Strengthening Families, Safeguarding Futures

This quarter, Free To Shine made important progress in strengthening the foundation of our Community Training program. While community training sessions have been paused, we have used this period intentionally to review and redesign the entire structure of the program to ensure stronger impact, improved safeguarding outcomes, and expansion into areas of greatest need.

Our team conducted a comprehensive review of previous training approaches, content and delivery methods. As a result, we have developed a revised framework and drafted a new implementation plan focused on increasing effectiveness, strengthening engagement with families, communities and local authorities, and ensuring training content is practical, relevant and responsive to community risks. The redesigned structure places greater emphasis on safeguarding, child protection, family resilience and prevention of harm.

To further strengthen program quality, a new MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) Officer has joined the team. This added capacity enables Free To Shine to enhance data collection systems, improve evidence-based decision-making, and measure community-level impact more effectively. By strengthening our monitoring and learning processes, we are better positioned to ensure that community training contributes meaningfully to safer environments for children and stronger, more protective families.

We are grateful to GlobalGiving supporters for enabling this essential behind-the-scenes work, which lays the groundwork for sustainable and high-impact community safeguarding initiatives.

This quarter was significantly impacted by the escalation of the border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, which led to displacement and widespread school closures in border provinces. In response, Free To Shine activated its Crisis Management Team to safeguard girls, families and staff. Although in-person visits were briefly suspended for two weeks in higher-risk areas, our social workers maintained regular phone contact to ensure girls remained safe and connected to support.

We supported 152 girls and their families this quarter through ongoing social work and safety visits, four new intakes and 10 exits to safety. Despite instability and economic pressure, 131 girls remain in school. We provided bikes, uniforms, school supplies and financial support for additional curriculum classes to reduce barriers to attendance and prevent drop-out.

We also strengthened families’ access to Cambodia’s IDPoor system so they could access government education assistance. Through close collaboration with local authorities, we supported vulnerable households to secure and properly use this assistance, helping ensure children could continue their education safely.