Our mission at the CAA, as with the AAA, is to provide a safe space for disadvantaged young people where we can introduce them to their nation’s rich arts culture while helping them to experience the pride, self confidence and poise which come from mastering difficult skills.

Currently at the Champey Academy we employ nine staff plus fourteen advanced or “senior” students who receive modest monthly salaries ($30 to $60) to assist with various tasks around the school. In addition, ten young, less inexperienced students receive small monthly stipends (usually just $10 or $20). Those ten young students receive the stipends because we want to encourage them to study and because their families are so poor that even such a small amount as $10 or $20 per month can make a difference in their lives.

*The word “Champey” is the Khmer language name for the white flower which, outside of Cambodia, is called “plumeria” or “frangipani.” Some of the main boulevards of Phnom Penh are lined with trees bearing this flower.