March – May 2014

Striving for survival

The province of Siem Reap is one of the many provinces in Cambodia that has child labourers. Today, many people do not know that child labourers are very shocking. Children from well-off families have food, a nice place to stay, toys, and lots of love, while children come from very poor families have to work endless hours and are treated poorly. These children are underprivileged of getting an education and of developing well mentally and physically.

Brick factories in the rural areas are one of the places that children work at and some of these children live in the brick factories with their families as they do not have their own house – poverty makes them sell their home. Conditions in the brick factories meet the criteria of the International Labour Organization (ILO) for the “Worst Forms of Child Labour.” Working in hidden and unregulated industries, like brick factories, makes them more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, including working prolonged hours and undertaking risky jobs.

You might wonder why parents let their children work and the vast majority of the parents let their children work for the family's survival. Some parents who live in the factories say that their children want to work and so they let them. Parents who do not reside in the factories let their children work as they need help because they are either sick or too old to work or in debt to the bank or the Microfinance Institution.

The Project “Empower Child Labourers in Need through Education” of the Cambodian Children’s House of Peace is designed for its staff not only to provide school supplies, uniforms, and other things that the children need for their education but also to work with the poorest and most vulnerable families to empower them through provision of counseling and information. Counseling discussions covered issues relating to social inclusion, health, education and livelihoods as well as a range of social/emotional problems or disputes facing the family and their children. We have tried to educate the parents about the importance of education and making sure that their children access to education like other children in the community.  

Links:

• Search for us on Google

• Progress Report on Community Outreach Project (PDF)
  

Progress Report on "Empower Child Labourers in Need through Education Project" of the Cambodian Children’s House of Peace - CCHP

December 2013 – February 2014

On behalf of the child laborers, we would like to say thank you very much for all your support in helping the Cambodian Children’s House of Peace provide basic supports for the child laborers in Siem Reap, Cambodia so that they can access to education.

It is a very immensely satisfying support that since the project launched in June 2013, we have been able to keep more and more child laborers in school. This is a reflection of both a decrease in the number of child laborers and dropouts.

One of the key principles of the provision of the school supplies is to make sure that these marginalized children that we are supporting have access to equal and quality education like others in the community. We are committed to achieving the goal of “Education for All”. Besides the provision of basic school supplies we also work with their parents to provide some basic counseling services so that they fully understand the importance of education and provide support to their children’s learning and school. The children and their families in the community are very happy with the supplies they have received and determined that they will encourage their children to pursue a higher education for the sake of themselves, their families and the society.

Recently, we have organized a meeting with the teachers and the school support committee to discuss future collaboration between the children’s home and the school and also to find way to allow both the children at the Children’s Home and the children in community to encourage interaction.

Thanks again for your contribution and commitment to support the “Empower Child Laborers in Need through Education Project” through the Cambodian Children’s House of Peace. Every donation you have made helps ensure that we can continue helping our beneficiaries. We look forward to keeping you updated on the progress of the project in the months ahead.

Links:

• Search for us on Google

• Progress report on community project (PDF)