Jimmy founded Jimmy's Village School on his own. He is the heart and soul of the school, exclusively and free.  

Jimmy's dream is to see the future generations of Cambodians successfully join the global community and help develop their small country. To achieve this, he shares his gift of proficiency in the English Language, which he refers to as the global language.

A small country joins the global community

Jimmy was born in the village of Siem Reap, in Cambodia, whose proximity to the Unesco Heritage Site of Angkor Wat has created a touristic boom in the area. While this has led to rapid growth for the city and its economy, it has severely changed its lifestyle, raising costs in all areas, especially land. Industries are rapidly changing as Siem Reap becomes recognized on the global scale.

Despite these challenges, Jimmy sees this growth as a unique opportunity for the future generation of Cambodians. "The world's attention is something that can be taken advantage of for growing our people and our country", Jimmy says.

The problem is that the first step in integrating into this global community is communication. The international language, as is obvious based on the common language spoken amongst all tourists regardless of their origin, is English, which is very poorly taught, if at all, at the local schools.

Teaching english to communicate with the world

As a boy, Jimmy complemented the bits of English that he was able to learn at school with his own studies. He spent as much time as he could at Angkor Wat, speaking with the locals and asking them to correct the notes he kept in his booklet, in return for tours and local information. At night, he would hangout on his mother's yard, mingling as much as he could with the tourists passing by. This year, with the help of the many travelers he befriended that supported his cause, he was able to get his degree in English and teaching.

Having seen the poor quality, or altogether lack of English classes at the local schools, he decided to build his own to offer afterschool classes. He hopes to give an opportunity to the future generation of Cambodian children to successfully integrate their country into the world's economy and, most importantly, provide good life for themselves and their families.

Keeping the English classes free

Cambodia, however, is still a developing nation. In order to ensure that he reaches the broadest array of children, Jimmy keeps the classes free. All that he asks from his students in return is dedication and consistent attendance. They are all too eager to provide both, despite already spending time at the local public schools and filling the rest of their day with chores and assisting with their families' small businesses.

It is a stark contrast to the attitude of students (myself included) in the schools I attended, where kids often had to be dragged kicking and screaming to their classes. It's heartbreaking to see children that have such a strong desire to learn have to most difficult time to access a adequate education.

In order to be able to support himself, provide supplies for the school, and keep the classes free, Jimmy fills every available hour of his day outside of classes working as a tour guide. Still, the work he's able to do is not enough to fund the school and support himself, and he has been relying on donations from the various travelers that pass by his school and are enamoured by his dedication and cause. They have helped keep the school afloat, but challenges are now pilling up, and as have Jimmy's ambitions.

More than just English classes

As a passionate teacher, Jimmy inspires by example. His mission is to reveal all the possibilities these children have and help them establish ambitious life goals. Every day Jimmy reminds kids at school to dream big, to care about people and environment around them, to work hard, and make a difference in the world.

Jimmy’s school is not just a place to memorize foreign words, it’s a daily practice to develop communication skills, to understand different perspectives, learn forgiveness and acceptance of other cultures, believe in yourself.

Jimmy loves the Khmer language and culture very much, and continues to stress the importance of preserving it and encouraging his students to practice it, even as he is teaching English. That being said, he understands that, for a child to be successful in a poor country such as Cambodia, communication with foreigners and the outside world is key, and the way to do that is through English.

Next steps for the children

Jimmy is sorely aware of the many children that live too hard away, in the villages surrounding Siem Reap, to attend his classes. Education is even sparser out there so the need is so much higher. As the number of children attending his classes continues to grow, his current capacity is reaching a breaking point.

He needs a bigger plot of land for a school, and wishes to build it outside of the city to be able to reach more children. Furthermore, he wishes to build a mobile school so that he can extend his reach even further, to everyone that lives outside of that new school's range.

Unfortunately, the dream of a bigger plot of land will need to be a reality much sooner than expected, as his family is now looking to sell the one where he is currently operating. Were that to happen, Jimmy would be left without a school altogether, and the children without any classes, and a dwindling future.

Donations are now more important than ever to ensure that he can get his new land as soon as possible amid the rising prices in the ever more popular Siem Reap, and make sure that these children are not left behind in their own village.