our work
KINDERGARTEN-GRADE 12 STUDY CENTERS
Over 500 children attend BrightStart study centers in the city of Battambang and the nearby villages. Our students remain enrolled in the Cambodian public school system while pursuing remedial education offerings at the BrightStart study centers. Classes are offered to students six days per week, from Kindergarten to Grade 12. We provide special attention to our Grade 9 and 12 students with national examination requirements. BrightStart’s lessons are taught in the Khmer language for subjects such as Math, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Computer Skills. Several of our centers offer multiple levels of English instruction.
Many of BrightStart’s study centers host worship services and Sunday schools on the weekends.
LOCAL OUTREACH & EVANGELISM
Our Roots of Grace ministries introduce Jesus into broken situations with the hope of changing generations. Our objective is to break the generational cycles of living on the streets through expanded opportunities for spiritual investment, education, hygiene, physical and emotional care, and vocational training. Our staff regularly ministers to more than 300 people living on the streets in Battambang, Cambodia. This is primarily accomplished in two ways: Bible studies on the streets and providing educational assistance to the young children of the families living on the streets. Weekly Bible studies occur in four different locations across the city of Battambang. Dozens of people that had previously never heard the name of Jesus Christ are now devoted followers of him. Young children from the streets come to our Roots of Grace ministry center where they are bathed, dressed in clean school uniforms, given breakfast, and taken to school. After the school day, the children return to the ministry center, and they are fed lunch, helped with their homework, and engaged in English and Bible classes before our staff returns them to the places they stay.
PRIVATE education
Apprentissage BrightStart provides scholarships to outstanding children to attend Dewey International Schools in Battambang, Cambodia (above) and Cornerstone International School in Phnom Penh.
SCHOLARSHIP HOMEs
The Mary Blackwell Scholarship Home opened in October of 2016, housing young women from rural areas where educational opportunities become limited at the Grade 9 level. The success of our first scholarship home led to opening our second one in January 2021 for another ten girls: the Higaki Scholarship Home. These young ladies receive full scholarships to further their studies in a safe Christian environment while supervised by a full-time student residence director in each home.
Women’s Learning & Wellness Center
Girls in Cambodia are often pressured to quit school at an early age, either to help provide for their family or to start one of their own. Niri Clahan (Khmer for “courageous woman”) is our Women’s Learning & Wellness Center. There, we provide educational opportunities for women who want to become literate for the sake of their children and their own self-esteem. Childcare is available while our ladies attend their classes. We also minister to the emotional and physical needs of these vulnerable women and their families.
BLESS Program
BrightStart Learning Education Success Stories – helps our students prepare for their next chapter of life after high school. BrightStart’s Grade 10 – 12 students receive personal guidance counseling before and after they take the annual Grade 12 National Examination. For students who have studied with BrightStart for a year or more, financial assistance is available for their transition from high school to university or vocational training.
COMPUTER LABS
Computer skills have become increasingly critical for students to prepare for university-level studies and future jobs. However, most public high schools in Cambodia have very limited computer equipment for student use or training. Many BrightStart students do not have access to a computer or smart device at home and/or reliable internet service is unavailable in their location. BrightStart’s computer labs provide equipment, practical office software, and instruction to still enable these students to enter the workforce with basic training.
sOCCER PROGRAM
BrightStart's soccer program brings fun and character development into the lives of children in the Battambang area. Our boys and girls teams are trained in soccer skills while learning about Christian values, commitment and the importance of respect for themselves, the other players on the team, and their coaches.
MUSIC instruction
BrightStart students receive instruction in guitar, drums, keyboard and vocals from our valued partner Cambodia Children Hope Ministry. Music was essentially decimated during the late-1970s by Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime, and it has been slow to re-emerge as a practiced, creative art form. It is still not taught in the Cambodian public schools.