Indochina Starfish Foundation - ISF Cambodia

Indochina Starfish Foundation (ISF) believes that every child regardless of where they were born has the right to education healthcare and sport.

Our aim is to make a fundamental and long-lasting positive change in the lives of some of the poorest and most disadvantaged children and their families in Cambodia. ISF currently operates two community based programmes in Education and Football.

About us

ISF believes that every child has the right to education, healthcare and sport. We seek to make a fundamental and positive change to the lives of some of the poorest and most disadvantaged children and their families in Cambodia through an education and healthcare programme as well as grassroots football activities.

Our education and football initiatives are developing healthy, educated and confident young Cambodians. We aim to provide youths with career opportunities that allow them and their families to escape the cycle of poverty, which still hinders many in Cambodian society.

Our programmes aim to give every child we work with the foundations for a better life. Education, healthcare, nutrition and confidence give children the opportunity to thrive and develop their full potential.d in.

Helping Families and Communities

ISF works with communities marked by extreme poverty and insecurity. The families of many of our students survive on less than $2.50 a day. Our community projects aim to support almost 3,000 people living in slum communities in Phnom Penh, providing access to basic hygiene, opportunities to develop literacy and mathematics competencies as well as providing opportunities for vocational training and support in finding stable employment.

ISF Education Programme

1 in 3 Cambodian children will never finish primary school. This means they face a future without prospects, opportunities or hope. Our Education Programme makes a difference in the lives of over 600 of these children, giving them a chance of a better tomorrow. We focus on children from the slums of Phnom Penh who have never been able to attend school or have had to drop out due to extreme poverty. Denied this critical early education, they are left illiterate, lagging behind their peers and lacking in confidence.

ISF provides underprivileged children with a comprehensive fast-track education programme which enables them to complete two years of ‘standard’ education in one school year. This allows them to ‘catch-up’ to the approriate grade for their age and join government provided schooling. ISF follows the same curriculum as state school, which includes lessons in Khmer, social science, maths and sciences.

Children who graduate from ISF’s Catch-up Programme have attained the necessary grade for their age to enable them to enter state school. By entering into the local state school system, the students are integrated into a community network where they can interact with others from their own community and regain their value as children. As well as the benefits of integration to the child’s social wellbeing, ISF seeks to make its practices as efficient and useful as possible by utilising the valuable resources and educational opportunities that are available to our students. Furthermore, ISF works in conjunction with the state system in order to support a better future of education in Cambodia. Children who have integrated into state school continue to have access to all of ISF’s programmes, including English lessons, employment training and vocational support.

ISF Football Programme

ISF’s Football Programme provides 3,800 boys, girls and young adults of all abilities with the opportunity to enjoy their youth and participate in sport. Through our regular football coaching, leagues and tournaments, we develop teamwork, leadership and sportsmanship, whilst promoting inclusion and social development.

Our Football Programme is about even more than the joy of sport. It provides children with necessary knowledge and life skills to help them grow into happy and healthy adults. ISF and its coaches use training sessions as an important vehicle for social change and utilise football coaches as pos­itive role models for young players who often lack adult role models. Our sports for development programme is sustainable and able to grow to meet the needs of the local communities.