Feature: China-funded "Kit of Love" project launched in Cambodia to help primary school students

Students receive "Kits of Love" at the Angkomnob Primary School in Bati district near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 25, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)

BATI, Cambodia, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Se Sokna, a sixth-grade student at the Angkomnob Primary School in Bati district, 40 km south from Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, was elated after receiving a Chinese-donated "Kit of Love" on Thursday, saying that the package was very useful.

"This kit is very valuable for us and I like it," she told Xinhua after receiving the package, which included a school bag, stationery, a stainless-steel water bottle, and a stainless-steel lunch box, among others.

Another sixth-grade student San Sokchen, 12, said he was very grateful to China for the donation, saying that the package had not only aided his study, but also helped improve his personal hygiene.

"I received a school bag, tinned fish, a bottle of Ovaltine, a water bottle, and a lunch box," he told Xinhua. "I'm very happy and excited."

Jointly funded by Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund and China Foundation for Peace and Development (CFPD) via Cambodia's Civil Society Alliance Forum (CSAF), the "Kit of Love" project was launched here by Cambodia's Minister of Post and Telecommunications Chea Vandeth and Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Liu was visiting Cambodia as head of a CPC delegation from Aug. 23-26, and he had met with ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP)'s president and Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, and also some other party leaders.

CSAF's planning and project director Chea Munyrith said the three-month project aimed to meet the needs of stationery among students, to encourage them to study hard, to help improve hygiene and environment, and to connect the hearts of peoples of the two countries.

"A total of 10,000 'Kits of Love' will be donated to students in three target areas, including capital Phnom Penh, Preah Sihanouk province and Tboung Khmum province," he told Xinhua.

Munyrith said the "Kit of Love" project would not only contribute to reducing poverty, but also to improving the well-being of students in rural areas.

"We believe that this project will deepen the bonds of solidarity, friendship, and brotherhood between our two countries and peoples," he said.

Nget Sam Oeun, principal of the Angkomnob Primary School, where the project was launched, said a total of 257 students in the school had received a "Kit of Love" each.

"This is a good project because it has helped improve health and hygiene for rural students," he told Xinhua. "The project will importantly contribute to improving health and hygiene for primary school students, particularly helping protect them from the COVID-19 pandemic."

"The 'Kit of Love' truly reflects the kind hearts of the Chinese people towards their Cambodian counterparts, and it has also brought smiles and hopes to rural children in Cambodia," he added.