Child Protection Cambodia Project #68660

Support families affected by USAID stop work order

by Children's Future International, Inc.

Project Report | Jul 19, 2026
Social work cash assistance report

By Patrice Davison | Executive Director

When the USAID funding was cut last year in early 2025, CFI had to find a way to continue to support families that we had begun working with in that project. We had almost 60 children relying upon cash assistance and needed to exit as many families as possible, only keeping the most vulnerable. For the past fiscal year, from July 2025 to June 2026, we have supported 54 cases and 30 indirect beneficiaries (relatives of the children) with cash. We have continued to try to exit families as they are able to support themselves, by the end of the project, 16 families were still receiving cash support.

Overall, we could see that the program was a success, and when asking families what they spent the support on, 88% of families used the cash for their child’s education, while 63% used it for medical expenses, 63% used it for food, 44% used it for non-food items in the household, and 38% used it for hygiene. From this, we can see that although many NGOs provide emergency food support to families, the family needs were much more varied and the cash support allowed them the flexibility to meet more of their needs than in-kind support would have. For example, we have one case of a young girl with diabetes and this has allowed the family to follow up regularly with the doctor and meet her medical needs, which has also helped her education. With another case, the child is living with her very old grandmother who depends on charity from the pagoda, but it was not enough. She wanted to send her grandson to the residential care institution, but with the cash support, she has been able to buy educational materials and pocket money for him to eat at public school. In another case, the family was able to save a little bit of money from the cash support to be able to start their own business cleaning fish for the market, and now their business is continuing to do well and they are able to support themselves and can be exited from the cash support.

However, some families continued to demonstrate food insecurity and additional support beyond what the cash could cover. Most said that the support allowed them to meet most of their basic needs, while medical, education, food, and household supplies were often still needed. This is a challenge for CFI since we have lost funding for this project, yet many families are not ready to be exited from cash support. This is because some still struggle to get a stable job or are too old to work. To address these challenges, CFI will revise our policy to reduce the per-family amount to continue providing some cash to families. In addition, we worked with another donor to begin a job center, which would allow us to better support families with job placement and small business support.

Permalink

Mar 23, 2026
Givorn's Story

By Patrice Davison | Executive Director

Meet Givorn (pseudonym). He is eight years old and has already faced many big challenges in his short life. Tragically, his mother passed away when he was just a baby, and he has no connection with his father, so he was raised by his grandparents. His grandfather is a fisherman who works very hard, but it is often a struggle just to put food on the table. With so many problems at home, Givorn didn't want to go to school. He felt lost and alone.

When Givorn first came to the CFI learning center, he was very unhappy. He didn't know how to tell people he was sad or scared, so he showed his feelings by being angry. He would shout during class and pick fights with the other children. It was hard for him to be calm because he didn’t know how to deal with his emotions. He felt like school was just another place where he didn't belong.

Often, people react by being strict with a child like Givorn, but our teachers are trained to support students like Givorn. They didn't give up on him. Instead of getting angry back, they showed him kindness and patience. They made the classroom a friendly place where Givorn felt safe and seen. They used fun games and toys to help him learn through play. For the first time, school didn't feel like a scary place; it felt like a home.

Today, Givorn is a completely different child. He comes to class every single day with a big, bright smile. The fighting has stopped, and he now loves playing and laughing with his friends. He is even excited to learn more! Recently, he walked up to the learning center manager and asked if he could sign up for other classes.

Givorn said, “I like learning here because my teacher is kind to me and there are many toys to play with.” His story shows us something very important: when a child feels loved and safe, they can safely learn, grow, and succeed.

Permalink

Nov 26, 2025
Luy's Journey to Success

By Patrice Davison | Executive Director

Meet Luy (pseudonym), an inspiring young man who fought his way to achieve his dream!

Luy, a 20-year-old from Kampong Speu Province, has three sisters and one brother. Yet, Luy had to grow up without contact with his brothers and sisters since he was separated from his family at a young age. Luy had been living with his elderly grandparents but they didn’t have enough money to provide him with food or education. To try to give him a better future, in 2021 Luy was sent to live in Peace Center 1 and later transferred to Peace Center 2 in Battambang province, far from his home and family.

In 2022, Children’s Future International (CFI), with funding from USAID under the Family Care First project, began working with Peace Center 2 to support them to transition away from a residential care center for children by helping them reunite children with their families. On November 23, 2022, Luy returned to his grandparent’s home with a hopeful heart. CFI supported the family by providing household items, clothes, school supplies, a bicycle, and food as well as counseling and collaboration with the local authorities.

But there was still a big problem. Luy’s school was 10 kilometers away from where his grandparents lived and traveling that far every day was exhausting by bicycle and expensive by other means of transportation. He was often tired, hungry, and sometimes couldn’t make it to class on time.

To help, CFI, the village chief, the district social worker, and other local authorities met with Luy and his family to come up with a solution. They decided that Luy could stay in the District Hall near his school during the week, making it easier for him to study. But this solution brought its own challenges. Luy’s room in the District hall flooded when it rained and he didn’t have enough money for food or school supplies. Because of USAID restrictions, CFI could only provide rice support, despite the fact that he really needed meat, vegetables, and money for school.

So, on March 11, 2023, CFI held another case conference where Luy asked to live at a nearby pagoda, which was closer to school and safer. The authorities agreed and also helped him get a government issued equity card, which provided him with better access to government services, including food and healthcare.

In the next grant from USAID, CFI was finally allowed to provide cash support, which made a huge difference for Luy. Although he only received a small amount of monthly cash to support himself with basic needs, he had the flexibility to buy what he actually needed from the community around him, including food and school supplies.

Despite everything, Luy never gave up. He studied hard, even when things got tough. He eventually graduated from high school and moved to Phnom Penh to pursue higher education. Luy originally wanted to study Engineering, but the degree and required computer were well outside the scholarship from CFI. He then decided to study Graphic Design, allowing him to get a decent job while he continues to fight for his dreams.In his own words, Luy shared:

“There were days I had nothing to eat, nowhere dry to sleep, and no idea how I’d keep going. But I believed in myself, and I’m so thankful to everyone who believed in me too. Without CFI and the people who helped me, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

His family is also full of gratitude. They thank CFI for monthly visits, food supplies, emotional support, and most importantly, for never giving up on Luy.

Permalink

1 2 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.