Jerry Essenmacher School

Newsletter July 2010
Newsletter October 2010

We are pleased to inform you the money we raised from 2009 to build Sam Relief School to honor, Mr.Jerry Essenmacher,Sam Relief board of advisors.

The school is located at Koh Sotin, Kam Pong Cham Province.

..Sam Relief built a school to honor Mr. Jerry Essenmacher, veteran advisor for Sam Relief for the last 10 years. And thanks to Mr. Stephen P. Meyer who donated a school honoring Larry and Lynda Kull, we were able to build two total schools in Kos Sotin, Kam Pong Cham.

Cambodia is currently the 4^th poorest country in the world. It is ranked 131^st out of 177 countries on the Human Development Index, which is based on life expectancy figures, level of education, and standard of living (www.hdr.undp.org). Only 30% of children and 22% of girls between the ages 12–15 are enrolled in secondary school.

The mission of Sam Relief, Inc. is to build schools for students in need. The children of Cambodia cannot learn if they do not have the facilities to do so. And the hope is that the schools built by Sam Relief will continue to educate future generations to come.

As much as we have accomplished, there is still more work to do. The locals from a Kam Pong Cham commune have requested Sam Relief to build a school for their children. Their current school has an old, damaged roof that is too dangerous for the students to attend safely.

Old school

The breaking ground is on March 10, 2010 for new school.

March 15,2010

March 24, 2010

April 25,2010

May 14, 2010

Two schools

Larry and Lynda Kull school on the left Jerry Essenmacher,Sam Relief school on the right

Sam Relief, Inc. truly appreciates all of our donors. We would like to express a special thanks to H.E. Kanharith Khieu, Ministry of Information who has supported Sam Relief since 1999 and to Mr. Steven Adams and Mr. Geoff Hammond, Civil Affairs Planner, U.S. Embassy of Cambodia for attending the opening ceremony on August 23,2010.

Mr. StevenAdams's Speech on August 23^rd , 2010
Thank you for the invitation to be here today. It is an honor for me to represent the Embassy and the United States in this ceremony.I know I speak for the Ambassador when I say that we are deeply impressed with the philanthropy, dedication and spirit of volunteerism that the construction of this school represents. Thank to Mr. Stephen P.Meyer who donates a school for 2010.The Sam Relief organization should be applauded for its devotion to improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged students in Cambodia, and for helping to build a brighter future for the country, a future that will hinge in part on the students here in Kampong Cham and across the country.The U.S. Embassy in Cambodia is doing its part to help increase the quality and availability of education in provincial areas, and a significant portion of our $72 million dollar assistance budget is devoted to this task. In addition, our civil military teams are busy refurbishing and building schools much like the one that we are opening today in some of the poorest provinces of Cambodia.We hope that our work, when combined with the generosity of Americans and Cambodians alike that is represented here today, will help increase the ability of young Cambodians to achieve their educational goals.
Congratulations to the Sam Relief organization and to all of you on this great occasion.
Thank you. Steven Adams, Civil Affairs Planner, U.S .Embassy,Cambodia.

H.E Khieu,Kanharith,Ministry of Information
At the schools, we provided water and clothing to the children. We gave flop flips to the students as they were going to and from school without shoes