General L-CDI 6 Month Report

8/8/2019 General L-CDI 6 Month Report

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Mid Term Report

2010

L-CDI

Michael Hewitt

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Author, Contributors and Reviewers

Principal Author: Michael Hewitt

Reviewers

Document Details

Create Date: Monday, September 13, 2010

Last Update:

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Contents

Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................4

Achievements.............................................................................................................................5

Capital Works.........................................................................................................................5

Management...........................................................................................................................5

1. Financial Processes .....................................................................................................5

2. Administration Processes ...........................................................................................6

3. Governance .................................................................................................................6

Agriculture .............................................................................................................................7

1. Bananas.......................................................................................................................7

2. Vegetable Gardens ......................................................................................................7

3. Mushrooms .................................................................................................................8

4. Chickens and ducks.....................................................................................................8

Visits.......................................................................................................................................8

Supporters..............................................................................................................................9

Challenges................................................................................................................................10

O i F di I 10

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Executive Summary

Since the last funding injection, L-CDI has made headway in the areas of agriculture and

changes to the management and administration. Despite developments in these areas, the

financial position of L-CDI remains critical due mainly to the loss of a major donor.

Without the major donor, the school is in a funding crisis and will have to stop operating in

its current form. Should no donors or other solution be found, the school will restructure,

shed staff and continue in a different form. Including the current donors and maintaining

the current student levels, the school could continue to operate through to the end of

February. At the end of February, another funding cycle would begin and the school would

need to source an additional USD $450 a month to pay rental.

A final date of September 30th has been set for restructure to a more financially responsibleposition. If restructure is not possible, we will need to close the school and repay

outstanding debts as possible.

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Achievements

A large portion of the money collected in February was

put to good use building the necessary structures to

house the students. Built during March and April were

two dormitories with attached bathing and toilet areas,a kitchen area, a drainage system and two classrooms.

Visits by foreign teams from Korea and Malaysia have

added a small covered hall area, an additional floor in

the boys dormitory and another temporary classroom.

Those funds represent a longer term investment into the

site, but without them any schooling would be impossible.At the present time, the buildings are at full capacity and no

extra room exists for the computer lab or library.

Expansion will not be necessary at this time since the cost of

taking on more full time students is prohibitive without

student sponsorship or a funding grant.

Capital Works

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understanding of the particular financial pressures and idiosyncrasies of the organisation.

While I had originally not intended to not get too closely involved in the financial

management, it has been necessary for me to audit the finances and put in place moretransparent practices. This work is improving financial sustainability, but is ongoing. A

change in personnel will mean further work in this area, but the result will be a much more

financially aware management.

Administration processes include the management of

students and curriculum. Generally, the teachers, under

Teacher Vannet are able to administer student files,

record students coming and going, keep track of collection

of fees and student assessment and classes.

Work needs to be done on health and safety processes,

curriculum development and responsiveness to student

needs, particularly addressing student needs at the end of

their course.

Currently, the school has failed to provide end of course certificates to students over the last

7 or 8 generations. This has been a significant administration failure and affects the schools

dibilit Th d i i t ti i tl ki l ti th tifi t f th

Administration Processes2.

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One of the benefits of the move to the new location was

the significant opportunities afforded by the

agricultural land on which the school is situated. The

school has existing fruit trees worth about $2000 a

year, several ponds and areas for growing vegetables

and rice. Currently this land is not fully utilised and

what is contributes to the school cannot yet hope tomake an appreciable difference to the financial

situation. God willing, the agricultural work will

continue to increase and provide more opportunities

for recouping costs and contributing to the student diet.

Currently, Sister Loy is working on the LCDI site to put in place agricultural projects and

make the best use of the resources. She has two students employed to work a half days on

the agricultural projects. Ongoing education about the environment means that the staff andstudents are beginning to make better use of the fruit in the school. Recently, the sale of

coconuts, preservation of fallen bananas and the collection of other fruits has brought a

small amount of income back to the school.

Bananas1.

Agriculture

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3. Mushrooms

Loy is experimenting with mushroom production. Since there is a lot of waste vegetation,

there are many opportunities for composting and creating good conditions for the

production of fungi. This project is a pilot using a variety of materials since the school does

not have the money to purchase the usual straw and other things that would be commonly

used in a mushroom garden. Such experiments show exactly the sort of character that can

make LCDI a strong and vibrant school.

Attempts to farm chickens have not been overly successful in the past, both at the old site

and when beginning at the new site and we know alot more about raising chickens. A lot of chickens

died to bring us this information. These early

failures have given way to a stabilisation in chicken

population. The remaining chickens are laying

eggs which are hatching successfully and the

number of chicks has brought the total number of

hi k l t th i i l b Th i

and ducksChickens4.

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L-CDI continues to receive weekly visits from the staff at the Bible Education Centre in

Phnom Penh. These teachers support students who want to study Bible classes and provide

general motivation and English teaching.

Supporters

Ongoing supporters of L-CDI include Dr Shanta from Malaysia who has provided a number

of capital items, materials and also a number of rice shipments. Since the school spendsabout $1200-$1300 a month on rice alone, this is a very welcome donations, so thankyou Dr

Shanta!

Other supporters include many people from the Christadelphian community in Australia,

England and New Zealand who currently provide over $600 a month in support. Further,

the same community supplied the $15 000 dollars needed at the beginning of this report

period to move the school to the new location. Without this contribution, L-CDI would have

been forced to close.

We thank all of the other ongoing supporters who have assisted with prayer and other

contributions over the last 6 months.

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Challenges

As always, ongoing funding is the most difficult issue for a non-profit organisation to face.

L-CDI has always run very close to the wire and even in cases where a significant amount of

funding has been secured, there is usually a shortfall to address. In the case of our most

recent Save LCDI campaign, I advised that;

Looking at the sums committed, we are still short $2400 for the year, but expect to make

that sum and any additional from currency changes or food increases through

fundraising.

The school has been diligent in cutting costs as much as possible and have managed to save

money on the amount budgeted per month. But securing this additional sum either through

making money or raising funds has always been necessary. Starting in March means that wewould have expected to need those funds by February 2011.

W h l t littl th h h b t th t d i thi f

donorsmajorofLoss1.

Ongoing Funding Issues

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Calculations of survivability were based on the number of students at the school, using

economies of scale to make the school feasible. The school was expecting around 100

students, but current numbers are about 65 full time students paying $22 per month. Food

costs are about $21 per student, so a full time student does not really benefit the school

financially

Given that there was a period when LCDI

was charging about $16 a head and hadabout 800 students on the roll, the

question arises as to why it is hard to

attract students. The most likely answers

are the relatively recent proliferation of

privately run schools and secondly, the

declining standards of the school and

finally, less strict discipline. To addressthese issues requires the improvement of

facilities, but without significant influx of

funds that is not possible.

Any restructure will probably involve increasing the costs of full time tuition, so additional

overheads like electricity, water and fuel are covered. This would increase the cost per

student from about $22 to about $30. The likely result is that student numbers would drop

f h d l h h hi i lik l b fi i ll b fi i l i d f h f h i

Student Numbers3.

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we dont yet have the capital to make this possible. To date, we dont have a costing for this

project, but if funds were supplied, we would be able to initiate a trial.

Teaching spaces for part time students are limited, especially during peak times. The

teachers constructed a small temporary classroom for under $100, but for a longer lasting

structure, it would cost around $1500 including walls.

Currently, there is no dry and safe location to store computers and books for the lab and

library. While students expect the computerfacilities to be available, the ongoing capacity to

supply computer facilities is diminishing as

technology continues to develop making the

second hand machines currently owned

increasingly obsolete. A room could be built to

contain the library and computer lab for $3000,

including safe electrics and benches.

Computer Lab3.

Teaching Spaces2.

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Current Financial Position (See Appendix )

Income

Income needed to be about $2250 a month to meet the required costs associated with 100

students. Fortunately, less than 100 students mean that the costs are less also. The income

figures can be a little confusing since money gets collected from different students atdifferent times. In some cases, students have money collected from them every month.

Others have money collected every three

months and even a few, once every 6 months.

This has been part of experiments to provide

the school with a reliable cash flow. In the

face of budget deficit, what this has done is

allowed the school to spend money fromfuture months almost like a credit card.

For this reason, I am holding back about

$1500 from the school donations. If the

school needs to stop, some student funds will

need to be refunded for the unused months

for which they may have paid.

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Next Steps

L-CDI is always looking for new donors. L-CDI has received a large amount of funds over

the last 3 year. A large amount of those funds have been spent on necessary capital works,

but L-CDI has not had the necessary financial and administrative processes in place to make

sure that the school is viable.

If a donor/s came forward, they would need to cover the missing $900 a month (June 2010-

Feb 2011). The money would be given under the condition of a financial restructure.

Redesigning the school seems like the most likely course of action. Assuming the school has

to stop in the next month or so, we still have rented land running agricultural projects

available until rental payments are required next March. The land has buildings and nearly

100 part time students.

A restructure would require increasing costs for full time students, increasing the number of

i d d h l i h b f h Th b l b d

Redesign2.

Secure Funding1.

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Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug

Revenues

Full-time Contribution Fee Inc $ 1,811.00 1,900.00 1,900.00 1,900.00 1,900.00 1,125.33 1,125.33 2,175.00

Donation 0.00 2,000.00 15,424.00 5,020.00 2,062.00 4,412.00 1,262.00 508.00

Other Income 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 66.66 0.00

Total Revenues 1 ,8 11 .0 0 3 ,9 00 .0 0 17,324.00 6,920.00 3,962.00 5,537.33 2,453.99 2,683.00

Expenses

Food Expense 604.70 555.10 1,024.66 885.50 471.88 585.34 490.29 574.19

Fire Wood 250.00 250.00 250.00 100.00 250.00 250.00 0.00 0.00

Rice Expense 1,275.00 1,270.00 1,350.00 1,350.00 1,270.00 1,250.00 1,200.00 1,200.00

Salary Expense 940.00 940.00 940.00 940.00 620.00 620.00 770.00 870.00

Kitchen Supplies Material Exp. 24.00 26.00 0.00 50.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Repairs & Maintenance 14.70 15.00 15.00 15.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 35.59

Utilities Expense 247.50 394.23 154.00 184.88 100.38 0.00 263.92 100.26

Fuel Expense 25.00 35.00 35.00 36.32 61.16 39.32 78.19 95.84

Rent & Lease Expense 0.00 300.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Photo Copy Material 15.00 20.00 20.00 0.00 0.00 0.26 0.00 0.00

Transport Expense 0.00 150.00 120.00 100.00 14.28 1.07 5.00 0.00

Moving Cost 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Phone-Fax & E-mail Expenses 40.00 50.00 0.00 50.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Office Supplies Expense 29.00 50.00 50.00 45.00 39.50 23.90 19.39 112.04

Supplies Material Expense 0.00 0.00 0.00 6.42 65.43 6.54 19.23 139.61

Building Improvement 0.00 0.00 5,000.00 2,956.30 0.00 3,700.00 0.00 0.00

Chicken Blog 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00

Other Expenses 35.00 55.00 35.00 31.99 22.40 10.58 384.66 80.21

Kampong Speu Center 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 45.00 0.00

Banteay Meanchey Pro-Center 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 70.00 0.00School Fees Expense 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1,040.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Administration Expense 0.00 0.00 0.00 150.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Total Expenses 3,499.90 4,110.33 9,493.66 6,901.41 3,955.03 6,987.01 3,345.68 3,207.74

Net Income ($ 1,688.90) (210.33) 7,830.34 18.59 6.97 (1,449.68) (891.69) (524.74)

Donors began giving in March 2010 through to February 2011

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General L-CDI 6 Month Report

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