lbs) of rice to feed their families. The kids are happy, healthy, and learning, and there's something in it for the whole family, too. It's a win for everyone involved.
Today is Rice Day at ABCs and Rice. But, unfortunately without enough funding, it’s the first Rice Day we’ve had in several months.
At ABCs and Rice, we must continue our mission of keeping the kids in school so they can grow to be what they want to be. We can't go another month without a Rice Day.
For me, my parents made me go to school. My teachers made me go. My principal made me go. Really, my culture made me go. I certainly didn't go for the food.
Had I been born 80
years prior, living in the bread-basket of America, I might have been
encouraged to drop out of school to work on the farm to support the family. Had
I been born in the wrong neighborhood in the wrong city today, I might have
left my value for education in the dust and allowed desperation to
overtake my morality.
I’m thankful to have been born where I was, when I was, and to have parents who pushed me to be successful in everything I do. As a result, I have gained skills that allow me to support myself, live a good life, and give back to others in need.
When the photo below
was taken, if you offered me the chance to drop out of school and play soccer,
try to beat Battletoads, and eat Fun Dip as a job, I probably
would have taken you up on it.
But, alas, I had to go to
school.
In Cambodia, though,
education is not compulsory. There aren’t principals or teachers telling
kids they must go to school. Because they are poor, the parents aren’t
making them go, either. Instead, the children must work to support the
family. The kids beg on the street, pick pockets, work under the sun in the rice
fields, and/or peddle souvenirs to tourists just to make a few dollars a
month.
Even students who
attend government school, which is only half day, and don't come to ABCs and
Rice the other half, are out on the streets begging for money in their school
uniforms.
The kids work hard every day, and it's often necessary for family survival, but it won't stop the cycle. How does one climb out of poverty this way by struggling to survive? How do you learn ethical skills to dig yourself out without structure?
ABCs and Rice is
not only a first-rate school that teaches valuable skills to hundreds of
children every day, it is a haven from life on the street. It is the support
system that impoverished children typically do not get.
At ABCs, the kids get
to work hard, play, socialize, and grow. They get to be kids while they wait
the right amount of time to become adults. The kind of happy, healthy adults
who can teach the value of education to the next generation, just like my
parents, principals, and teachers did for me.
Each student leaves each day knowing that they can be what they
want to be. In the 9 years since it was founded, ABCs graduates have
become chefs, hotel managers, business owners, and some are even on their way
to becoming doctors.
ABCs and Rice has done
it all by proving to hundreds of impoverished children and their families that
education is valuable--and they've done it by giving back just a little, in the form of rice!
 |
| Practicing carrying home his rice on his friend |
This week is
Thanksgiving in America. Each year, we give thanks for all that we
have, whether it’s a roof over our head, fresh, running water with the turn of
a knob, the delicious food on our plates, a Netflix account that we all share,
or heating to ease the cold of those unexpected early Chicago winters.
This Thanksgiving, on
top of being thankful for all that you have, be thankful for all that you have
to give to those in need.
Help us not miss another Rice Day. Just $6.80 (£5) feeds a child at
ABCs and Rice for one month. Just $20 (£15) sends rice home to 10 ABCs families in need. At ABCs and Rice, we are thankful
for any amount you’re able to give.
