OUR JOURNEY BEGINS IN A SLUM

In 2000, Alongsiders founder Craig Greenfield left a technology career in New Zealand and moved into a Cambodian slum.

Together with his wife Nay, he worked with families affected by AIDS so children who had lost parents would not also lose their community. Local people began caring for their own orphans. What started in one neighbourhood in southern Phnom Penh slowly spread across the city.

But there was a problem. Deep mentoring changed lives, yet Craig and Nay could only support a few children personally. More paid staff would never be enough. Love does not scale through salaries.

So the idea shifted. Instead of serving children themselves, they would equip young people to do it.

In 2003, a small group of ten volunteers began walking alongside one younger child each. They learned by doing, made mistakes, and kept going. That simple approach became Alongsiders.

Today Cambodian mentors support children in communities across the country. Many of the first children mentored are now adults, and some have become mentors themselves.

Over time, other countries asked how they could do the same. After years of learning in Cambodia, the tools now exist to help movements grow elsewhere too.

The story is still being written.