From the bottom to the top: Rong learns to try ~ Shanty Town Spirit Ermine Norodom Association

11 year old Rong, is the youngest of five children and is truly the “runt” of the family. His physical appearance is developmentally that of a child a few years younger than he is (mostly likely due to malnutrition as an infant) and his intellectual capabilities were challenged.

Living in the shadow of his older sister Srey Net who excels at school and aims to study medicine in the future, Rong’s academic performance was very poor. He repeated Grade 1 three times and hid in the back of his class being shy and at times disruptive.

Rong joined the Shanty Town Spirit sponsorship program five years ago and the program have tried to support him with his studies over this time but to little avail.

Shanty Town staff had to find a way to positively motivate Rong. He was encouraged to move his position in class from sitting at the back of the room to the middle and then eventually to sit up the front of the class. Rong obliged and progressively became more engaged in learning, began asking questions and asking for help from his teacher.

Shanty Town promised him that if he could improve his performance from being number 46 (the last in class) to number 10, then he would get his first bicycle as a reward for his efforts.

Rong said he wanted to be like his sister and then surprised everyone by earning number 6 ranking in his class. He was awarded a shiny new fire engine red bicycle and couldn’t take the smile off his face. After that Rong proudly rode his bicycle to school every day.

But it didn’t stop there. Within one month more, Rong had achieved number one position in his class. He was a little star! The program has also started giving him pocket money to buy him lunch and a few treats at school.

We hope that Rong will continue to shine!

Thank you to all our sponsors that make it possible to give children like little Rong a chance to get an education with the hope that one day they can transcend poverty.