Orphanage to Dorm Room
Generosity of many brings Cambodian orphan to TWU
Little miracles happen every day, but sometimes they take root and grow into something quite remarkable — like the ones that led a Cambodian orphan, with no prospects for postsecondary education, to TWU’s campus this past fall, just in time for Orientation Week.
Last May, Sureyah Tach was preparing to graduate from Logos International School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. While his classmates had plans for university, the 20-year-old had none. Sureyah, who by the age of 12 had lost both parents, grew up in an orphanage after he and his siblings were displaced. “To me it’s not a family, it’s a whole body,” he says about losing his parents. “When you’re fragmented from them, it feels like you’ve lost part of yourself.”
Despite his loss, Sureyah found a home at the orphanage. “Living there was like living in a big family,” he says. “As I learned about peoples’ backgrounds, it changed how I saw them — and the world.”
He attended Logos International School in Phnom Penh — where 40 per cent of enrolled students are Cambodian — one of the few Christian schools in a country where people struggle to overcome the dark history of the Khmer Rouge and its oppressive communist regime. “We’re reaching people for Christ,” says Logos Vice-Principal, Dean Weiss, “and these young people will be the future leaders of this war-ravaged country.”
At Logos, Sureyah’s passion for academics caught the attention of Weiss, who suggested he study in Canada. “He thought it was impossible,” says Weiss. “Then along comes a TWU rep through the Logos gate — that was no coincidence.”
Indeed, in Cambodia on an unrelated missions trip, TWU alumna and admissions counsellor, Amy Alexander (’04), visited Logos, where she met Weiss. He told her about Sureyah, whom he believed a good fit for TWU, and asked if she’d do a presentation. “Who knew that missions and admissions would go together?” says Alexander.
“These young people will be the future leaders of this war-ravaged country.”
Once back at TWU, Alexander helped Sureyah apply for scholarships and find a guardian, while Weiss — in Canada during the summer — shared Sureyah’s story at a number of churches to raise support. The Logos International School Cambodian Student Award was then established. By mid-August funds were secured for him to live on campus and take a full course load. From there, the details fell into place, and on September 4, 2009, Sureyah arrived in Canada. “It’s a miracle how it all came together,” Alexander says.
Now in his second semester at TWU, Sureyah plans to pursue a nursing degree and, one day, return to serve the Cambodian people. “After I graduate, I’ll use this knowledge to help those in Cambodia,” he says.
Back in Cambodia, Weiss has enjoyed watching God work the impossible to help an orphan make his way to Canada. “Sureyah has been blessed through so many faithful people,” he says. But there are many more students who would benefit from the opportunity to attend TWU — like So Pari Sor, a current grade 11 student who lives with her grandmother while her mother works in Thailand. “Our hope is that these graduates will come back to Cambodia and share the Gospel of Christ with the Khmer people of Cambodia.”
Visit Sureyah's champion page on TWU Impact.
by Wendy Delamont Lees
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