On Monday, Trevor Gile and Agnieszka Tynkiewicz-Gile received the Knight of the Grand Cross, Royal Order of Monisaraphon — the most prestigious award in Cambodia.
Receiving the honour is rare. Over the award’s 120-year-history, Mr Gile and Mrs Tynkiewicz-Gile are only the 14th and 15th people to receive it.
The couple received the honour as recognition for the impact they have made in Cambodia through the establishment of the Liger Leadership Academy and Liger Foundation.
Liger Leadership Academy was set up by the couple after they visited Cambodia and fell in love with its people— but recognised there was a need for help.
Believing the best form of aid is not a handout, but rather a hand up, they designed a unique learning model to change the lives and expand the opportunities available to youth, who are the future of the country.
Through a six-year programme of project-based, opportunity-based learning with a focus on entrepreneurship, students are learning skills to create change in their own communities and beyond.
To date, 103 students have graduated from Liger Leadership Academies and received scholarships worth $NZ9 million at the world’s top universities.
"We are incredibly honoured and humbled by this recognition from the Cambodian government and King," Mr Gile said.
"Our passion lies in empowering young people through education, and we are immensely proud of the impact the Liger programme has had on the lives of Cambodian students — this award inspires us to continue our expansion and achieve the same results in New Zealand."
The Queenstown couple brought the same learning model to Queenstown in 2021. Head of school Daniel Cooper said the school worked to "teach young people to teach themselves what they need to know, when they need to know it."
Liger Queenstown project manager Christian Belmont said it was "high time that Trevor and Agnieszka were recognised for everything that they’ve given to Cambodia".
