ដើម្បីអានជាភាសាខ្មែរ សូមចុច នៅទីនេះ
On a sunny Saturday December morning, children gathered outside the Sothearous Primary School in Phnom Penh. The youngest students were early and patient as they waited for their older schoolmates to follow suit. Khen Sophan, the principal, turned on a megaphone and called the group to attention. The students slapped their arms to their sides in quick obedience, and then placed their right hand on the right shoulder of the student immediately in front of them. This simple action shook the tangled lines into precision. They were now ready to listen. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have come to give you a new school bag,” he announced. The children burst into applause.
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Humanitarian missionaries Sister Patricia and Elder Richard Gerlach distribute school supply kits to students at Sothrearous Primary School in Phnom Penh.
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Principal Khen Sophan of Sothrearous Primary School in Phnom Penh is surrounded by local young adult Latter-day Saints and humanitarian missionaries Elder Richard and Patricia Gerlach as they prepare for the arrival of students to receive school supply kits.
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Sister Gerlach addresses the students of Sothearous Primary School in Phnom Penh who are receiving school bags donated as part of a youth service project at FSY Cambodia 2023.
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Students at Sothearous Primary School in Phnom Penh explore their new school supply kits provided by youth participants of FSY Cambodia 2023.
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Students, faculty, and volunteers of Sothearous Primary School in Phnom Penh celebrate the delivery of school supply kits assembled at FSY Cambodia 2023
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On a table at the head of the crowd were hundreds of nylon backpacks looking for new homes. The backpacks were filled by Latter-day Saint youth and young adults participating in a service project that was part of the 2023 For the Strength of Youth (FSY) Conference in Cambodia (related article here). Several of the participants and counselors reunited at Sothearous Primary School morning to share the gifts of their labor.
Sister Patricia Gerlach, the Church humanitarian senior missionary who managed the FSY service project, received the megaphone. “Be sure to get a good education,” she told the students. “Getting a good education can help you be whoever you want to be and become whoever you want to become.”
The young adults and missionaries then handed a backpack to each student and were in turn thanked with hand-shaped hearts and hugs from the students. Principal Sophan then led the children in a call and response chant of thanks and appreciation.
Smiles-and-Supplies
An FSY Cambodia 2023 staff member showcases the contents of the supply kits assembled by the youth. © 2023 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.On another Saturday in Banteay Meanchey Province, students of Bung Khtom Primary School of the Ochrov District, received 206 school bags. Banteay Meanchey Province Education Director, Mr. Chou Bunreung organized the donation in cooperation with Principal Penh Kimsan.
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Equipped-to-Learn
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Senior missionaries and local dignitaries working side by side to unload and prepare school kits for distribution.
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Humanitarian senior missionaries and local officials collaborate to hand out school kits to eager students under the shade of a tree.
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Joyful moments captured as children gather around a senior missionary, celebrating their new school supplies
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A proud young student poses with her new school bag, ready to start her educational journey with the necessary tools.
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Volunteers lovingly hand out school supplies to the children of Khor Phdeak Primary School.
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Students proudly hold up their new school kits against the backdrop of their school in Siem Reap Province.
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Sister Patricia Smith, another Church humanitarian senior missionary based in Siem Reap, gave a message of encouragement to the students reminding them to stay in school and complete their education. “An education opens doors for you that will lead to a better job, make you a better husband or wife and a better parent.”
The remaining 196 school kits were donated to Khor Phdeak Primary School in Pouk District of the Siem Reap Province. Principal Tek Ry was grateful for the donation, which was delivered by the President Liem Pisal, branch president of the Siem Reap Second Branch of the Church, and a group of Latter-day Saint students from the Mentors International Learning & Mentoring Center in Siem Reap.
This service project reflects the words of Church President Russell M. Nelson when he said, “Pursue your education as a priority of the highest order. Gain all the education you can.” (BYU-I Devotional, 26 January 2010, Rexburg, ID, USA)