Welcome to our new Cambodia Rural Students Trust Campus - a place for our CRST students to study, work, connect and learn. Officially opened on August 6, 2022 with current and past students, their families, local organisations, overseas guests and representatives from the Cambodian Government and Australian Government. "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela. Videographer - Kate Newlyn

The Cambodia Rural Students Trust is a non-government organisation with the mission of helping break the poverty cycle through education. By giving people a hand up rather than a hand out, we sponsor bright students from poor rural families, to study at the best high school and university in Siem Reap. We believe that giving students access to education is the fastest way to help them out of the poverty and deliver lasting change to them, their families and future generations With additional life-skills and business mentoring, we empower our students to become Cambodia’s future leaders. All students contribute back to the community with regular volunteering and community service activities. We are taught that we can already bring change to our society, even though we are still at high school and university.

Besides studying at school, we also encourage our students to help the rural communities where we all come from. We feel so proud and appreciative that we can get an education and with our whole NGO go back and be able to help others. Over the past few years we have built dozens of houses for poor families in the countryside, planted many trees, repaired rural roads and painted rural schools. Our Community Service department is of course managed by our students and all our students participate in activities once a month.

CRST’s vision is to break the poverty cycle through education and every year we recruit new students to join our NGO. We are looking for bright students from poor rural families, who have the passion for education and want to help others. We are looking for students who can be developed as the next generation of leaders and role models. In 2018 we had over 600 students apply to join our NGO. Each year we look for up to 20 students to join CRST and give them the opportunity to study at the best private high school and university in Siem Reap. Our new students will also be able to help our community through volunteering and community service activities. To get these opportunities, candidates have to go through 3 testing stages

Project G, as in G for GIRLS. Our project has the mission of Empowering Cambodian Girls and Women with Sustainable Hygiene Products and Health Education. Project G is a social enterprise and we are partnering with Days for Girls to provide safe, beautiful, washable, and long-lasting menstrual kits, along with vital health education. This project is led by our university students and has the added advantage of promoting gender equity!!

Our students are given amazing opportunities to get real experience as we learn real management and leadership skills. Watch this video to find out more