Provide Social Services for Exploited Cambodians

It’s going to be a quick update this quarter as we are currently in the process of compiling our mid-year reports. These past few months have been busy for our Community Based Client Care (CBCC) team. Working tirelessly around the clock with 30 new survivors who have just returned to Cambodia. Our team assesses their families and even their whole communities ensuring safety for the survivor upon returning home. Once a survivor returns home it doesn’t stop there. Counseling will continue for an additional 2 years. Our goal is to see women and children survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking restored to a new level of their emotional well-being and social interaction.

There are challenges that make client care difficult. Limited staff and resources keep can be stressful. The distances needed to travel to reach counseling cases constrains the amount of time we attribute to each survivor. Traveling in itself can be dangerous in Cambodia because of rain or traffic. Our staff are mostly women and we worry about their saftey in the rural communities when they visit clients. Despite these and more challenges our team works tirelessly to ensure the emotional support of each case. 

Cambodia’s capacity of social service providers is still in its infancy. At Chab Dai we want to see social service providers improve their capacity and mechanism of case referral in providing support to survivors. One way we accomplish this is through our annual Social Workers Conference. Our CBCC team continue to prepare for next month’s Social Workers Conference which will be held August 16 and 17 in Phnom Penh. The conference aims to strengthen networking and capacity building of practitioners providing direct social services in Cambodia by creating an opportunity for them to share skills and expertise as well as to discuss how to address certain gaps, challenges and difficulties encountered in their daily practices. 

Next quarter we will share some insights form the social workers conference. 

Links:

• http://www.facebook.com/ilikechabdai

Case Follow Up: 

Along with regular monthly counselling for 15 survivors of human trafficking and abuse, the Justice and Client Care Social Work Project met with 3 survivors from last year and their families to follow up with their care. Survivors and their families reported a better quality of life, being able to make decisions for themselves, and better relationships with each other and their community. They were more aware of their strengths and weaknesses to solve and face problems by themselves and are living their lives with peace, safety, and joy. The survivors have plans for their futures and commitment to improve themselves to live a meaningful life.

Project activities have built strong relationships with survivors’ families and local authorities. We individually assessed their situations, problems/needs and strengths by interviewing them based on our assessment form, observations and checking with local authorities. We identified and responded to basic needs such as for food including rice, noodles, canned fish, etc. Some of survivors’ families were educated about child rights and good parenting skills. In addition, counseling assisted them with relieving stress and concerns though listening, encouragement and support. Survivors report that their physical and mental health are better than before and that they can control their anger better.    

Survivor Quote:

“I had released my stress. I think I am ok.  Now I feel happy, glad and better. I will try to work hard to help my mother even though the work is hard.” 

Story from a survivor family member:

“Now I am stronger than before since I learned about child protection and children’s rights from the CBCC team and listening to the radio. I can protect my children to ensure their living in safety. Also I helped two boys who living at the shelter were abused by their house mother. I called to the shelter manager to told him everything that happened with the boys. so the manager fired that woman. He did bring new house mother to give good care of the boys and other children.”

Collaboration:

In addition to direct client care, this project also focuses on working with other direct client care providers to teach new social service and research techniques and to facilitate professional networking. This August the team will be putting on a conference with over a 100 direct service providers. The team has planned for the conference and sent out a survey to NGOs to gather input before the conference. Work for the conference will continue over the next three months in preparation.