For families living in poverty, education is much more than a school certificate. It can represent one of the most important opportunities to change the future of an entire household.
Across the rural communities where Mekong Plus works, parents place enormous importance on their children’s education. When a young person completes their studies and begins working, the impact on the family can be significant: parents no longer have to carry the same education expenses, while their son or daughter may begin earning an income and contributing to the household.
For the poorest families, however, reaching that point can require tremendous sacrifice. Some households take on debts representing the equivalent of many years of their family budget simply to finance the education of one child.
The desire to learn is there. The determination of parents is there. Too often, what is missing are the financial means to continue.
Too Many Children Still Have to Leave School
Mekong Plus currently provides scholarships of approximately €23 to €33 to around 3,000 children, depending on the funding available each year. This support is important, but it reaches only a small proportion of those who could benefit from it.
The children receiving these scholarships represent approximately 1.5% of students in the schools where Mekong Plus is active through initiatives such as teacher training and other education programs. At the same time, an estimated 20% to 25% of children leave school after lower secondary school or high school.
Even the scholarships that Mekong Plus can provide cover less than 10% of the real cost of education. Yet 100% of children with a scholarship are at school! For a family already struggling to meet essential expenses, the remaining costs can still represent a considerable burden.
Behind these percentages are individual children with ambitions, abilities and plans for their future. The challenge is helping them remain in school long enough to pursue them.
Why Family Income Alone Is Not Enough
Mekong Plus has always approached poverty from several directions. Microcredit, training and income-generating activities can help vulnerable families improve their livelihoods and gradually become more financially independent.
But there is no single solution to poverty.
Many of the poorest rural households have access to only very small areas of land. Even with better agricultural techniques, training and microcredit, there are limits to the income that a small plot can generate for a family of five. Microcredit can create valuable opportunities, but it cannot always generate enough additional income quickly enough to cover a child’s education.
This is why Mekong Plus teams continually have to balance long-term economic development with more immediate assistance.
Supporting a family’s livelihood can strengthen its future. Supporting a child’s education can prevent that child from having to leave school today.
The two approaches complement each other. For children whose education is already at risk, scholarships and sponsorships can provide crucial support at exactly the right moment.
More Than Financial Support
Sponsorship is not simply about transferring money from one person to another. Mekong Plus wants sponsors to understand the reality of the children and families they support and to see how their contribution makes a difference.
At least once every quarter, sponsors receive a short update accompanied by a photograph. When possible, Mekong Plus also connects (for example by Whatsapp) sponsors with the communities during visits to the villages. These exchanges can become some of the most meaningful moments of the sponsorship experience.
Seeing a family’s circumstances firsthand often gives a completely different understanding of poverty. Questions that once seemed abstract suddenly become very concrete. Is the child healthy? Is the family’s home adequate? Does the roof need repairing? What other obstacles are they facing?
According to Mekong Plus’ experience, some sponsors who encounter these realities subsequently decide on their own initiative to increase their support.
A sponsorship can therefore become much more than financial assistance. It creates a connection between people who might otherwise never have met.
“I Want My Friends to Go to School Too”
Perhaps one of the clearest demonstrations of how much education matters comes not from Mekong Plus, but from the communities themselves.
Every September, an extraordinary mobilization takes place during the annual Solidarity Day. Around 180,000 people participate in a small running event and together contribute approximately €60,000 in donations.
The motivation behind this collective effort can be remarkably simple:
“Because I would like my friends to be able to go to school too.”
That sentence says a great deal about what education represents in these communities.
Families are not waiting passively for outside assistance. Children themselves understand that some of their classmates have fewer opportunities than others. Communities contribute what they can because they recognize that keeping children in school is a shared responsibility.
Sponsorship becomes part of this much larger movement of solidarity.
Why Mekong Plus Needs More Sponsors
The greatest challenge with Mekong Plus’ sponsorship program is straightforward: there are simply not enough sponsors to meet the need.
For Mekong Plus, which regularly has to make difficult choices about how limited funds should be allocated, sponsorships also represent an important source of support for its work.
When teams need additional funding, project directors regularly return to the same priority: before looking elsewhere, try to find more sponsors.
That urgency reflects both the scale of the need and the tangible impact that educational support can have.
A child who remains in school has more time to learn, develop skills and prepare for employment. For families living with very limited resources, helping one child complete their education can ultimately contribute to improving the prospects of the entire household.
Education does not offer an instant escape from poverty. But it can create opportunities that extend far beyond the classroom.
Meet Three Children Looking for a Sponsor
Behind every statistic is an individual child with their own circumstances, responsibilities and hopes for the future. Srey Pov, Trần Vũ Phong and Chhim Channa are three children currently featured by Mekong Plus whose stories show why sponsorship can matter at a critical moment in a child’s education.
Srey Pov: Nearly an Hour’s Walk to School
Srey Pov is 13 years old and lives in Svay Rieng Province, Cambodia. In 2026, she is studying in Grade 6. Every day, she walks approximately three kilometres to school, a journey that takes nearly an hour. During the rainy season, difficult road conditions can make her late or even cause her to miss school.
Her family has an extremely limited income and does not own farmland. Before leaving for school, Srey Pov helps her grandmother with household chores. Her learning materials are insufficient and her school clothes are old and worn, yet she remains determined to continue studying and hopes one day to support her family.
A sponsorship of €30 per month can help provide school supplies, clothing, food and basic needs, educational assistance and transportation, including a bicycle that could make her daily journey to school easier.
Discover Srey Pov’s story and sponsor her
Trần Vũ Phong: Education as a Path to a Better Future
Trần Vũ Phong is 12 years old and attends secondary school in the villages of Can Tho, Vietnam. He lives with his younger brother and grandparents. His parents divorced when the boys were very young, and their elderly grandparents have become their main caregivers while facing serious health and financial difficulties of their own. The family’s average income is approximately €16 per person per month.
Despite these circumstances, Phong remains committed to his education. After school, he helps by catching fish and snails for food and collecting leftover rice grains during harvest season to feed the family’s ducks. He understands that education can give him the opportunity to build a better future and eventually support his grandparents.
Mekong Plus is seeking €30 per month for 12 months to help cover Phong’s study costs and enable him to continue his education with greater security.
Discover Trần Vũ Phong’s story and sponsor him
Chhim Channa: Determined to Stay in School
Chhim Channa is a 12-year-old Grade 6 student in Svay Rieng Province, Cambodia. Her parents both work, but their low and unpredictable earnings make it difficult to cover the family’s daily needs and educational expenses.
The consequences of this financial pressure are already visible within Channa’s family. Her 16-year-old brother had to leave school because the family could no longer afford the necessary school supplies and related costs, sacrificing his own education so that his younger sister could continue hers.
After school, Channa helps her grandmother grow vegetables to sell at the local market. Despite these responsibilities, she remains determined to continue her education. Without additional support, however, Mekong Plus says she is at high risk of having to leave school like her brother.
A sponsorship of €30 per month can contribute to school materials, clothing, transportation, study support and other essential needs that can help Channa remain in the classroom.
Discover Chhim Channa’s story and sponsor her
Give a Child the Chance to Keep Learning
Srey Pov, Phong and Channa have different stories, but the obstacles they face illustrate a much wider reality. The cost of school supplies, clothing, transportation or additional classes may appear modest, yet for a family living on a very limited income, these expenses can influence whether a child continues their education.
For thousands of children across the communities supported by Mekong Plus, education represents hope for something different: greater independence, better employment opportunities and the possibility of helping their families in the future.
Yet many children still need support.
Becoming a sponsor is a practical way to stand beside a child and their family as they work towards that future. It helps reduce the financial pressure surrounding education while giving children a better chance to continue learning rather than leaving school because their family simply cannot afford the costs.
And the impact reaches further than one school year.
Every child who continues their education carries new knowledge and opportunities back into their family and community. Every sponsorship adds to the extraordinary solidarity already demonstrated by the families and children themselves.
There are still far more children who need support than sponsorships available.
By becoming a sponsor today, you can help give one more child the chance to stay in school, continue learning and build a better future.
Sponsor a child with Mekong Plus
More Ways to Help
Here’s how you can get involved:
- Sponsor a child with a scholarship: https://mekongplus.org/en/sponsor-a-child/
- Buy the wonderful craft made by our women artisans: https://mekongquilts.com/
- Finance a microcredit: https://mekongplus.org/en/finance-a-microcredit/
- Join our eco-tours: https://mekongplus.org/en/mekong-bikes/
- Make a donation to our programmes: https://mekongplus.org/en/donate/
- Follow us on Facebook: Mekong Plus & Mekong Quilts
