The Coconut School in Cambodia is a self-funded waste recycling school that supports children at risk of losing their educational paths. In short, here we have a school full of heart and intelligence, one which shows a willingness to go back to the (black) drawing boards. This is a lesson in making a school founded on solidarity – with scarce resources!
Coconut School
Founded: 2013
Location: Roneah village, Cambodge
Nombre d’élèves: 80
Status : Private organisation, Free for the students
Site : https://www.coconutschool.org/
Plastic confronts us with an unprecedented environmental scourge. 79% of the plastic produced is discharged into our environment, our lakes, our rivers, even creating the infamous ‘plastic continent’ in the Pacific. Plastic particles are now found throughout the food chain.
Faced with this scourge, a young Cambodian named Uncle Ouk Vanday, saddened to see many children playing in the street in the midst of waste, with very limited access to education, decided to build a school with only recycled materials.
At the age of 28, that former hotel manager Ouk embarked on his incredible project. His pedagogical focus? Provide students aged 7 to 16 from poor communities with free instruction in English and computer science, while giving them access to environmental education. Ouk’s wish is to allow students to be able to flourish so that each of them can become the influencers and leaders of tomorrow.
In this school, there is no need to spend money to support your education. The children pay their dues by bringing a certain amount of recyclable material back to school each week – thus "cleaning" the mountain at the same time. They can choose between various materials such as caps, bottles or tires. A child choosing caps will have to bring back 200 pieces. These various plastic wrappings will be used to build new parts of the school or to construct objects that will be sold later in order to raise funds.
