Our Story
Lives of unlimited potential
At Transform we seek out and rescue the most vulnerable and neglected street children of Phnom Penh. We rescue and protect them from all the many injustices of poverty. We educate, clothe, feed and champion them. We restore their dignity and hand them the keys to a life of unlimited potential.
Hope for the future
When we give our children hope in their future, then we change the course of not only their life but also of their country. Our children grow up knowing that they are blessed and equipped to be the leaders in Cambodia’s future.
Beginnings
Transform began in 2006 after our founders witnessed hundreds of highly vulnerable children scavenging the rubbish tip of Phnom Penh. These children had no access to education and little hope for a better life. Some of these children had two parents, some had one and some were orphans. Every family was desperately poor in resources and in hope.
We opened our first life centre in July 2006 with 85 of these beautiful children. Our centres answered a powerful, open-ended question: what do these children need in order to grow into confident, well-educated, world-standard leaders?
That’s an audacious question, but we serve an audacious God. The book of Isaiah 43:18-19 says:
“Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?”
There is no rule that says our past prophesises our future.
Partnership
Transform is truly a team effort. We employ in-country only Cambodian staff (currently 330) who are our day-to-day champions, not only training our kids but being living examples of outstanding Christian leaders.
We also partner with many churches within Cambodia and throughout the world, private businesses and humanitarian organisations. Transform is underwritten by Perth businessmen Ken Loughton and Mark Patterson who fund over 50% of the operating costs through their foundation Newseasons.
We’re a little different
We’re not different just for difference’s sake. But what our team does is extraordinary. We never ask “Have we done enough?’ or “Have we done what people expect?”
The better question which drives all we do is “what more can we do?”
We have the absolute privilege of financial capacity, devoted staff and clear business-standard systems. We expect to be highly accountable for all we do. We measure the progress and growth of our staff and of our children. Good-enough is never good enough for Transform.
17 years along and our older children are now young adults – nearly all of them studying in university as well as working part-time in our centres training younger children. These are outstanding young adults continuing to build outstanding lives.
Meet the leadership team
Mark Patterson
Co-Founder and Chairman
Ken Loughton
Co-Founder and Vice Chairman
Rachel Gregory
General Manager
Therese Joy Harper
Accounts
Brad Parker
Operations