
Cambodia Rural Students Trust (CRST) is a non-governmental organisation registered with the Ministry of Interior in Cambodia. The organization sponsors talented students from poor rural backgrounds, enabling them to attend the best high schools and universities. One of the particularities of CRST is the active involvement of students in its operations, with senior students taking on leadership roles in managing the organization, supported by volunteer mentors. They also manage several social projects designed to teach them business, leadership and management skills.
What do they do?
Health care
In 2024 CRST distributed 6 000 girls kits, to help young girls in rural Cambodia with sustainable feminine hygiene solutions and educate them on puberty. The organization also installed water filtration systems in high schools to provide clean drinking water, along with hygiene and sanitation solutions, improving the overall health and well-being of students.
Education
CRST creates educational opportunities for bright students, allowing them to go to private school by paying their tuition and providing them with meals. Students can also benefit from English classes and tutoring in subjects where they need help. Also, the ‘Bicycle for Education’ project aims to provide bicycles to students in rural areas to facilitate their way to school as they often live many kilometers away.
Trees for Life project
Through the Trees for Life project, CRST helps to plant trees in the province of Siem Reap. Many communities in this province have been relocated to new land with little or no vegetation which increases the heat and the dust. Planting trees helps improve living conditions by creating shade and preventing soil erosion.
Plastic Education Program
With the support of the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, CRST students have written and produced a book on how to refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle plastic. These books are distributed in schools to raise awareness among children on environmental issues. To put those environmental recommendations into action, CRST is installing 100 recycling bins in schools and universities and providing 40,000 students with refillable drinking bottles and reusable cotton bags.
How can you help?
Your donation directly benefits their needs:
- $3,000: 1 home built for a family (includes a welcome home package – rice, sauces, dried meat and fish, vegetables and hygiene supplies)
- $1,000 yearly or $84 per month: 1 sponsorship for a high school or university student
- $600 yearly or $50 per month: monthly supplies for a family (rice, sauces, dried meat and fish, vegetables and hygiene supplies)
- $75: 1 bicycle for rural students who walk long distances to school
- $50: 1 tree planted
- $20: 1 menstrual hygiene Kit to rural high school girls
Social activities and volunteering
We also encourage you to come support their projects in person by doing some social activities. You can for example enjoy a visit to the Siem Reap province with CRST students who will show you beautiful places such as temples, the city of Siem Reap and its night market or a tour of a floating village. You also have the possibility to volunteer in some projects, among other things you can help pack girl kits, build a home for a family in need or plant trees in a rural school or community.
EXO Foundation support
EXO Foundation has made a donation of trees to help CRST with their Trees for Life project. We strongly support this initiative which improves the living of communities by allowing them to live in a better environment.