Make Future is Bright Lab for Youth in Cambodia

Dear PEPY Community,

We are very excited to update you on the developments of our Future is Bright Computer Lab! We have been able to set up a computer check-in/out station in our ICT Classroom that will be monitored by our ICT Teacher. The main desktop will have training applications and documentation along with the record/waitlist for the computers. We are working on a software application to make our desktop login very similar to public libraries where students can enter into the library check-in/out system based on an ID number. We are in the process of looking at these applications and reaching out to similar programs in other countries to see what the best options are!

Our goal is to pilot this program within the next 2 months starting with any city-based alumni that want to have more access to computers to increase their IT skills. This can include recently unemployed students/alumni from the COVID-19 crisis or alumni who have a personal interest or desire to diversify their skill sets. We will be able to purchase approximately 3-5 second-hand computers in August with the funding received so far, along with a few printed/online textbooks focused on various advanced computer topics and a computer storage bureau.

During this month, we reached out to NGOs and tech groups in Phnom Penh to find any and all training materials or applications available in basic English and/or Khmer that we could add to our Future is Bright Lab to help youth begin their self-learning. The main desktop will be equipped with everything we can collect along with our staff’s Khmer lessons they are adapting from more challenging English courses we found online. First, we will be focusing on giving youth the resources and tools to improve their skills of teaching online, web development, coding, and Microsoft Office. We will move into map making and cartography software this year as well. 

The whole team is very excited with the prospect of bringing a tech library to Siem Reap as IT access is so limited and Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh, is often favored for IT funding. Our alumni and IT students want to be competitive with their Phnom Penh counterparts. We all see this as a fantastic opportunity for us to improve as an organization while eventually improving IT programs in Siem Reap by producing future IT educators and collaborating with education institutions over the next few years. We cannot wait for our youth to start renting the computers and learning what applications they are most interested in.