Fortress Donates to Cambodian School
Kerri Pokorny-Nituch, wife of Fortress VP Jonathan Nituch, has just returned from a service project where her team built a school in Takeo, Cambodia. Cambodia is one of the poorest nations on earth and 30% of the population lives below the poverty line. Additionally, residents have to pay for their children to attend primary school. With no education available to them, Cambodian children are left in a cycle of poverty.
Through the not-for-profit group Round Square, Kerri and 20 other educators from around the world traveled to the rural village of Takeo to build a new school that would be free to the children of the community. 
The volunteers completed the construction over a ten-day period. The project generated lots of interest in the community. Crowds of spectators gathered each day to watch the progress and the work was featured twice on Cambodian television.
While the school building was the focus of the project, many other donations contributed to the overall effort. Being the only one in the area, the free school is expected to attract students from great distances away. To enable these children to reach the school and obtain an education, the project also donated bicycles to children so that they could travel to the school. Fortress proudly donated two bicycles to this effort. These bikes will be handed down from child to child and over the years each bike will allow many children to attend the school. The volunteers also contributed hundreds of toothbrushes, school uniforms, and school supplies.
This effort was part of Round Square’s Project Leader Training program. In addition to building the school, the volunteer educators were also trained on leading service projects. The educators are returning to their home schools equipped to lead their own students on international service projects. Taking students on these projects allows them to see how fortunate we are compared to the rest of the world. Some students are deeply affected by what they see and do while on projects. As a result, they become true global citizens and advocates for the less fortunate. Kerri was involved with a project at a Bolivian orphanage in 2009 and looks forward to leading projects in the future.