Fighting poverty is like teaching a man to fish, the only way that you can get out of it is through education. Project Girl Code and Passerelles numériques Cambodia (PNC) have similar missions and goals: provide IT and Digital Literacy skills to underprivileged youth to get out of poverty and get a sustainable job in the future.

Project Girl Code (PGC) is a non-profit organization supporting the teaching of digital literacy and IT training to girls and young women who are vulnerable to trafficking, slavery and forced marriage. PGC is an NGO that makes links, they do not take charge of any beneficiaries, and in Cambodia, they support financially the beneficiaries from two other NGOs, Hope for Justice and Destiny Rescue.

First step of the project

PN Cambodia and Project Girl Code’s partnership officially started on June 5, 2017 with the signature of an MOU and of a Training Agreement.

Etsy Marcu, Co-Founder of Project Girl Code, John Munger, PNC General Manager and Maud Lhuillier, PN Asia Director

PNC Trainers

Students during training

With this first step, PN Cambodia provided three trainers for a twelve week training course to teach math and Logic by SOEURNG Sreymy, and IT Literacy (Intro to Computers, Typing English & Khmer, Microsoft Office, Introduction to Internet -Email) by LOEM Chanthy and NAP Pisey SNA trainers.

Second step of the project

Channak CHHON & an instructor during a training session

The second step of this project is to expand our reach and help even more girls in need by delivering “Train the Trainer” programs for both existing and new NGOs. In practice this means, PN Cambodia uses our talented and well trained staff (Channak CHHON, WEP Trainer) to train instructors from PGC partner NGOs. We have started this exciting journey with training staff from PGC partner NGO, Hope for Justice in December 2017. It involves a 7 week “ToT” (Training of the Trainer) training: Scratch Creative Computing (4 weeks) and Word Processing-Productivity programs, Computer Security and Privacy, Digital Lifestyles, and Online Safety.,  This approach is not only sustainable in the long term but it will also enable PGC NGOs to have autonomy over when and how they deliver digital literacy training. This part of the project ended in February.

PGC’s ideal vision is for their students to one day, join the PN Cambodia program and gain sustainable employment in the IT industry. The interest of this partnership lies in the common goals and values that PN Cambodia and PGC share. The two NGOs work toward IT literacy for the most underprivileged and give great value to gender equality.