Our school · Steung Meanchey, Phnom Penh
The Development of Community Centre (DCC) is a supplementary school and community centre on what was Phnom Penh’s old city rubbish dump. HELP Cambodia sponsors fund its day-to-day running.
The DCC school in 2025
DCC began in 2010 with 15 students in a family living room.
124
Students at the DCC school
79
Sponsored by Australian donors
7
Studying at university right now
9
University graduates
What DCC does
Teachers are paid so little that families must pay for their children to attend government school. Many children here simply did not go. DCC closes that gap.
01
Helping disadvantaged young children get into the government school system.
02
Supporting children who have dropped out to catch up and regain entry.
03
English is not offered in the government system. Here it is, giving students hope for a successful future.
04
Computer access and skills that let students drive their own learning.
05
Sessions for adults on drug abuse, domestic violence, child protection and health.
06
Bringing visiting medical teams to the community.
Early life
Bophal was born in Phnom Penh just after the Pol Pot regime ended. Both sets of his grandparents, an aunt and an uncle died during that period. When he was ten his father died, leaving his mother to raise five children alone. Three years later she sold the family home and moved to Steung Meanchey, the site of the city's rubbish dump. As a child Bophal walked 10km to reach the nearest government school.
1998
He finished Year 12 — rare for anyone from Steung Meanchey — while working construction to pay his school costs. With no money for university he helped his mother run a small pillow-making business, then worked seven days a week collecting and sorting waste from the dump.
Three years, 20km a day
He left to study English in free classes run by a church — a 20km walk, five days a week, for three years. At the end, he and one friend were the only English speakers in their community. He married Chantrea, then spent four years teaching English and Khmer to children with a Cambodian NGO.
2010
With his father-in-law's encouragement, Bophal went to the Ministry of Education and started DCC. On a very small government stipend he taught in the home he shared with his in-laws, while Chantrea worked six days a week in a garment factory. Fifteen students became fifty within a year. For five years the family left the house every day so classes could run.
2015 – 2017
In 2015 a touring group from Wagga Wagga met Bophal and saw the school. They came home and founded HELP Cambodia. Sponsorship and fundraising — and the labour of local people in Steung Meanchey — built DCC its own building. It opened in June 2017.
DCC today
University students supported by our scholarship fund volunteer at DCC — teaching classes and helping run the school.
Every Australian dollar goes a long way in Cambodia. Sponsor a student, give once, or talk to us about fundraising.
