Small-scale-project funding for the construction of a building for music and sewing lessons in Takhmao

Enlarge image In 2010, the German Embassy in Phnom Penh funded the La Valla school in Takhmao with around 11.500,- US-dollars.

La Valla school was founded in 1998 and has since been the only school in the Kingdom of Cambodia that is exclusively built for students with disabilities. There is still a vast majority of disabled people in Cambodia who are dependent on begging for food and money. It's La Valla school's goal to prevent this behaviour through an early and thorough education. Many of the disabilities derive from accidents with still undetected land mines or illnesses like polio or tuberculosis.

95 percent of the students live on the school grounds. This is very important since many of the children are not from the Phnom Penh area. It can take up to several days to travel home to their families. Enlarge image

The grant of the German embassy was used to built a small house which accommodates two rooms. One room is used as a band/music room. It can be used by the school for their music lessons as well as for the students as a practice area. Until the room was built, students had to practice outside and were very dependent on the weather. Especially during the rainy season the music lessons had to be canceled Enlarge image every now and then. It's also an advantage that the newly built room has a lock. This way instruments are not only sheltered from bad weather but also secured from thieves.

The other room is used as a sewing room. Here the pupils – boys and girls similarly – learn how to sew. The children can try out their own creativity and enjoy to produce parts of their own clothes. Through the consequent training the children learn the trade of a sewer from the scratch and will be able to work in this field after they will have finished school. It is a great way for them to integrate into society. Enlarge image