The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a non-government
organization (NGO) called Build Your Future Today (BFT) in Cambodia and a non-profit
social enterprise called Paradise Ranch (PR) in the Philippines. Both entities, in one way
or another, focus on educational improvement—BFT by teaching knowledge leading to
self-sustaining enterprises and PR by educating Indigenous People to maintain their
forest environment and then to go beyond to develop their talents. This study also
provides a description and analysis of the challenges that the Cambodian and Filipino
governments face today, particularly in coming to grips with the enormous and critical
need of education in an increasingly interdependent world. The key and unique resource
for this study was individual, on site interviews by me of natives involved in daily life, in
education, and in the two above-mentioned non-profit entities in Cambodia and the
Philippines. In Cambodia, a two-month case study was conducted in Siem Reap to assess
and observe how the NGO, Build Your Future Today Center, assisted in the education
system within rural areas. In the Philippines, research was conducted in Pampanga to
assess and observe how the social enterprise, Paradise Ranch, assisted Indigenous People
to conserve the environment. Although both organizations specialized in different
matters, the challenge of education was central to each entity and thus becomes a way to
compare the effectiveness of the two non-profits and of the challenges that they and the
respective governments confront in improving the lives of the people.