In 2015 Lynda and I with the help of the DialaFlight charity, raised enough funds to rebuild the classrooms, fix the leaking roof and provide water filters and teaching equipment at Norodom Ranarith Primary School near Siem Reap, Cambodia. The school has 220 pupils from the ages 7 to 14. Most of their parents are subsistence farmers and a small group of hard pressed teachers provide a mixed curriculum with little financial help from the government. The children live in great poverty, and often have to fend for themselves while older members of the family seek work in other parts of the country.

Education is a fundamental lifeline for children like this in developing countries. Our aim is to support the teachers long term so they can improve and expand classes in literacy, numeracy and languages while continuing to improve the infrastructure at the school. Our project manager is Bunthin Theap, a local tour guide and friend of ours who has supervised many charitable projects in the area near the temples of Angkor Wat.

The next phase of the project is in two parts. Firstly we are completing a 300m long brick wall around the school to reduce the threat from people traffickers. Sadly children in these countries are often kidnapped as part of the illegal body part trade. Secondly, we want to provide a library and teaching materials and computers for the teachers.

Although work is scarce in Cambodia educated young people do have opportunities to find jobs in the cities and especially the tourism industry which is one of Cambodia's most important economic sectors.

There are always many demands on us for charitable giving, but we hope you will give this appeal some serious thought and consider a contribution that will make such a difference to these children's lives. One thing we can promise if that every penny raised goes directly to the school and its pupils. Lynda and I monitor and supervise the work at all times and will provide regular reports as the work progresses. We will be posting more pictures and video in the next days and weeks to give you some idea of the tasks ahead.