At REACH Siem Reap, we often talk about the power of community, and what happens when people come together to lift one another up. And the most profound illustration of that power lives within our ecosystem here in Siem Reap in everything we do and everyone whose lives have been impacted, even within a single family.
When we talk about the REACH community, we mean all of it. Our young Kindergarten students who are taking their very first steps into a classroom. Our youth who are discovering what they are capable of. Our parents and grandparents who carry the weight of their families with extraordinary resilience. Our staff members who show up every day because they have lived these stories themselves. And our local and global network of supporters and partners who make every single part of it possible.
Six years in, we are witnessing what happens when an entire community is held together and lifted up. Despite the hardships our families navigate each day, the impact is undeniable. We are seeing students graduate, earn scholarships, and step into careers. We are seeing parents gain stable employment, and families begin to break cycles of poverty that have spanned generations.
This year, we are celebrating our whole community. And there is no better way to bring it to life than through one family whose story perfectly captures how our community works together to change lives.
This is the story of Menea, our 2025 graduate who is now working as a Placements Assistant as part of our Junior Employment Scheme while also attending university.
Menea holds her work laptop at REACH.
Where It All Began
Menea grew up in a household held together by hard work and love but stretched thin by financial hardship.
Her mother Doeurng moved to Siem Reap City with her family in 2010 in search of work. Like so many of the families we support, daily life was a struggle for survival. Her husband works as a tuk-tuk driver. Her older children rode a bicycle together to school, one that had been provided by a local NGO, because it was the only thing they had.
Doeurng found her way to REACH and began working as a cleaner, eventually landing a position right here at our community centre. It was a steady job and a source of dignity, and it opened a door for her whole family.
Doeung received the staff award, recognised as The Silent Achiever 2024.
It was through that connection that Menea’s path changed forever.
In 2024, as the child of a REACH staff member and the youngest daughter, Menea was welcomed into our Youth Pathways program. She was 17, a little shy, could barely speak any English, but she was full of quiet determination.
Menea: Finding Her Voice
When Menea first joined our Youth Pathways program, she was really nervous and scared. Taking her first steps to learn in a new environment outside of her public school classes, she did not believe in herself.
Through our program, Menea developed her English and computer skills alongside the soft skills that open doors in the real world. She learned about leadership, teamwork, and communication skills that she carries with her every day. She went on group bike rides with her classmates, laughing and pushing herself further than she thought possible, completing our 200km cycling challenge. She built friendships along the way. She found her voice and grew her confidence.
In 2025, Menea sat her Grade 12 national exams and passed. For many of our students, the national exam is a reflection of years of hard work and studies, and it’s not an easy achievement. We were all very proud of her and our other Grade 12 graduates for showing up to the test and making it through.
With the dream of continuing to university and a desire to study technology, Menea came to our Youth Pathways team for support and guidance with the next chapter of her life. REACH then helped her prepare her scholarship application, and she was awarded a fully funded, four-year scholarship from the Southeast Asia Foundation.
She is now a university student, majoring in information technology and studying what she loves, and building toward a better future that she has always dreamed of.
As part of our Junior Employment Scheme, she is also currently working at REACH as a Placements Assistant, supporting our local and international volunteers and gaining real-world work experience alongside her studies.
For the younger students coming up behind her, Menea is already a role model, proof that the path forward is possible.
Menea along with our 2 other graduates, Kimang and Sreynin at REACH
Makara: From Intern to Teacher
Through that same connection of Doeurng’s work, Menea’s older sister Makara had also found her own path here at REACH.
Her journey with REACH began a few months before Menea walked through the door. Her mother had told her about our centre and as a young woman looking for direction, she applied for an internship. She quickly fell in love with the work, and with the children.
“I really enjoyed working with the lovely team and the wonderful kids,” she reflects. “During this time, I gained a lot of experience in how to work with children and understand their needs.”
After completing her internship, Makara became a Teaching Assistant in our Kindergarten class. She learned new techniques for working with young learners and found great joy in watching them grow. When the opportunity arose to apply for a university scholarship, REACH supported her through the process, and she was also awarded a fully funded scholarship from the Southeast Asia Foundation to study Teaching English.
Now in her second year at university, Makara brings what she learns directly back into the classroom at REACH, where she teaches in our Yellow Room.
“This opportunity changed my life for the better,” she says. “The knowledge and skills I have learned at university have also been applied in my workplace, allowing me to better support the children in gaining new knowledge and receiving a quality education. My goal is to help students understand that education is very important in life. Education helps us have a better future.”
Makara teaches in our Yellow Room class.
The Ripple Effect of Holistic Support
Doeurng, Makara, and Menea arrived at REACH at different moments and through different doors. But the impact has flowed in every direction.
We now witness a mother with steady employment and stability, a daughter now a university student and beloved classroom teacher, inspiring the next generation of REACH students, and another daughter on a fully funded scholarship, working and studying with real purpose. Menea and her family’s story shows that they came to REACH with very little, but through our programs, they are now actively helping to hold the door open for others.
This is what holistic support looks like. It’s not just a program for one child, but a pathway for an entire family.
Hear directly from Menea and our Education Manager Mardy about the impact of your support.
Our Holistic Support Continues to Nurture Trailblazers
Menea’s story is inspiring for our whole community, showcasing that with the right support and empowerment, we can guide our students to reach their full potential. Our holistic approach ensures that entire families are supported to break the cycle of poverty and create a better life, from the youngest child in the classroom to the parent working alongside us every day.
Alongside Menea, we are proud to see our students pursuing different pathways. We have Sreynin and Kimnang currently studying at university, majoring in law, two students who have moved into vocational training, and two who stepped straight from internships into fair employment. Each of those pathways was made possible by the people who believed in them.
We are deeply grateful to our donors, supporters, and partners for making it possible for our students to pursue their passion and change their lives and their community. Thank you for standing alongside our families and believing in their resilience.
This year, we have four more students preparing for their national exam, and we hope to ensure that they too have strong opportunities ahead after they graduate.
To continue our impact and change more lives, for our 2026 Double Your REACH, we are teaming up once again with our amazing Match Grant Heroes to match every dollar donated to our cause in the entire month of June. We are incredibly grateful and honoured to introduce our Match Grant Heroes who collectively pledged a total of $50,000 AUD for our campaign.
- Dave & Jenni Richter
- Edward & Sarah Stritch
There are so many more stories like Menea’s waiting to unfold, and with your help, we can be there for every one of them.
If Menea’s journey has moved you, please consider joining our campaign as a Sidekick. Whether you donate, fundraise, or simply share her story, every action helps us reach further in June. Click here to find out how you can get involved.
With your support, we can keep opening doors for students, families, and whole communities across Siem Reap. Thank you for standing with us.