OVERVIEW
This project supports five teachers to run ten informal schools in five villages along the border of Cambodia and Thailand. A morning and an afternoon school is run in each village teaching reading and writing in Khmer, basic maths, together with creative activities such as arts and crafts, drama and music. The informal school provides a means of helping children into the formal school system. Over a 3-year period, the aim is to help 90% of the students ready for the local government school. The children and parents will also be taught about trafficking, substance abuse, domestic violence, children’s rights and disaster preparedness through twice-yearly village camps. This is the third (final) year of this project.
WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT IT
We appreciate that our partner has identified the major barriers to children improving their lives which is being unable to attend school either because they are crossing the border for work with their parents or because they need to look after siblings while their parents cross the border. We also appreciate that our partner works with the whole village, educating them on a range of important subjects. They also seek to work with some of the parents in a separate micro-finance project, to assist parents with earning a living where they live. They are heavily invested in their local communities and supported by the village chief.
BUDGET
$44,030 for 2019 – year three of a three-year project.
THE NEED
This area of Cambodia has high unemployment and a high level of poverty. Many parents cross the border into Thailand to look for work. Some take their children with them and others leave their children at home with grandparents, or in the care of the eldest child. The risks of child trafficking are high and children are not educated, perpetuating the cycle of poverty.
LIFE CHANGE
