From dedicated volunteers to accomplished professionals

In rural areas of Cambodia, they grew up volunteering for the development of their communities. Through Youth Clubs, they discovered a taste for community service. For many of them, this experience was a real gateway to the academic and professional world. Let's take a closer look at these volunteers.

Being both a beneficiary and a participant in Sipar's programs has often meant much more than just an extracurricular activity. For young people from modest backgrounds, it has been an opportunity to believe in their abilities and to envision a future they never thought possible.
This is the case for Sreyleak, a former member of a Youth Club in Prey Veng province: “Thank you to Sipar for helping me, a young girl from a disadvantaged background, to obtain my university degree in computer science. Thanks to you, I am now a teacher.”, she said.

Like her, many former volunteers have followed inspiring paths. Theang, Reaksmey, Chantou, Chanry, Samoun, and Samoeurn all began volunteering at a very young age. Today, they are university students, librarian-educators in Sipar's mobile libraries, engineers, or entrepreneurs. What they have in common is that they developed a sense of responsibility and a desire to serve their community at a very early age.

By leading academic support, reading, and awareness activities, these young people gradually gained confidence. Many were shy and did not dare to dream of higher education. Over the years, they have become true local leaders.

Through their involvement, they acquired essential skills: communication, teaching, creativity, coordination, management, critical thinking, teamwork, and emotional management. These skills proved to be crucial to their personal and professional success. They were able to leverage the skills they acquired and demonstrate them beyond the Youth Clubs.

In rural areas of Cambodia, dropping out of school remains common once students enter secondary school. The fact that all seven of these young people have continued or completed higher education is therefore a remarkable achievement. It demonstrates the tangible impact of Sipar's actions in support of young people.

My name is Chantou, and my story with Sipar began in 2012 when I joined a youth club as a volunteer. I had a strong desire to get involved in my community and help children gain access to education and reading.

Within the club, I quickly became president. My role consisted of organizing community activities, leading reading sessions, and supporting children in their learning. This experience was instrumental in developing my sense of responsibility and my desire to work with young people.

I then went on to study public administration at university. This training allowed me to strengthen my communication and coordination skills, which are essential qualities in my fieldwork. In 2018, I joined the Sipar team. I now work as a librarian-educator in brick factories.

Sipar has played a major role in my life. Thanks to my involvement, I have gained confidence, leadership skills, and organizational abilities. I learned how to manage my time better, work in a team, use digital tools, create educational activities... All these experiences have shaped the person I have become. I am proud of my journey and deeply grateful to Sipar. This organization has given me the opportunity to grow and, in turn, contribute to the future of my country's children.

The Sipar Library: a resource center for juvenile inmates 

In Kandal province, the first rehabilitation center for minors opened a year ago. This unique facility in Cambodia was created to offer an alternative to traditional prisons. Until then, young inmates were incarcerated with adults, in conditions that were ill-suited to their age and needs. Now, teenagers and young adults aged 15 to 24 can serve their sentences in an environment designed to prepare them for the future. Sipar has set up a library there, which supports the inmates on a daily basis.

The inmates housed in this center have been sentenced to terms ranging from two to ten years, mainly for drug trafficking. The majority of them are still minors. Unlike traditional prisons, where educational support is limited, everything here has been designed to encourage responsibility and learning. The conditions of detention have been redesigned to promote genuine social and professional reintegration upon release from prison.

Many activities are offered to young people at the center. Training courses in agriculture and mechanics are organized, as well as remedial classes and English lessons. The efforts made by inmates are rewarded: regular participation can lead to sentence reductions of up to nine months.

At the heart of the center, the library and multimedia space set up by Sipar play an essential role. This place has become a real hub for learning and exchange. Young people can read there, borrow books for their cells, and take part in educational activities. The BEEP programme,, which allows students to obtain a middle school equivalency diploma, is also offered there. Thanks to these tools, the days are filled with education and socialization.

Since it opened, the Kandal center has shown how well this model works. There have been few reports of violence and no escape attempts. Most importantly, none of the young people who have left the center have reoffended. These results show how important it is to provide tailored, humane support. As the center's director, Mr. Phea Vannak, points out: “I encourage them to view the center as a boarding school, where they have come to learn and serve society.”

In light of these advances, the creation of new centers for minors has been made a priority for the Cambodian government. Four additional facilities are planned to meet growing needs. The Kandal center, with a capacity of 1,200 people, is expected to reach full capacity by early 2026. The development of similar facilities throughout the country will allow young convicts to remain close to their families, which is crucial to their rehabilitation.

By supporting this center and developing its educational activities, Sipar is directly helping to give hundreds of young Cambodians a second chance. Access to reading, education, and training remains one of the most powerful tools for a successful reintegration.

In high schools, libraries still a long way from the French CDI model

In France, the Documentation and Information Center (CDI) has been in existence since 1973. At that time in Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge were destroying everything related to knowledge. This partly explains the delay in access to information, particularly in terms of career guidance. Since 2021, Sipar has been working to support secondary school students.

In France, the CDI has been firmly established in the educational landscape for middle and high school students for over 50 years. In Cambodia, libraries are gradually emerging in public education but are still rare in rural areas. This is largely thanks to Sipar's youth empowerment program that things have been moving forward since 2021.

Already 15 libraries in rural areas are up and running, and 10 more will open by May 2027The program is also in the process of being institutionalized by the ministry. This will help recognize the importance of orientation centers and the profession of teacher-librarian. Human resources lack training, and this profession is given little or no recognition within teaching teams.

The libraries installed by Sipar all have a space dedicated to career guidance. In France, this is a fully institutionalized activity, integrated and progressive throughout the student's school career: appointments with guidance counselors, meetings with companies, participation in trade shows and forums, discovery internships in companies, etc.

In Cambodia, this role of high schools has emerged very recently and remains largely unstructured. Recently integrated into the curriculum of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, career guidance aims to professionalize support for young people, helping them make informed choices that are suited to the job market. Sipar provides documentary resources, trains librarians, and works hand in hand with schools to organize career forums where students can meet with universities and companies.

We still need funds to finance this second phase until May 2027 and reach more than 36,000 students. Without your support, this investment in the human capital of young people is not possible.

In October 2021, Sipar launched its program 100% for high school students in rural areas to support them in their orientation journey and strengthen their commitment to their community. A year later, the program is well advanced.

Activities are proceeding as planned and have even been a little ahead of schedule. Half of the overall project over three years is funded, but there is still a long way to go to achieve our goals and enable 27,000 high school students to be supported in their career guidance, create printed and digital tools for development assistance or support young people in villages to become leaders in their communities.