Cambodia school built in memory of Cobham teen

By Rebecca Connop Price
June 07, 2010

A SCHOOL in Cambodia being built in memory of a Cobham teenager will welcome its first pupils in 2010.

Just over two years ago, Thoeun Sergeant, a 17-year-old A-level student at Esher College, died in a fire at his house in Byfleet Road.

Since the tragic accident, his mother Ingrid Morris has set up Thoeun’s Trust in an effort to do something positive following his death.

Thoeun spent the first six years of his life in a poor area of Cambodia where many children still have little or no access to regular education.

Thoeun’s Trust aims to help the children in this area get access to education.

Helped by family and Thoeun’s friends from the Thames Ditton college, Ms Morris has worked with a local charity to establish the plans for the school.

Once completed, it will be a six-classroom school in the Cambodian village of Leap.

Ms Morris said: “The villagers were so keen to give their children an education that they donated the land and built a road to the site themselves.

“The provincial governor approved the project and the Cambodian government has agreed to supply teachers and text books.”

Building started in February and the school is expected to be completed this autumn, ready to serve more than 500 children from Leap and the surrounding villages.

Ms Morris said: “As an additional bonus, the construction project is bringing work to a desperately poor area and a sense of optimism to the community as a whole.”

Fundraising dinner

There are plans to take students from Esher College to the Cambodian village during the next academic year.

Thoeun’s Trust, now a registered UK charity, was set up following the teenager’s death in April 2008.

He had lived in an orphanage in Cambodia before he was adopted by Ingrid and her husband Karl Sergeant.

Ingrid said Thoeun - who died from smoke inhalation at the family home - was a bright child who wanted a career where he could help people.

She said he would have liked the idea of the school.

“He was a very kind and generous person, he really was.

“We took him back to Cambodia and I think he wanted to help out.

“But it’s very hard to know what to do when something that awful happens. I’m doing it for him and for me and for the community.”

The trust is holding a fundraising dinner and auction with entertainment at the Inn on the Lake, Silvermere Golf Club, Cobham, on September 17 .

For more information, visit www.thoeunstrust.com.