OUR CHALLENGE: Building Schools from the Inside Out

What's Happening Now

• May Challenge Month
• Double Your Money and Help SSI Win $25,000
• Every May donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $25,000
• Goal: $70,000 meets the educational needs of 1500 kids in Cambodia for a year...and includes 25 scholarship students to our Leadership Academy, Phnom Penh
• Each small contribution becomes a big deal in May

The situation: In Cambodia and other countries throughout Southeast Asia, entire educational systems lack the ongoing economic support to help them succeed.

In Cambodia—where SSI began our efforts over ten years ago—many new rural schools have been built by foreign dollars. But these buildings are not enough. In some cases, they are not even the beginning.

The problem:
• Schools that are built are not maintained
• Teachers are absent because government-paid salaries are inadequate
• Over 80% of rural children drop out of primary school
• The result: an ongoing cycle of economic devastation.

The SSI Solution:
• Educate students, grow leaders, partner with communities to create sustainable schools.

OUR DREAM: Building the Future

When young people have reliable access to education, the results drive positive changes at the village level and through the society as a whole—stimulating economic growth, improving social justice, increasing health and wellbeing, and maintaining the nation's cultural heritage.

SSI founder Kari Grady Grossman is a school donor and the adoptive mother of a Cambodian child. Kari has used her own experience to develop a methodology to address the education crisis by empowering local communities.

The mission of Sustainable Schools International is to work hand in hand with local communities in Cambodia and across Southeast Asia to create vital, sustainable educational institutions. We bridge gaps in access to education and we bridge cultures by involving US students in our volunteer and fundraising efforts (such as our Make Change Matter program).

Building schools from the inside out is the SSI model: it involves providing reliable access to education, developing local leaders, and assuring sustainability.

HELP US BUILD: We Have to Dream Big

Given the size of the problem, we have to dream big. There are many ways to help make sustainable education possible:

• Donate
• Be a Sponsor
• Make a One-Time Gift
• Volunteer Your Time
• Spread the Word