Education for 300 Urban Poor Children

I’m happy to see all my children go to school...

Mr. Vorn, 45, and his wife, 48, is a poor family from Prey Veng province. They settled in Prey Tea village, Phnom Penh since 2000. They have 3 children. Mr. Vorn works as a motorbike technician and his wife does not have a regular job. She, sometimes, sells vegetable in the market (the vegetable that she picked from the public areas) and other time washes clothes for their neighbors to make income. She, generally, does whatever she can do in order to make more income for her family. Their income was very little, which was not enough for their daily expense. As a result of this, they could not afford their second son and the youngest daughter to go to school. Only Sinoun, who is 14, goes to school. The second son, who is 12, spends his time not at school, while his age should be in school, but at market to help them in making income by selling the soft drink.

Sunshine Cambodia found Vorn’s family in 2014. Since then, we has worked very closely with them and their children in order to help his family. Vorn got Micro Enterprise Development training and small startup capital to extend his business. His children also got educational support from SC. When we visit his family Mr. Vorn said with smiling face, “I am so grateful to Sunshine Cambodia and her staff, Mr. Chaova and Ms Sambath, who always concern about my family and children. They gave us good ideas for our business. They care for our children studies. Now I have sufficient income and my wife also has her own business. She sells gasoline and soft drink in front of my motor repairing shop. What make me so happy is all my children can go to school. They are at school now.”

Mr. Vorn’s business is much better now. Mr. Vorn has sufficient income to support his family through his business. Moreover, all his children are able to go to school – Sinoun is grade 7, Vern is grade 1, and Srey Pov is grade 2 – which makes him and his wife have more comfort and hope. At home Mr. Vorn has tried very hard to teach his second son, Vern, who is not able to read as he used to sell soft drink and other things with him previously. Now Vern is studying at a private school in the hope that this coming year he capable to join at a state school. “I am very happy to see my second son, Vern, can go to school as other children instead of selling soft drink and other things as he did previously. Last time I worried about him because we were not able to support him for schooling, but right now he can read and write. I hope that he can join the state school very soon,” Vorn said happily. 

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Overview:

Up to June, 2016, Sunshine Cambodia (SC) are now working in four poor communities in Phnom Penh, Cambodia –Sansom Kosal, Stung Mean Chey, Thnoat Chrum and Prey Tea. With her three years plan, 2015-2018, SC has worked closely with 300 children (Male: 149 = 50%, Female: 151 =50%), who are from 200 families (with approximately 1,046 family members – Male 513 = 49% and female 533 = 51%) in the hope that each family and child will grow holistically. SC has tried her best to improve the living condition and reduce poverty within those families and also focused on the implementation of the children’s basic rights.

Through this project 300 children were selected and supported to attend formal education in both state and private schools. They also received school materials and extra tuition for supplementary classes – English, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Khmer and computer skills. Apart from this, SC also has conducted a weekly Children Club and a quarterly Youth Club in each project area, where children and youth can learn various topics relevant that relevant to their lives.

Moreover, to build a close relationship with her beneficiaries SC also works directly with those 200 families, both fathers and mothers. SC’s staff in each areas spend time with them focusing on home visit/ case management and some activities in their community, which leads us to know more about their family situation and needs. Counselling, food subsidy, parenting skills, vocational and micro enterprise development (MED) training, start-up capital, as well as emergency relief programs are provided. Moreover, Children and Parents’ Clubs have played very important role for SC to be able to work closely with her beneficiaries. They learnt useful lessons for life and get to know each other and had fun.

Here are two stories from a boy and a man who are in our programmes.

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A boy, who never goes to school, wants to be a teacher...

“I had a dream. I want to be a teacher,” said Sopheak, a 12 year-old, and fatherless boy from Sansom Kosal village, Phnom Penh city, who often stood outside the school’s fence looking at other children playing in the school’s playground.

There are seven people in his family; and his mother works very hard daily to feed them. Sopheak wants to study because he saw other children in his village go to school every day, but he could not go because his mother cannot effort him and his brothers and sisters for schooling. He often walked and stood outside of the school’s fence seeing other children playing in the school playground happily and have opportunity to study. He cried, and felt unhappy and pity on himself.

Sopheak’s family is found by Sunshine Cambodia (SC) in 2010. SC has supported Sopheak and his other 3 brothers for schooling. He told us that he is very happy and has hope now because SC has supported him and his brothers many things – school fee, school uniforms, school materials, food subsidy, toothpaste and tooth brush and other benefits.

Since then, SC’s staff, Mr Deth, particularly, visits his family regularlyto encourage him to study hard for his future. As a result, Sopheak attends school regularly. He also attends Children’s Clubs, where he learn many useful lessons for his life – morality, social, life skills, child’s rights, child protection, child abuse, good touch and bad touch, human trafficking, basic health and hygiene.

“If my family has not found and supported by SC, then my brothers and I will not be able to go to school as my family is very poor. My mother works alone to support my family. I want to help her, but I could not. I am too small. I could not do anything for helping her, but, I make more problems and troubles for her sometime. My two sisters have started to work for helping mother,” said Sopheak. He, then, continues with tear, “I want to go to school as other children in my village do. I want to be a teacher.  However, my mother cannot effort it. We are poor.

He now is now almost graduated primary school (grade 6) and will upgrade to secondary school (grade 7) by next academic year.

“Now I am in school at grade 6 with a good result. I, therefore, will try hard to study until I finish university. I want my dream come true - to become a teacher. I want to help my mother. I want to feed her as she fed me today. I also want to help other children too.”

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I became a new man....

SamAng and his wife came from Prey Veng province, a poorest province of Cambodia near Vietnam boarder, with 2 children (Sreymech, 9 years old in grade 2 and little Son, Samnang, 6 years old, not yet started school). He moved in Phnom Penh since 2007. And the first job in PP was a construction worker, while his wife worked in garment factory.

SamAng worked very hard and needed to carry heavy things every day as part of his works. 

So after finished work he always drank alcohol to hope to relief the body pain and enjoy the free time with others. But when he got drunk he made many problems in the family like; blamed/cursed his wife, hit children and damaged things in house.

“I got a very hard work which required a lot of my physical energy to carry a lot of heavy things and these made me very stressful and tired; and because of my friends who always brought me wine to drink every day, then I forgot to help my family. My drunkenness led me making problems in family and I always made my wife and children cried and did violence”, he said.

On August 5, 2014this family was accepted in SC’s program and started support his daughter, Sreymech, with school fees, uniforms, supplies, food subsidy and other benefits.

SamAng said that:” My family situation was changed after getting support from Sunshine Cambodia. Now I become a new man, new father and new husband for my wife and my children. The reasons that made me change because I have learnt many good lessons from the Father’s Clubs that shared by Sunshine teachers. They taught me how to be a good father and good husband”.

Not only through the trainings but also Sunshine staff members are also working closely with all the family members to handle case management of the family and be with them to enable them to solve their problems. However, one thing that keep SamAng in mind and never forget and it always help to remind him when he got angry or wanted to do violence is the memory of a science from an educational film about domestic violence that the staff show during the training.

“I remembered a video from parent’s day/father club that show about a man who came from work and was very hungry and saw his wife came from the market with other man, so he was very angry and wanted to hit her but after that his wife have explained him about the situation and responsibility as a wife and show the faithful heart of wife to husband.” He said.

“And this video shows the happiness in this family and helping each other as husband and wife. This video helps me to think again about the difficulty of family life and the responsibility of husband and wife. Now my family had good relationship, help each other and discuss with all problems”, he added.

He is very grateful to everyone who helped him and his family.

“Finally, because of SC, my family was changed and now we are happier than before and our relationship are also better. I would like to say thank you so much for all donors and SC’s staff who changed my thinking to become a new man, new husband and new father in this family.” He thanked.

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Thank you very much for your support. Your support can resore life, give hope and build brighter future of under preveledged people. 

Best regards,