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GOAL: The first goal is to identify, train and provide a one-year fellowship for Battambang university students to be the next generation of civil society and development leaders in Cambodia. The fellowship program began in 2006 with over 20 students each year.
The second goal is to build on the relationships the students have made working in villages by having them create and implement activities together using the knowledge accumulated during the fellowship to help villages address their development needs.
CONTEXT: While the city of Battambang is the largest after the capital, its provincial villages are among the poorest in the country due to the high proportion of land mines during the Khmer Rouge period and more recent land alienation.
The prospects for university students interested to work in development are slim, as over 75% of the international donor funds for Cambodian development projects, along with related training and capacity building, remain in the capital and never reach the rural provinces.
TARGET GROUP: Each year over 20 students from Battambang University work with over 300 families in 8 of the poorest villages in Battambang Province in Northwest Cambodia as part of the fellowship program. The families that participate in the project are selected by the community members, after a systematic consultation process led by students.
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