Therapy Services for 80 Cambodian Families

Developing ABLE (Accepted Belonging Loved Empowered), CIF's  disability support services, has always involved an element of "building the plane while flying it." The very reason ABLE was created was due to the lack of available services for children with disabilities in most Cambodian communities. CIF believes that family-based care should be available for every child but, in order for that to be possible, supports need to be in place. We have engaged in a lot of networking, seeking to connect families with the supports that are available in Cambodia, but if we can't find something to meet the needs of the children and families we support, we do our best to build it.  

 

In our last report we mentioned that our clients range in age from 3 years to 20 years. Eight of our current thirty-three clients are age 16 or older. Helping these young people to move successfully toward independence in adulthood is high on our priority list right now. 

 

There are some academic and vocational training programs available that are accessible to young people with certain types of disabilities. We have had several of our clients successfully complete some of these programs in the past. Unfortunately, though, there are not many programs available to support young people who have autism or intellectual disabilities in achieving their full potential for participation in their communities. 

 

CIF is committed to rising to the challenge. We have already helped to transform the way that many communities approach responding to orphaned and vulnerable children. We have spent years breaking barriers to disability inclusion in the family-based care space. Now we are making plans to work on opening up opportunities for teens and young adults with disabilities to participate in supervised employment within their communities. 

 

We are exploring partnership possibilities with one of the very few organizations who are providing vocational and life skills training to young adults with disabilities anywhere in Cambodia. The easy thing to do would be to just refer some of our clients to them when they turn 18, but that doesn't do anything to move the needle forward for this critical need within communities across Cambodia and it requires having those clients be separated from the loving family and community they have grown up in. 

 

So, we are breaking new ground and we need our supportive community behind us more than ever! Thank you so so much for helping us to achieve all that we have so far! Please continue to stand with us and consider how you might encourage others to do the same.