Cambodia
The EnGender Program is a vocational training program focusing primarily on the mothers of children who are currently in day care at the Cambodian Children’s Fund Community Centre. Without effective intervention, these uneducated and unskilled women would be destined to live transient lives in the city slums, leading to a probable disintegration of the family unit.
The major development objectives for this program are:
(a) To provide vocational training for women who currently have no skills to eventually provide them with access to employment in the wider community.
(b) To provide stable employment with fair pay and conditions as a means of raising living standards and reducing poverty.
(c) To provide empowerment by teaching personal management skills thus enabling them to improve their own lives and contribute to the stability of the family unit.
(d) To provide counselling to address the entrenched domestic problems of violence, alcoholism and debt through education and, where necessary, to provide access to effective intervention.
Our ultimate objective at This Life Cambodia is to help local people and groups become fully self-sustainable. We provide educational and training opportunities, secure project funding, build infrastructure and create networks to support their needs. Over time, this support can decrease as communities begin to operate independently.
We have eight sub-projects to achieve our objective:
School Development Program – ‘Organising for This Life’ - Providing for education needs in economically disadvantaged and under-served communities.
Student Scholarship Program - Supports and reintegrates students back into the public education system by alleviating the financial burden associated with schooling.
Pedalling Out Of Poverty - A second-hand bicycle will give a child the ability to attend secondary school and continue their education.
Light Up a Life With Solar - Enables students to study in the evening by providing families with solar lamps.
This Life Beyond Bars: Education for All – Increase educational rights of children in prison and to defend their rights.
Construction Programs - We work in collaboration with the community to provide the necessary skills, resources and capacity building required for the completion of a successful construction project.
Technical Advice and Capacity Building for Community Organisations - We support organisations by focusing on both organizational and individual capacity building programs.
Vocational Training Centre Project - The training centre is designed as a vocational facility, which will provide skills and training to disadvantaged young Khmer women and youth.
HFCA (Happy Football Cambodia Australia) Capacity Building Initiatives main aim is to use football as a tool to work with disadvantaged youth and to teach and empower Cambodian staff and volunteers the skills required to manage a program like this.
We have over 100 male and female players aged 12 to 25 attend our weekly training program. These young people learn to be team players, learn the value of hard work, respect towards their fellow human beings, achieve a positive behaviour and change in attitude enhanced by sports. We have 12 staff and volunteers with most of them coming from Cambodia. All staff are encouraged to pursue their professional development and given support to do so.
M'Lop Tapang was created in 2003 with the goal of giving street children access to the learning tools, resources, and opportunities they needed to build a better future. We offer regular meals, shelter, medical care, education, counselling, and protection from all types of abuse. Additionally, we work to increase awareness in the community about issues affecting street children.
Today we work with over 2,500 street living and working young people and their families at 9 centres in the Sihanoukville area. We work closely with schools, the police and local authorities to help make the community a safer place for all children.
Community Enabling Health (CEH) is an arm of the relief and development organisation New Life Foundation, Cambodia. Started in 2004, CEH is committed to improving the standard of living for people within poor communities.
CEH is dedicated to preventative healthcare. By providing education, training, and basic medical resources to poor communities, CEH focuses upon improving the livelihood of the Cambodian people.
CEH has grown staffs and volunteers in their Phnom Penh base and now has 30 Healthcare Assistants they are training in 18 locations and five provinces throughout Cambodia. We want to make a difference in Cambodia through; Training, Education and Development.
All Ears Cambodia currently provides support for children and adults under the wing of 32 local and international agencies. The team is operational in 8 provinces across Cambodia. It provides free ear and hearing health care for the weakest and hardest hit.
The J580P project provides outreach clinics for marginalized fishing communities on the Tonle Sap River. They represent children and adults from some of the poorest families in Cambodia.
The Foundation is partnering with Prison Fellowship Cambodia (PFC) to provide education and vocational skills training for youth in two prisons. These prisons contain 80% of all youth incarcerated in Cambodian prisons.
Many of these young males lived on the streets of Phnom Penh, having turned to gangs and crime to survive. With over-crowding and limited staff resources, the prison system provides no rehabilitation programs to help them break the cycle and reintegrate into society upon release.
PFC provides a comprehensive reintegration program providing vocational skills training (computing, motorbike repair, sewing and electronics), primary and high school classes, literacy, sports, creative arts and English.
These programs are accessed by over 600 youth. Not only are they empowering them with essential skills for their future, but they are also being taught values and morals through the PFC teachers who act as mentors to the youth.
This project funds the feeding program, which includes breakfast and lunch daily. The Centre provides before and after school care for up to 90 children aged 3-17 years. They also provide government school lessons, school uniforms, books, medical and dental care.
Singing Kites is a grass roots aid organisation working hand in hand with the people of Tanop, an impoverished and remote rural village in Takao Province, Cambodia. It was established in response to the villager's need for improved opportunities through access to education, the establishment of micro businesses, and other means encouraging job opportunities, sustainability and self worth through independence from the cycle of poverty.
Project Managers: Lyn Hotchin and Tith Tek.
Love In Action operates from Children’s Homes in Phnom Penh and conducts a range of initiatives, including medical clinics and poverty assistance programs. Love in Action is extended across five facilities. The program takes in children who are orphaned, abandoned and at risk. Love In Action care for each child in a loving home environment, as well as developing skills to assist them in their future studies and employment. The project is assisted by a number of volunteers who work side by side with the founder Ruth Golder and permanent Khmer staff.
Project Manager: Ruth Golder
The 2H project was founded in 2000 by third-year midwifery student, Kate Taylor of UniSA. Each year Taylor and nine volunteer’s journey to Cambodia for about three weeks. They performed cataract surgery in one of the most remote areas of Cambodia. The team also carried with them thousands of dollars worth of medical supplies and vitamins.
In 2005 the project raised enough money to perform more than 300 operations for cataract removal in Cambodian children. The cataract work will be ongoing with the introduction of screening for school-age children.
Project Manager: Kate Taylor
Unaccompanied Children Association (UNACAS) is a registered Cambodian NGO that provides shelter and care for orphans about 25 kilometres south of the capital Phnom Penh. There are currently 108 children in care under the age of 18. The education and development of the children is supported by a combination of direct funding from raising pigs as well as other income generating activities. The project has two major aims: To be sustainable through pig raising activities, other livestock and agriculture.
To develop and implement a livelihood skills training program for the older children to gain employment when they have finished school.
Project Manager: Bun Sela
Open Arms is located in Phnom Penh.
In 2008 Open Arms established a Hairdressing and Beauty Salon to provide employment for its young people. The salon quickly incorporated a Training Centre, which offered new skills for trainees who might otherwise be at risk of trafficking, abuse or slavery. In February 2009 Open Arms relocated to new premises and during 2009 provided a safe home for up to 27 young people, including the 12 young people (now aged 15-23) remaining from the original group.
Open Arms offers hope and teaches skills that will empower young people to create new lives and careers. In 2010 Open Arms plans to expand the Training Centre, consolidate a newly opened tea room, commence a tailor shop and provide English lessons to impoverished children in a village situated 2 hours from Phnom Penh, as well as continuing to offer a safe home for young people.
Project Manager: Grahame and Sandra Wade
Helping Hands Cambodia (HHC) J213 is a grass roots community development organisation empowering Cambodians living in poverty to be able to help themselves. HHC works in a number of villages in Siem Reap Province. Our philosophy is to give a hand up, not a hand out. Our projects respect, maintain and enhance the dignity and pride of the communities we work in.
We design all our programmes on a solid base of education. For example, without teaching someone about sanitation they will not understand the importance of a toilet.
Currently our projects include:
The operation of a school with 250 students, a daily breakfast programme for 100 children, medical aid, agriculture training and installation of irrigation systems, infrastructure improvement (building roads and bridges), sanitation education and toilet building, a “work for a bicycle” project and a community income generation project.
We ensure that beneficiaries own aid project outcomes by developing the approach in close consultation with them and by involving them in all facets of the projects, including implementation.
Website: www.helpinghandscambodia.com
Empowering Cambodia believe that education is a key to giving poor, vulnerable children hope and a bright future and in keeping with their vision are establishing children’s educational centres throughout the city and provincial districts. Each centre program is especially designed to ensure that the children study in an environment that is conducive to supporting the child from a holistic perspective. The child’s welfare, education, schooling, tutoring, spiritual, cultural and artistic development are a top priority. Consequently, they ensure that the program is advantageous to the child and in accordance with the main theories of child development.
Empowering Cambodia’s Community Relocation & Development Project relocates and develops poor families who are forced from their humble rented homes. They offer the families a new home in a friendly, safe environment where the children are educated and the parents receive education and training related to the health and welfare of their family, as well as business enterprise opportunities.
As part of Empowering Cambodia’s Education Project, they design management, leadership and teacher training curriculums, which they present to aspiring Khmer leaders who live to impact and change their nation.
Empowering Cambodia’s sewing & piglet income generation schemes for the locals has proved to be an extremely popular initiative. The impact of these simple schemes, is simply amazing!
This project seeks to provide a safe environment where children and families can access relevant life skills, vocational skills and education through an integrated community development projects. The long term goal is to break the cycle of poverty and for the family unit to become self reliant and productive members of the community through development assistance. This is achieved by providing:
* appropriate training and financial support to those desiring to start their own business
* job skill trainings to beneficiaries within the program
* opportunity for education to needy individuals
* emergency aid to those deemed to be at risk
* housing by construction/renovation to families in need or at risk
Project Manager: Tony Kirwan
This is an extension of project J522 in Banteay Meanchey Province where students from J522 are learning farming and will partner with local farmers in a cooperative.
The purpose of the project is to bring the local farmers together teaching them to farm naturally, to diversify their crops, to market their produce and to establish supply chains within local and international markets. Through targeted marketing and production activities as a co-operative, the farmers will be equipped to access larger markets and will have the economy of scale to fulfill such requirements.
The model farm will initially grow a variety of crops and animals for export and for the local market. This will include natural fish farming, pigs, goats, cattle and poultry breeding, as well as growing a variety of vegetable crops all utilising natural farming methods without chemicals.
The Sovanapoom Care Community Centre will benefit through this Project by the supply of up to 90% of its food needs being provided by the model farm. This will also increase the income of poor farmers as well as creating a funding source for future Sovanapoom Care projects.
Project Manager: Sovanapoom Care - John and Tess Castledine.
The Garbage Mountain Dump in Phnom Penh has been growing for years and is infested with disease including high levels of dioxin and arsenic. Yet families from the east have come to the city but cannot find work have come to eke out a living by foraging in the dump. They live in huts adjacent to the dump. This project, together with several others seek to help these people to find a better way of life. Although the dump has now closed, the project continues.
The border town of Poipet is home to many Cambodians who hope to find work in Thailand. Most are unable to and are relegated to the huge slum communities of the area, many becoming drawn into the town’s underground world of illegal gambling, prostitution, and sex trafficking.
Cambodian Hope Organization (CHO) is a local non-government organisation registered with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Rural Development in June 2002 that works with communities in such situations in and around Poipet. The project aims to strengthen the quality of life of disadvantaged individuals in the community. Through improving protection, food security, health, and skills of the target population Cambodian Hope Organization assists individuals and the community in becoming strong, self-reliant and independent.
Metamorphic are undertaking this initiative to help relieve poverty and empower local communities and their people to improve their lifestyle, education and future prospects in general.
Hagar Children's Program – Cambodia
Hagar’s Children’s Program operates a large program and having completed a number of projects, GDG is currently involved in four specialised projects for children to cater for the varied needs of the children and also to offer focused care relating to the particular abuse they have experienced. Children come to Hagar from a variety of backgrounds, including domestic violence, sexual exploitation, human trafficking or desperate poverty.
J508 The Activity project for Hagar’s Children began in November 2006 and was designed to give opportunities to formerly exploited, sexually abused, disabled and extremely poor community children to develop their creativity through the arts and sports. The children (from 7 to 18 year olds) are given the opportunity to develop their lives to become creative, healthy and mature youth and young adults through their participation in the activity program.
J509 Michael House Prison Fellowship Cambodia (PFC) is especially concerned about the plight of children who are residing with their mothers in prison, some being at risk or worse. Michael House operates as a short term residence and enables children to be removed from risk of exploitation or neglect and cared for in a place of safety. PFC works to help relatives and carers meet the needs of children, but in some cases the process takes time. PFC is also working to facilitate and accelerate the development of the wider Freedom Project interventions.
J510 Hagar Children's Community Based Family Homes provide a longer term care for children unable to be re-integrated with their family of origin. They are equipped to function in a family environment, and are supported to access education.
J511 Hagar Community Learning Centre provides ‘catch-up’ education for out of school youth or those who are behind their age cohort. This purpose built centre provides supplementary education support to 202 children. 42 of these are from Hagar’s various Children’s Programs and 161 from the local Toul Kork community.
Awareness Cambodia has moved on to the establishment of a growing number of projects in Kompong Speu, the poorest province in Cambodia. Providing a number of humanitarian and developmental aid projects within Cambodia, the organisation aims to increase health and nutrition standards and reduce the transmission of disease.
Awareness Cambodia has implemented a diverse range of projects. These initiatives include:
1. Care for 80 orphaned children at Sunshine House
2. Piggery at Eco-farm to provide sustainability for Sunshine House
3. Provide Medical care for local community
4. House of Progress was established in 2006 as a home for teenagers that have graduated from primary school and are continuing their high school education or vocational training
5. An internet café has been established at HOP to assist in making the home self-sustaining.
The Project Manager; Dr Gary Hewett was awarded the AO in 2009
This project combines education, vocational training and community outreach to offer hope and opportunity for the young people in the area of Kandal Province, Cambodia.
Project J522 provides a home and care for students who learn in their school. Many of these students are at risk from abuse, trafficking, malnutrition or child labor/slavery. This project aims to protect them by providing a home and education to enable them to change their circumstances.
Older students have vocational training in construction, teaching, cooking, office administration, child care, and beauty courses. The construction course includes hands on training on the Community Centre’s school classrooms and separate accommodation facilities for students and volunteers.
As part of their training, students conduct a community outreach every week which attracts up to 2,800 mothers and children. The teaching includes lessons on hygiene, morals and good conduct and is delivered through puppets, drama and music.
Project Manager: Sovanapoom Care - John and Tess Castledine
CTAP seeks to meet the needs of the destitute and vulnerable in Cambodia regardless of ethnicity, gender or religion.
1. CTAP organizes dentists and doctors from around the globe to bring desperately needed basic dental and medical treatment to Cambodians including some of the most disadvantaged sections of Cambodian society that have fallen through “the gap” e.g. orphans, the homeless, people with HIV, and prisoners.
2. CTAP sponsors gifted orphans under its Cambodia Guardian Angel Project (CGAP) for higher education so that they will eventually become future leaders serving their own people.
3. CTAP provides training for volunteers in computing, accounting, management, self care and first aid to equip them to better serve the community.
CTAP invites you to join with us to make a difference and welcomes your enquiries, comments and partnership.
SHE Rescue Home is a secure haven for young Cambodian girls who are at risk or who have been rescued from being trafficked. SHE provides each of these girls with a safe and secure place to live, where counseling, medical attention, and educational and vocational training can take place in a safe and loving environment. SHE endeavors to support these innocent lives through their difficult time of dealing with the traumas they have faced and work toward a successful re-integration within their families or Khmer community. Where possible, SHE also seeks to work with the families of these girls in order to bring holistic healing and empowerment to the entire family unit, which includes providing counseling and alternative income sources.
Cambodia remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world and suffers with the associated social problems which accompanies that status. This project will seek to establish four family homes for female child victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation. Hagar’s 12 years of experience with foster homes and skills in commercially sexually exploited children provides a great foundation for the rehabilitation of children and the reintegration back into society.
Children with disabilities are one of the most vulnerable groups in Cambodia. With little government support for children or their families, there are very few opportunities for therapy or education of children with disabilities. This project is a threefold approach to addressing the issues that children with disabilities face:
Residential program: currently housing 10 severely disabled and abandoned children
Respite care: 30 children are collected in a HOS vehicle and driven to school and receive physical therapy, life skills and social interaction with other children.
Home based care: sees 5 children receiving help within their own home environment. HoS outreach workers spend 1 ½ hours with each family showing them how to do physical exercise and educating them on disability support issues.
The dental clinic sees children and teenagers and is open in the mornings. The rest of the day is occupied with training and studying for those training to be dental assistants. CWF sees around 10,000 children per year.
They hired a number of grade 12 orphans to train as dental assistants. They receive a salary, free accommodation above the clinic, free education and medical care. They complete a 5 five week dental therapist course at the local university. Some of the students have done exceptionally well and one girl came 5th out of 35 students in the dental course. Some of the girls are also studying business and accounting. Cambodia World Family provides free dental care for several NGOs which are also Global Development Group projects.
