Overview:
This project focusses on our partners’ outreach to vulnerable and exploited children in the red-light district and slum areas of Phnom Penh where gangs, drugs, extreme poverty and abuse are prevalent. Our partners have established 65 kids clubs to reach children who were at risk of sexual exploitation in these areas or have been abused. In seeking to bring restoration to their lives, traditional therapy methods have not always brought long-term success due to social and built-environment factors that hinder the process. Entrust will help fund a new, innovative Creative Adventure Play (CAP) therapy program into the existing curriculum, working with abused/trafficked street children and the local community to prevent further abuse and exploitation.
Why support this:
Our implementing partner is in this for the long term – they take time to build trusted relationships with the children, who can then tell them what has happened to them. They work to restore children to wholeness but also to bring the perpetrator to justice. They work closely with the government of Cambodia and have had great success. They are taking the time to find the roots of the problem and to create lasting solutions.
Budget: $32,000
The funds will help support 3 staff, camping and adventure equipment as well as admission fees and running costs for the CAP program.
The Need:
Cambodia, despite efforts by the government and many NGOs, is still known as a destination for child sex. Websites offer advice on where to go to find susceptible children and how to approach them, and sometimes even their families. There are few organisations working in this space of protecting children, rescuing children and working with the justice system to prosecute the perpetrator. Our implementing partner does just this. Children as young as three and four have been rescued because of their work.
Expected Life Change:
