Time For Children-Annual Report 2010-2011

www.ssf.org.
kh
TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011
Table of Contents
About Sao Sary Foundation Status Update Cambodias Development Kampong Speu Province Our Approach Risk Protection Child Protection Sponsorships Livelihood Sanitation Investigation Advocacy Reintergration Our Partners Page 3 Page 4 Page 5-6 Page 7-8 Page 9 Page 9 Page 10 Page 14-15 Page 15-18 Page 19 Page 20 -21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24
Contact Us
Cambodia
Address: #181, Group 5 Peanicha Kam Village, Rokha Thom Commune, Chbar Morn City, Kampong Speu Province, Camboida. Mobile: (855) 12 471 106 Phone/Fax: (855) 25 987 196. E-mail: info@ssf.org.kh Website: www.ssf.org.kh Facebook: www.facebook.com/saosaryfoundation
Singapore
Contact Person: Oscar Ng E-mial: askauntieoscar@hotmail.com
Taiwan
Contact Person: Li-chuan Liuhuang E-mail: liuhuang7@gmail.com
Bank Account
Account holder: Sao Sary Foundation #181, group 5, Peanicha Kam Village,Rokha, Kampong Speu, Cambodia Account number: 05002061881211 Bank: ACLEDA Bank Plc. # 61, Preah Monivong Blvd., Phnom Penh, Cambodia CHIPS UID: 415637 Bank code: ACLBKHPP
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About Sao Sary Foundation

Background
The assassination of Mr. Sao Sary, Vichetr Uons father, in 1998 was the spark for the creation of the Sao Sary Foundation. Soon after that, Vichetr was supported by his Australian foster brother so that he could finish his university degree. Vichetr has worked in various International NGOs for almost a decade, the most prominent being Church World Service. Vichetrs work have been well documented and recognized by numerous international organizations due to its widespread and effective reach in the vulnerable and poor communities in Kampong Speu.Vichetr was recently chosen as a young leader to represent Cambodia in the Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit 2010. SSF was founded in 2006 and registered as a non-profit with the national government in 2007. SSF is a youth-led, nonreligious, nonpolitical, and independent humanitarian organization.
ens the risk that residents will be trafficked and smuggled. SSF does this through an approach that fuses a village-based development model designed by Cambodian experts in integrated rural development with assessment tools for identifying individuals and households most at risk of trafficking and exploitation. Resources are then channeled to those most at risk, while the social infrastructure necessary for minimizing risk is strengthened. This includes building links between families isolated by poverty and other members of the community, as well as working with village leaders and commune councils to integrate household and village development plans into commune development plans, to ensure their sustainability. SSF also works with communities and anti-trafficking police to investigate at-risk, trafficked and smuggled cases. As SSF is a well-respected organization in Kampong Speu, families trust SSF to carry out investigation and find their missing relatives or children suspected of being trafficked. SSF thus acts as a bridge between police investigators and families. If police are able to arrest the perpetrators, SSF also represents or supports the victims during the mediation process. Last but not least, SSF provides shelter, medical care and counseling to victims of human trafficking. SSF thus takes the actions that can be taken to prevent trafficking, protect children from being trafficked, purpose traffickers and support trafficked children to rebuild their lives. SSF categorizes its actions under four main headings that are commonly used to describe antitrafficking and other abused actions: Broad protection to prevent children and
Mission
SSF works to inspire vulnerable children and their poorest families to socially and economically empower themselves to become agents of change in their own lives and for equitable world.
former victims from being (re) trafficked and abused; Preventionof the crime of child trafficking and exploitation that is its end results; Law enforcementin particular within a labor context and relating to labor laws and regulations; Victim assistancecovering the kinds of responses necessary to help trafficked and raped children and to reduce their vulnerability to being re-trafficked and abused.
Description
SSF began its mission in Kampong Speu to identify victimized and at-risk, especially girls and target their vulnerable families and community since late 2006. SSF recognizes that trafficking and exploitation are most prevalent in impoverished communities, so improving the social and economic conditions of these villages less-
General Information
Cambodia has made progress in legislation to combat human trafficking, as well as in rehabilitation of those trafficked, but the root causes have yet to be addressed: desperate poverty, food insecurity, vulnerability to economic shock, high levels of indebtedness, as well as complex and heartfelt familial relationships.
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Status Update
ince our last annual report SSF has increased its reach dramatically, and is also dealing with the problems accompany growth: we are trying to strengthen existing programs while meeting the very urgent needs of the new individuals, households and communities we are assistingc. As we recruit new staff we also need to invest in training, and orienting them to our approach of preventing trafficking, violence, abuse and exploitation. The number of full-time paid staff has doubled from 4 (during the last reporting period) to 8. We also expanded our community livelihoods program from one to three villages, while the number of children and youths at our Protection Center has increased from 15 to 23. The number of children and youths attending classes at our Learning Center rose from 73 to 128, as parents in the communities we work in became more eager to encourage their children to receive education.
SSF founder Vichetr Uon visits a household with a foreign volunteer this building as a micro guesthouse to provide employment and skills training to youths. Those who rent the rooms are volunteers who teach at our Learning Center. Our goal is to open a fully functioning guesthouse at a sepa-
poverty, food insecurity, vulnerability to economic shock, high levels of indebtedness, as well as complex and heartfelt familial obligations. Our commitment to work at alleviat-
Curriculum for English classes at our Learning Center has been developed by a graduate student from Brandeis University to include 4 levels, complete with study plans and teaching guides. Our computer classes, however, are on hold as we await a new teacher. We have, however, expanded our vocational training to We are also alarmed by the disappearance of include sewing classes, which were designed women and girls recruited to work as domesby students at NAFA University in Singapore. tic helpers in Malaysia. We are linking with The number and type of sponsorships also increased: we now have three types, compared to two types during the previous reporting period. Full sponsorships include total living and school expenses. These go to the children and youths who live at the Protection Center. Educational sponsorships (financial support for school fees and materials, including bicycles) have increased from 19 during the previous reporting period to 88 this year. SSF also introduced partial sponsorships (for children and youths who live with their families) during this reporting period. These sponsorships allow the children and youths to remain in school, and include financial support for school fees and materials as well as food. Almost all of these, 17, go to girls who would otherwise not have been able to remain in school.
ing the factors that contribute to trafficking rate location to operate as a social enterprise is unwavering and our efforts are showing rewithin 2 years. sults. We also see welcome signs of possible policy shifts among larger organizations comWe have also seen sharp rises in the num- bating trafficking that hopefully will see more ber of reported rape cases in the past year, resources directed to prevention. and are working with the local office of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association to investigate these cases and provide support where we can.
local organizations as well as those in Malaysia to help trace these women and girls. At the same time, we are educating communities about the deceitful, and illegal, practices that some recruiting agents are using. We are working with local and international agencies on this issue and have made presentations on our pioneering work in this issue: at a forum hosted by the Asia Foundation and before the national committee to combat trafficking. We also arranged a meeting at SSF between families of girls and young women who had been recruited (as well as one woman who returned from Malaysia where she had been tortured) and investigators from SISHA and the national anti trafficking police.
Cambodia has made progress in legislation In early January we rented a new building to combat human trafficking, as well as in refor our office, shifting it from the SSF Protec- habilitation of those trafficked, but the root tion Center. We also began renting 4 rooms in causes have yet to be addressed: desperate
We have also seen sharp rises in the number of reported rape cases in the past year, and are working with the local office of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association to investigate these cases and provide support where we can. We are also alarmed by the disappearance of women and girls recruited to work as domestic helpers in Malaysia and ohter countries.
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Cambodias Development
ambodia remains near the bottom of the Human Development Index (124th of 177 countries)1 despite increasing political and social stability accompanied by robust economic growth, and 30 years of foreign aid. The World Bank has warned that a decade of rapid growth (1998-2008) has raised expectations of young people, but is unlikely to provide a sufficient number of jobs to employ the 250,000 young Cambodians entering the workforce each year2.
The government has outlined its response to the development challenges faced by Cambodia in its National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2009-2013. It indicates a high level of awareness among officials (primarily those from the Ministry of Rural Development) of the sharp rural-urban divide and the key barriers to development in rural areas3. The welcome drop in poverty that appears in the national rate has yet to reach many rural areas, where most people remain subsistence farmers who supplement their income by selling their labor4. High levels of indebtedness are commonplace and this fuels trafficking. Access to safe water is low in rural areas as well. This leads to disease, high rates of child mortality, school absenteeism, low productivity and high medical expenses. Ensuring access to clean and safe water and sanitation facilities is critical. Village residents also face a lack of employment opportunities and communities lack support for vocational education and training. Illiteracy -------------------and lack of access to education, particularly for girls in rural areas, 1. International Human Development Indicators, UNDP. (http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/) prevents development and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation. Al- 2. World Bank, Sustaining Rapid Growth in a Challenging Environment, 2009, pp. iii. though there is progress towards gender equity in urban areas, rural 3. The NSDP identifies the following factors as constraints to development in rural areas: local leadership and governance, gender equity, food security and nutrition, child labor, low quality settings remain more difficult for girls and women who are also more at of education, children out of school, adult literacy, limited access to quality health service and risk of trafficking and domestic violence. Girls are also more likely to be emergency obstetric care, protection of natural resource, rural water and sanitation, agriculture and rural development, limited access to markets for local products. removed from school by their parents to perform household chores. 4. Status of Cambodias Millennium Development Goals, UNDP, draft, 2010.
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Cambodias Progress on its MIllernium Development Goals
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Economic growth has been asymmetrial, with declines in poverty primarily in urban areas
1. Poverty has been reduced from 47 percent in 1993 to 30 percent in 2007. However, a third of Cambodians still live below the national poverty line (2,473 riel or US$0.61).1 2. Eighty percent of the population is rural. Of the total poor, 92 percent live in rural areas. 3. The inequality levels have risen dramatically. The Gini Coefficient (which measures inequality zero being perfect equality and 1 being absolute inequality) has moved upwards from 0.35 in 1994 to 0.40 in 2004 and 0.43 in 2007. As a recent trend, inequality has increased not only between rural and urban areas, but also within rural areas. Rural inequality rose from 0.27 in 1994 to 0.33 in 2004 and climbed again to 0.36 in 2007. 4. Twelve percent of households, or 1.7 million individuals, were food insecure and most of these households were affected by
increases in food prices. 5. Cambodia is among the 36 countries with the highest burden of child under-nutrition and one of the 33 alarming countries for levels of hunger and under nutrition.
Gender Inequality
Cambodia ranks 95 out of 138 countries on the Gender Inequality Index in the 2010 Human Development Report released on 4 November 2010. Cambodian women generally have lower status than men in the family, the economy and at all levels of society. They have poorer access to education and healthcare, and limited employment and business opportunities. Women are under-represented in Cambodias labor markets, politics and decision-making forums, and poverty is greater among women than men across all economic groups. They are also disproportionately affected by gender-based violence and human trafficking. Mechanisms to support the integration of gender concerns into national development are improving, but many challenges remain. Source: UNDP, Key Facts about Gender Equality in Cambodia, March 2011, and Partnership for Gender Equity fact sheet (http://www.un.org.kh/ undp/).
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ampong Speu is situated west and south of Phnom Penh, with the provincial capital of Chbar Mon city less than one hours drive from Phnom Penh. National Highway 4 bisects the province, connecting Phnom Penh to the coastal resort of Sihanoukville. The highway has one lane on each side but is currently being expanded to two lanes on each side. There are few other paved roads in the province, outside Chbar Mon city. As of 2008 the population was about 750,000 people, with about 43% under 18 years of age and more than 1 in 7 families headed by a single mother (15%)1. The provinces total land area is 653,396 ha of which less than one-third is used for farming. Almost all households (94%) list rice farming as their primary source of food and income. The number of farmers using mixed farming techniques is too small to be accounted for in statistics. Because farmers are reliant on rain, they have only one crop per year. (Only 154 hectares of farmland has access to irrigation.) Yields average 1.8 tons per hectare (among the lowest in the region) and about half of all farming households (51%) have less than 1 ha of farmland. About 6% of households are landless. Landlessness is increasing and plot sizes decreasing incrementally as the population expands. Poverty
Kampong Speu Province
rates, based on reports from commune coun- Education cils, vary according to district (there are 8) but have been falling from 2006. The rates are at their most extreme in western districts, where up to 44% of all households fall below the poverty line of about 50 US cents a day. Poverty rates are at their lowest (27-30%) in the provincial capital of Chbar Mon.
Health The ratio of students (6 11) to teachers averages 34:1 province wide, and 39-1 for those aged 12 to 14. However, the ratio is as high as 100 students (aged 12-14) per teacher in one district (Aoral). The ratio of secondary students per classroom ranges from 55 (in the provincial capital) to 130 per class room in Aoral district. About 17% of all schools have no access to water and about 12% have no toilets. About one-fifth of all classrooms have dirt floor and about one-third do not have libraries. Parents also report that at some schools absenteeism is a bigger problem among teachers than it is with students. School registration rates decline as children age, with 23% of those 15 to 17 years old no longer attending school. (These figures, however, can be misleading as the registration rates do not necessarily mean the students are attending school.) The illiteracy rate is calculated at 6% for those aged 15 to 60, though doubts have been expressed about how literacy is measured.
The government has not yet extended its poverty identification program, which identifies two classes of poverty (ID Poor 1, and ID Poor 2) to Kampong Speu so it is difficult to gauge the depths of poverty in the province. Moreover, because the identification cards for ID Poor 1 & 2 have yet to be issued, those who would qualify are ineligible for the free medical services they would be entitled to. Poverty
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1. All data taken from the provincial data book, 2009. It is likely that some improvements in outcomes have occurred since then, though the data may underestimate levels of poverty and social problems, and overestimate success of programs. Capacity for objective data collection is weak in Cambodia. (www.ncdd.gov.kh/images/ stories/ncdd/2010/pdb/eng/ProvDataBook_E_5_2008. pdf)
The province has 31 public health clinics (about 1 for every 24,200 people), but four times as many private pharmacies, which dispense medicines without prescriptions are staffed, almost exclusively, by untrained pharmacists. Clerks often dispense medicines by asking customers what their symptoms are and then comparing them with the labels on pharmaceutical products, which are sometimes fake and often improperly stored, according to health NGOs. Maternal and infant mortality rates have fallen dramatically since 2006, but still remain among the highest in the region (excluding Myanmar).
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Baseline surveys have shown that the three average: in 5 of the 8 districts the rate is above most common reasons Cambodian children 30 to 1, and above 80 to 1 in Basedth district. do not receive an education are: 1) there is no school in the village or the school is too Migration & Trafficking far away; 2) the school has no teacher, or the teacher does not show up often; and 3) the parents are too poor to afford school supplies and uniforms, or food for their children.
Water and Sanitation
Vietnam would result in significant reductions in food insecurity and indebtedness. Crop diversification schemes, home gardens, and livestock-raising have been identified as sustainable solutions to alleviating poverty. Proximity to Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville also provide residents access to markets to sell produce and other products, though the lack of adequate roads (especially during the rainy season) hampers access to Highway 4. The three main methods of transportation are: bicycle, ox cart and motorcycle, in that order. There are significant opportunities to develop micro businesses, form village business associations and enhance links to markets that can be integrated into e xisting commune and district development plans. Parents are also eager to ensure their children receive an education, but the lack of adequate facilities and teachers, as well as distance from schools, constrains them. Proximity to Phnom Penh lessens the difficulty in recruiting qualified. teachers that more remote provinces face, but the meager salaries paid to teachers hinder their effectiveness. Our Learning Centre, which provides supplementary classes, is a partial solution. Advocacy at the village, commune and district levels, as well as the formation of parent-teacher associations, will be required to improve the delivery of educational services to the communities we work in. We are not alone in this realization and are working with parents, village and commune leaders, to raise awareness about the need for effective investment in education.
The number of people per wells (year-round wells) ranges from 46 to 111, according to the district. Almost half of all people, 48%, obtain drinking water from unsafe sources. The percentage rises during the dry season, to 73% in one district. Just 8% of families have access to water filters, while 44 percent report boiling water before drinking it. Province-wide the ratio of people to latrines is showing significant rises, from 43.6 per latrine in 2006 to 29.1 in 2008. However, the rates in some districts remain far above the national
The province has a high rate of work related migration, with about 12% of residents leaving to find seasonal or year round work. The provinces proximity to Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, draws men from villages to construction sites, and women to garment factories and entertainment venues. Both Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh have a high demand for sex workers, in brothels, karaoke bars, massage parlors and guesthouses. Kampong Speus proximity to the Cambodias financial and resort capitals makes its poorest residents highly vulnerable to trafficking networks, both formal and informal ones.
Opportunities
Commune councilors and district officials are well aware of the challenges faced by their constituents, and have identified key areas for increasing income generation activities as well as rice yields by improving irrigation. Raising rice yields to levels comparable to Thailand or
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Our Approach
hile many NGOs and aid groups assist those who have been victimized by human trafficking and sexual exploitation, SSF focuses on prevention. We protect at-risk children and ensure that they receive the support they need to prevent exploitation. Our risk-assessment model identifies those in urgent need of support (see below), but we have identified far more at-risk children than we can fully support. As a result, we focus on protecting girls older than 10 because they face the highest risk of being trafficked, primarily for sexual exploitation. Girls are also more likely to be deprived of the chance to attend school, as Cambodian society (especially in rural areas) considers their education unimportant.
SSF also recognizes that the factors that contribute to trafficking do not stop at the childrens immediate family it is a community-wide problem. Traffickers target the most impoverished villages. As a result, we are implementing projects that benefit entire villages. Ensuring access to quality education for children is a priority because it has been shown to be a factor in preventing them from becoming involved in commercial sexual exploitation. Although SSF does not run its own school, we provide supplementary classes as well as daily pocket money, bicycles for transportation, uniforms, and all the materials children need to attend state schools.
Center where residents can receive academic or vocational training. Protecting them from harm is only a first step towards a long-term solution. Social and financial education is vital to ensure they can learn how to protect and care for themselves.
Risk Assessment
he intensive care required to repair the damage done to those who have been trafficked is invaluable, but at SSF our focus is prevention. We identify those at risk of trafficking, and then provide security and support to prevent exploitation. We intervene at the individual, family and community levels.
SSF understands that it is nearly impossible to help children without also helping their families. Although some victims are trafficked by strangers, far more are trafficked by someone they know. A study by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Youth Rehabilitation, for example, found that nearly half of those who had returned to Cambodia after being trafficked to Thailand said their mother facilitated their migration, usually to settle escalating lating debt and resources, creating a social network they or alleviate extreme poverty. The Protection Center includes a Learning can draw on in the future.
At SSF we foster independence and social support. Residents of the Protection Center live and work together. The traditional hierarchical structure that stresses obedience has been replaced with an environment that welcomes ideas. Children are encouraged to think creatively and pursue their own goals. At the comBecause SSF recognizes the importance of fam- munity level we encourage parents and village ily in improving the lives of sponsored children, elders to listen to children. we encourage them to live with their families, in their own communities. The majority of the Following decades of civil war, and the genochildren that SSF supports live at home. Chil- cide that preceded it, trust has yet to be redren are, however, removed from abusive or stored. Cambodia still lacks community soliunsafe households. Moreover, if they live in vil- darity. Interpersonal relationships stop at the lages more than 6km from the nearest school, family level. At SSF we stress the importance of they can stay at our Protection Center and visit volunteering and community involvement. The their families on weekends. result is inspiring: children are pooling ideas
Our model requires developing close connections to the villages, communes and districts we work in, as well as continuously enhancing our ability to detect signs that indicate risk. Risk factors for trafficking have already been identified by international and national data collected from those trafficked. We combine this data with local knowledge. For example, Kompong Speu has a high rate of migrant workers as well as land disputes and in some areas access to water is limited. We see these factors as danger signs that are entered into our detection system.
tory and status) so that we can gauge the level of risk faced by each child considered for support. Many factors are considered: family size, literacy, land ownership, the presence of alcoholism, gambling and drug use, the prevalence of illness, injury and HIV infection, the familys financial status and level of food security. We also look closely at who heads the household. Is a mother raising three children alone? Are grandparents looking after the children while parents seek work in distant provinces or neighboring countries? Are the parents employed, and if so is their employment seasonal and are they being paid on time?
SSF is expanding this risk assessment system one village at a time. It allows us to input data collected from assessments of individual families (their history and status) so that we can gauge the level of risk faced by each child considered for support.
Values are assigned to each factor according to their causal significance, but our model is not purely mathematical. Personal judgment is required. Assessment requires highly developed interpersonal skills and in-depth knowledge of the community. We are also finding that after 5 years, village chiefs and elders are approachSSF is expanding this system one village at a ing us and asking for assistance; they, too, are time. It allows us to input data collected from recognizing the causes of trafficking and they assessments of individual families (their his- are taking action before it is too late. www.ssf.org.kh www.ssf.org.kh www.ssf.org.kh
rotecting children requires an immediate response as well as a longterm commitment to alleviating the conditions that make children vulnerable to exploitation and violence, such as commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking and child labor. We operate a Protection Center for those at immediate risk, a Learning Center to provide the vocational and academic training required for independence, and village outreach to identify and support at-risk children.
Child Protection P
disabled children who have no where else to stay. In early June, for example, government officials dropped off a young boy who had escaped from two other facilities. The boy cannot speak and the exact nature of his disability remains unclear, but SSF staff are tracing his history and seeking to find the support he requires. In the meantime, he is being well cared for at the center. There are three pillars to support: health, education and social welfare. As soon as a child is selected for sponsorship a health assessment is conducted. This is followed by regular checkups. Every sponsored child is also enrolled in school, and provided with the support necessary support, including a bicycle and pocket
Long-term support is funded through sponsorship. SSF directly supports more than 150 children, more than 30 of whom reside at our Protection Center. These include girls rescued from trafficking and abusive homes, as well as
money. Children are also encouraged to attend classes at out Learning Center, which include social and financial education. SSF also encourages children to take responsibility for their own future by encouraging income-generation activities. At the center itself, we have vegetable gardens and fruit trees, and raise chickens, ducks and pigs. Several students have opened a banana-cake stand in front of the center, while others crochet purses and accessories for sale. In the end it is empowering the children, so they can support themselves in the future.
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Our Center
Escape From A Nigh Mare Of Abuse
My heart was beating when I got here. I was afraid I would be sent back. I was afraid that if I was sent back the beatings would get worse. My uncle had also threatened to rape me. After her mother died when she was 2, and her father disappeared, Sokkhen, now 14, was taken in by her uncle and his wife. Losing both parents at such a young age is difficult enough, but for Sokken her life got worse.
clothing, medical care and most importantly new friends and a homelike environment. After a few months she began to start to feel safe. Despite her horrific background, Sokkhen knows that she has the ability to ensure a betHer uncle, an amputee who is unemployed ter life. She is focused on her studies. Now in and alcoholic, was abusive, sometimes hitting Grade 4 she wants to pursue studies in mediher to the point where she lost consciousness. cine when she finishes high school. She has Neighbors said Sokkhen was sometimes put in been quick to befriend those who arrived at a sack and hung from a beam. Her uncle told the center after she did. She tells them theyre them she was just a pig. Her aunt was also abu- safe now and that they finally have a chance sive: she would whack Sokkhen with a bamboo to have what they deserve: protection, affecrod and verbally abuse her. tion, encouragement, and the opportunity to choose your future. Sokkhen was not properly fed. Some days she received no food at all, even when there was Selling Bamboo To Pay For School food in the home. Although she was enrolled Judy has a complex family background. The in school, she was rarely able to attend classes. third of her biological parents five children, Her uncle always forced her to work in fields or she also has six half-siblings: three from her tend cows for money, which he would keep for mothers first marriage and three from her himself. Her uncle also threatened to rape her, fathers first wife. Her father died when she and sometimes said he would let his friends was 8, leaving her mother to care for the five rape her. children who lived in their home. Her mother
I want to help other Cambodian children lean English.
After meeting Dy 3 years ago and hearing her assert that she refused to be illiterate, SSF began helping her remain in school. Two years ago she moved into the Protection Center so that she could attend secondary school. (Her remarried and then divorced. Along with the home was 20 kilometers from a secondary She rarely saw her older sister and had lost turbulent relationships in her home, Dy also school.) Now in Grade 8, Dy studies hard every touch with her brother. She had nowhere or no had to cope with her mothers alcoholism. Her day. In her English classes at SSF, she is always one to turn to. Finally, after a decade of physi- mother drank daily and spent most of her time among the first to put her hand up to answer cal and verbal abuse, Sokkhen finally decided wandering around the village drunk chatting questions. to escape. She left from work and came to SSFs with neighbors. She rarely worked. Protection Center asking for help. She wants to become an English teacher when She could not support her five children, and as she grows up. I want to help other CambodiI didnt know what to do. I was terrified. a result, Dys older brothers had to drop out ans learn a second language, she explains. She Someone told me about SSF and I decided to of school. Their mother wanted all of them to also hopes to support her younger brother and escape. My heart was beating when I got here. work and could not afford to pay their school sister. As with most children at the center, she I was afraid I would be sent back. I was afraid fees. Dy, however, was determined to get an sees education as a means to ensure a better that if I was the beatings would get worse, she education. She walked 5 kilometers every day life not just for herself but for her family. recalls. to go to school. To stay in school, she gathered bamboo from the mountains to sell and supShe was provided with immediate assistance: port herself and her family. a safe place to sleep, three meals a day, clean www.ssf.org.kh
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Rural Youth Sets Sight On International that with a good job in the future, he will also grandparents, she explains. I want to repay be able to send his sister to college and to take them because they sold their land to support Career
I want to study computer science and work for an internation company. care of his mother, who has never remarried and relies on a small rice farm for her income. In Cambodia, a university education is out of reach for the rural poor. Veasna is hoping to find a sponsor to help fund his university studies. He will in turn fund his sisters, and help show that with a little support children from villages can make the leap from poverty to computer science or medicine me. She also hopes to set an example for other youths. No matter how bleak things may seem, there are always opportunities. You need to look at the opportunities ties to keep from getting overwhelmed by the problems. And I want to show that if you work hard you can reach your goals, she explains. Since arriving at SSF, Narong has been attending English and computer classes to prepare herself for university. She also tutors other children on Khmer literature and mathematics. Its not just the subjects I am tutoring them on. Im also encouraging them to believe We are determined to ensure that the protection we provide now lasts for their entire lives.
Abandoned child is setting an example

Like most Cambodian children, Veasna (who also goes by the nickname Vern) has had to struggle to get access to education. Now 20, he is in his final year of high school. Ten years ago, when his parents divorced, he had to decide who he would stay with. He chose his father, not out of loyalty or preference, but because his father lived near a school. To stay with his mother he would have had to walk several kilometers to reach the school and he was afraid that his studies would suffer. While living with his father, he attended the local state school in Kampong Speu. He was a diligent student and worked to get everything he could from his education. No matter how bleak things may seem, there are always opportunities. You need to look at the opportunities to keep from getting over whelmed by the problems.
Cambodian students often prefer to stay silent rather than question what they do not understand, but not Veasna. He loved math and English lessons. In his free time, he practiced reading English and also spent additional time working on math. He studied so diligently on his own and asked so many questions of his Ran Narong is 19. She has one older sister and teachers that the time came when he had sur- a younger brother. She comes from a village called Tropeang Rompak in Takeo provpassed them, he recalls. ince. Narong has had a difficult upbringing As can often happen in stepfamilies, especially and has regularly encountered complex and here in Cambodia, Veasnas stepmother was distressing situations throughout her childoften very hard on him, blaming him for things hood. Her Vietnamese mother abandoned he did not do and expecting him to clean and the family when Narong was just 5. She and maintain her home. Six months ago Veasna her siblings were reliant on their father, but chose to move to SSF, with his fathers permis- he struggled to support the family as a poor sion. The expectations placed on him by his single parent. He died after years of alcohol stepmother made it difficult for him to give his abuse and she was left in the care of her studied the attention. He felt they deserved. grandparents when she was 10. Now, living at SSF, he works on translating books from English to Khmer. He works late into the night translating technical manuals and magazines about from English to Khmer. He works late into the night translating technical manuals and magazines about computers. He studies computer repairs, teaches fellow students how to use computers and is a fantastic translator. I want to study computer science and work for an international company, says the young man from Rumlong Braphleah village. He talks with sadness of his sisters wish to be a doctor, and her limited access to a good education or to the funds required for college. He hopes
in themselves and that they can achieve a lot more than what their backgrounds were leading them to. When I go to university I want to show them that it is possible to go from a poor background to a future full of opportunities. I plan to return to SSF on weekends and continue to teach.
Choosing Development
Our Protection Center is more than a shelter for children and youths who have been trafficked and abused, or those who face the highest risk of exploitation. We focus on creating an environment for learning academic subjects, vocational trades and life skills. The goal is simple: to ensure that the residents, primarily teenage girls, become equipped to support themselves and assist their families. We are determined to ensure that the protection we provide now lasts for their entire lives.
They were forced to sell their land so that Narong and her siblings could go to school. By the time Narong finished high school, her grandparents had nothing left. They earned a little money selling snacks at a local market, but this was squandered by their grandmother who, as s he aged, developed addictions to alcohol and gambling. At the same time her grandfathers health began failing due to old age.
Our plan for the next 5 years is to expand so that we can accommodate 500 children and youths. We are doing this carefully to ensure that we have the staff, facilities and ability to meet the responsibility such expansion requires. For example, we are upgrading our training facilities and adding more vocational training courses to ensure that when the youths leave SSF they can find jobs. The new courses will include those related to the hospitality industry, comStill, Narong remained determined to pursue puter business management, computer mainher education. I want to be an accountant tenance, graphic design, and website developand find a good job so that I can provide for my ment and maintenance.
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Sponsorships S
SF has a flexible sponsorship system that allows sponsors to directly support the children, families or communities we partner with. Our close relationships with communities, families and children allow us to maximize the effect of sponsorship by ensuring that financial assistance is delivered efficiently and effectively to those who need it most. We also follow-up to ensure that those sponsored receive training in financial and household management, as well as encouragement to pursue their selfdirected plans and assistance in any hurdles they face. Our proximity to the sponsored individuals, families and communities keeps us in constant contact with them, usually through weekly visits in their homes. We also have an open-door policy at our office and Protection Center that allows community members to visit us when they need guidance or assistance.
In the next reporting year, for example, we will introduce university scholarships for students who have finished high school. In some cases these students have been with us for several years. Financial assistance from around the globe, fused with our encouragement and coaching, has transformed their lives. Several are ready to make the leap from impoverished villages to university education, and we are encouraging them to see their background as strength to draw on. We have three categories of sponsorship: for children and youths; for families; and for communities. In each case, the sponsor and those he or she assists enters into a mutual agreement and commitment to a set of objectives for one year. Our role is to ensure that these objectives are met. Sponsorship for children:
sponsors include individuals and groups from around the globe, and we encourage contact between them and the children and families they assist. We have three types of sponsorship: full, educational and partial. Full sponsorships ($100 per month): The number of children and youths receiving full sponsorships has risen to 36. These sponsorships cover all living and educational expenses as well as pocket money for children and youths who live at the Protection Center. Funding also helps support their biological or adoptive families whom we partner with and our Protection and Learning centers. Partial sponsorships ($35 per month): SSF introduced partial sponsorships (for children and youths who live with their families) last year. These sponsorships allow the children and youths to remain in school, and include financial support for school fees and materials as well as food. Almost all of these, 17, go to girls. Educational sponsorships ($18 per month): Educational sponsorships (financial support for school fees and materials, including bicycles) have increased from 19 during the previous reporting period to 89 this year. These sponsorships are making education possible for 89 children who face a high risk of trafficking.
SSF
recognized
that
providing families with the support and skills to become self-sufficient reduces the likelihood that they will withdraw their children from
These go to children and youths who have been, or face the highest risk of being, trafficked or abused. Usually, they live in slum areas in the provincial capital or in villages where there are high rates of food insecurity and indebtedness. Village leaders and residents often assist our field staff in identifying those most at risk of trafficking. This process allows SSF to strengthen relations with communities and involves them in the process or reducing the risk of trafficking and exploitation. A risk assessment is made by our Child Protection team prior to selecting children for sponsorship. This involves discussions with family members as well as the child. Sponsored children and their families also sign a contract that clarifies in detail what they will receive and what is expected of them. Regular follow-up visits (sometimes weekly) are scheduled to ensure the family and child has the support they need to reach their goals. The number children and youths receiving sponsorships increased from 45 in the last reporting period to 138 early this year. Our
school and send them to work. This is why family sponsorship is the appropriate intervention in some cases. In each case, the goal of family sponsorship is to ensure that by the second year the parents, parent or grandparent is able to support the family through a micro business or other income-generating activity.
FAMILy SPONSORSHIP
Over the past year we have fine-tuned our sponsorship program to make it more flexible to sponsors as well as individuals and communities.
SSF recognized that providing families with the support and skills to become self-sufficient reduces the likelihood that they will withdraw their children from school and send them to work. This is why family sponsorship is the appropriate intervention in some cases. In each case, the goal of family sponsorship is to www.ssf.org.kh
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ensure that by the second year the parents, to 32 currently. parent or grandparent is able to support the family through a micro business or other COMMUNITy SPONSORSHIPS income-generating activity. What SSF does is help the family draft and implement a business plan and a household development plan, through financial training and coaching. In these cases, families make the transition from subsistence day labor or farming to year-round employment that allows them to save for the future or invest in their business or farms. We provide initial grants of $75 to $250 in start-up capital. Once the business proves viable additional support is sometimes given to expand or upgrade services. In general, SSF does not provide cash to families directly, but helps draft a plan and then delivers the goods necessary to start a business. This is followed by technical support an weekly visits that create an channel for open discussion about the challenges and opportunities posed by a new business. Annual evaluations and audits are made so that both the family and SSF can measure the outcome of the project.
distant stream or pond. $25 provides seeds and tools for an organic home garden. $35 buys a bicycle for a child to attend school. $40 provides a sanitary latrine for a household. $60 provides a bio-sand water filter, which ensures safe drinking water for 10 years. $150 provides start-up capital to launch a micro-business. $250 buys a cow or a sow for breeding. $2,300 provides a secure home for an entire family.
SSF is also seeking partners who are interested in sponsorship at the community level. Such sponsorships may require visits from potential sponsors to the communities, as well as close collaboration with SSF staff to implement effective community-led development plans. For community sponsorships we are interested in partnering with development faculties at universities, companies, and community-based organizations within and outside Cambodia.
INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS
SSF welcomes individual donations. We believe Family sponsorship is $40 per month, about that generosity has a ripple effect, especially $1.30 a day. This provides the family with when it crosses borders. Small donations can access to clean water, nutritious food, vital have transformative effects in Cambodia. health care, and improved housing. The $10 provides one ceramic water filter, which funding also includes training and financial supplies safe drinking water for 2 years. support for family business development. The $20 provides one water storage jar for number of families receiving sponsorship has household consumption, saving children risen from 10 in the previous reporting period from the daily task of collecting water from a
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Livelihoods T
rafficking and exploitation are most prevalent in impoverished communities and the most vulnerable families face the highest risk. This is why our prevention model is constantly monitored to ensure it channels support to the most vulnerable families and communities. By improving their livelihoods the risk of trafficking is reduced. Moreover, improving livelihoods is necessary to prevent parents from withdrawing their children from school so that they can work: either at home or outside the home. We work in partnership with the most vulnerable families to develop long-term strategies to provide them with income-generation activities that will allow them to be self-sufficient. Often these are families headed by a single mother, are in debt to loan sharks or in poor health. The first step is to identify them. Next, an assessment of needs is made using our social economic assessment questionnaire. After the assessment, a plan is drafted to assist the family. The plan is implemented with the assistance of the livelihoods coordinator and weekly follow-up visits are made to encourage the family to follow the plan and help them overcome any obstacles. In the last reporting period we extended our reach from slum areas in the provincial capital and 4 villages to 6 more villages. Our Family Support network now covers the provincial town and 10 villages in 3 communes. At the community level we fuse a village-based development model designed by Cambodian experts in integrated rural development with our assessment model for identifying individuals and households most at risk of trafficking and exploitation. Resources are then channeled to them, while the social infrastructure necessary for minimizing risk is strengthened. This includes building links between families isolated by poverty and other members of the community, as well as working with village leaders and commune councils to integrate household and village development plans into commune development plans, to ensure their sustainability. Our community livelihoods program has 7 components: 1) community protection; 2) community initiation; 3) water and sanitation; 4) income generation; 5) financial literacy; 6) project sustainability; and 7) leadership transition. SSF is expanding its Community Livelihoods program from 1 to 4 villages and sub-villages. We began with Kraing Rhong sub-village in www.ssf.org.kh
2009 and are expanding to Prey Cheur Teal, Tlock Doun Sok and Kdul villages. In each case a risk assessment for trafficking was made prior to entering the village. We have also expanded family support from 10 to 65 families, and plan to expand this to an additional 245 families this year.
received livestock (12 received sows and 6 received cows), 8 families received support for micro-businesses and four new families initiated household development plans. Expansion Villages: The new villages are in Skus commune (1) and Kraing Ompil commune (2) Samrong district. SSF has been providing support to individual families in them since as early as 2007, and had been planning to expand this to cover the entire villages for one year. The villages share the same health center, which will allow SSF to coordinate its health initiatives with the government-run system. The three villages lack electricity and access to safe water. Children are usually responsible for collecting water from nearby streams. During the dry season (October to May) this can entail several trips a day, each one more than 500m. Firewood is the main fuel for cooking and batteries are used to power lights, radios and other electric appliances (where they exist). Bicycles are the primary means of transportation. Almost all residents of the three villages are rice farmers with small plots and low yields. They grow one crop a year, which generally lasts from 5-8 months. When the rice runs out, more is borrowed or purchased on credit. If the crop is damaged (or destroyed) by too much or too little rain, the household faces a year without food. Drought is frequent in Kampong Speu, where less than 1% of farmland is irrigated. The most urgent needs in the villages are, according to residents, access to safe drinking water, irrigation, better health service, improved access to education for children,
Family Support
All families receive seeds for home gardens and support in organic farming techniques. Lack of access to water, however, remains a key constraint to year-round home gardens for many families. The benefits of home gardens are wide ranging, from increasing nutrition and income. They also benefit the environment by protecting flora and fauna of natural vegetation because families with home gardens have less need to enter forested areas in search of food or items for sale. Home gardens can also improve soil fertility. Besides assistance with home gardens, 25 families received microloans, 13 received basic support packages, 12 vulnerable people and youths received found employment with our help, 18 families
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food security, employment and better access to markets. Village leaders have also identified adult literacy classes, training on prevention of domestic violence (estimated to affect about 40% of households) and support for micro businesses as key needs. SSF, with the assistance of donors in Singapore and Malaysia, has already provided about 50latrines to the poorest households in 2 of the villages. Our goal is to provide each with at least one hand-pump well this year, and establish self help groups and rice banks. To accomplish this we will lead study tours of village leaders and residents to the sub-village where we have been operating our Community Livelihoods program since 2009, Kraing Rohong. It has become a model for what we intend to do, and the residents we partner with are eager to show how they have transformed a desolate community into a Green Village in just two years.
Green Village
The Kraining Rohong sub-village is recognized by commune councilors as green village, according to an appreciation letter issued on 16 September 2010 by Skus Commune Chief. The Chief is acknowledging to SSF and its funding partners that have been assisted to develop this sub-village so far. This project provides clean, safe drinking water to the residents who are living in this village in an attempt to provide economic independence and improve health, as well as to limit the financial burdens resulting from water access that ultimately cause families to engage in desperate behaviors like trafficking themselves or their children. Mr. Chap Him is a former officer of the Kampong Speu provincial department of transportation. His family resides in this village and the residents elected him as community representative after he retired. Two other village representatives also selected at the same time to play their roles and responsibilities as deputy and treasurer. With this election they have trained to work as implementing partner partnering with SSF to develop their village. With financial support from our funding partners, especially Stop Kindermisbruik and Groundwork Opportunities, the second phase was launched in January 2010. Various training courses and workshops on topics such as Roles and Responsibilities, Problem Analysis, Proposal Writing, Leading and Managing Rural Communities, Community Organizing, Annual Village Planning Workshops and quarterly meetings were provided to the community representatives as well as their beneficiaries. As a result, they were able to put their newly acquired knowledge into practice by organizing meetings in their community regularly to save and lend money and rice from the created
self-help group and rice bank with lowest interest rate that is equal to microfinance institutions in Cambodia, 3% a month, developing and implementing monthly and annual action plans, and mobilizing local resources with the support of project staff. The capacity of project staff to monitor and evaluate project activities, however, still needs improvement. The community development initiative plans that were implemented included construction of a pump water well, 30 water storage containers, a dirt road in village, one rice bank, 30 ceramic water filters distribution, a self-help group and rice bank creations, fences their compounds. 18 families received grants to start small businesses; three families raised chicken and ducks, twelve families grow organic vegetables, two families purchase rice to sell and another family bought land to build house. Another importantly, eleven children at Kraining Rohong are enrolled in SSF school for English language, computer literacy and social and financial education. Now, women like Phim Dy have the ability to start their own income generating projects by selling rice, morning glories, and other vegetables. The water from the well fuels the growth of the plants in the ground and the interest free funding of loans from SSF fuels the businesses on the ground, making the cycle of progress spiral upwards. In a once near desolate area, GO, Stop Kindermisbruik and SSF have transformed the land and the community into a sustainable and prospering area. Community and vulnerable families have continued to work together for sustainable development. Vulnerable household development plans have been conducted by the families
themselves, while villages have begun developing annual plans based on their own problem analysis. Community solidarity is being enhanced. Residents are working together to solve problems and social infrastructure that facilitates this is being strengthened. A letter from Mr. Nheb Buneang Skus commune chief: Thank you deeply from bottom of my heart to all donors and partners of Sao Sary Foundation who funded SSF to do development work in Kraing Rohong community. It has since then been chosen as green community in our commune. We are so excited with your support and we much appreciate your generosity, hard work and contribution to develop better livelihood for our residents. Presently, they are being building better living conditions. Basing on practical needs, as a representative of residents in Skus commune, I would like to request for your considerations to continue your assistances to Kraining Rohong and other villages in my commune, especially for education, welfare, health and sanitation, economic development and infrastructure. In at the end, I wish Stop Kindermisbruik, Sao Sary Foundation and other donors and partners of SSF to success on anything that they endeavor.
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CHUM VAN FAMILy

Van Choun, 45, has three sons and one daughter. He lives in Kraing Rohong. Ever since they have received help from SSF, his family, who are inherently hard workers, has been doing well from the results of their home garden. added that, Ever since SSF began assisting my village by providing us with water pumps, water filters, water jars (for storing water), Rice Banks, toilets and sanitation as well as organizing self-help groups, this village has changed a lot. I feel that the water pump we received Presently, his family lives comfortably, with is especially useful because it gives us a betan improved livelihood stemming from their ter opportunity to start our own home gardens home garden. His family earns at least US$40 a and it makes it easier to raise livestock.family month by selling the vegetables that they grow. receives extra revenue to ensure a secured and By planting a variety of vegetables that the constant income for his family. typical Cambodian consumes on a daily basis, they have no problems marketing them. These With a long smile on his face, he joyfully added vegetables include the morning glory (a type of that, Ever since SSF began assisting my village water spinach that is a favourite amongst the by providing us with water pumps, water fillocals at any meal within the day), chillis, papa- ters, water jars (for storing water), Rice Banks, yas, herbs and lemon grass. Additionally, these toilets and sanitation as well as organizing selfvarieties ensure that their land could be used help groups, this village has changed a lot. I feel optimally and everything they grow would not that the water pump we received is especially go to waste. useful because it gives us a better opportunity to start our own home gardens and it makes it He added that, by planting these vegetables, easier to raise livestock. his family has the option of also using them for their own consumption, a wise move that would This rings true for most villages, as they are save his family US$ 0.50- US$1 a day or US$15- plagued with the lack of a constant water sup30 a month. Besides growing vegetables, his ply and the act of fetching water from faraway family also raises poultry and Van Choun, who wells and ponds makes it virtually impossible is a Khmer Traditional Musician, still performs for families to start any projects. Previously, so that his family receives extra revenue to the Van family and their fellow villagers were ensure a secured and constant income for his so preoccupied with fetching water for their family. With a long smile on his face, he joyfully own consumption that they could not spare www.ssf.org.kh water or even the time to begin planting their own vegetables. Due to a lack of their own vegetables, a huge chunk of their daily income from Van Chouns performances was all spent on buying food from markets. In addition to this, they also had to spend on the childrens schooling and medicine. Furthermore, they would also have to spend at least US$15 a month on drinking water. Due to the bad living conditions and the constant starvation, Vans health was mostly poor. Constantly, there will be days when he was too sick to work and his familys hunger would worsen. When that happens, his wife would resort to catching crabs and fishes and collecting wild leaves to try and put a stop to their hunger. Looking at him again now, one would have a hard time imagining the life he used to live previously. Now, the sight of his wooden home and the smiles of his family eclipse his dire conditions in the past. Although he is happy now, he still has plans for the future- to expand his garden so that he could secure his familys income to ensure that he has all the time to be with his family.
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EM PROEUNG FAMILy Before they were approached by SSF, Em Proeung (husband), aged 36 and Houk Sophea (wife), 32 had a hard time raising their four kids (two sons and two daughters). The former was a war veteran and like so many of his kind from the times of the Khmer Rouge, he is an amputee (right leg). He was tricked by his friend and was illegally sent to Malaysia to beg, as part of a local syndicate. After a few years, he managed to return but without a single penny. Although he is back home, Proeung continues to face a life of hardship. Like many in Cambodia, they stayed in mini huts with no extra land space for a small garden, let alone for farming. And like the majority of their fellow countrymen, they had to resort to anything and everything to earn enough just to buy some rice. So, they resorted to collecting baby lotuses, leaves and morning glory from lakes far from their homes or in the wilderness. Their kids were not spared from this chore and as a result, education became secondary as the need to survive gains supremacy in a poverty-stricken household like this. This sort of work does not come easy and the Em family (with exception to Em Proeung, due to his disability) starts work early in the morning and sells the products in the market in the evening. Even with this collective effort, their daily income totaled only a mere US $1.50 a day. Like so many other families, the Ems future remains uncertain and like many of them, they lack the means to get out of the rut carved by the Khmer Rouge. When SSF approached them, their days immediately got many degrees brighter. In truth, Em Proeung had not merely been sitting idly all these while but instead, has many enterprising plans. Without wasting much time, he told SSF about his business plans of selling balloons but, he would require a capital of US $100. Almost immediately, it was granted and the dark days were almost a
IM BORA
thing of the past. Now, Em Proeungs income alone provides the family with US $2.50 - $5.00 a day. He sells household like this. This sort of work does not come easy and the Em family (with exception to Em Proeung, due to his disability) starts work early in the morning and sells the products in the market in the evening. Even with this collective effort, their daily income totaled only a mere US $1.50 a day. Like so many other families, the Ems future remains uncertain and like many of them, they lack the means to get out of the rut carved by the Khmer Rouge. When SSF approached them, their days immediately got many degrees brighter. In truth, Em Proeung had not merely been sitting idly all these while but instead, has many enterprising plans. Without wasting much time, he told SSF about his business plans of selling balloons but, he would require a capital of US $100. Almost immediately, it was granted and the dark days were almost a thing of the past. Now, Em Proeungs income alone provides the family with US $2.50 - $5.00 a day. He sells mainly balloons, masks and a myriad of party accessories. His main wares sell like hotcakes during various festivals and anniversaries that are celebrated in Cambodia. In between those times, he sets up his stall in the market and becomes a favourite amongst the children. Now, he could even afford a used motorcycle which increases his mobility. With Houk Sophea continuing their initial trade, the combined income allowed their kids to go to school consistently now. Proeungs family is one of the many other families that share a similar and consistent success with the help from SSF. Cambodia loses more than US$450 million annually due to poor sanitation and hygiene practices, equivalent to US$32 per capita or Riels 130,000, according to a recent study Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Cambodia, published in June 2008 by the Water and Sanitation Program of the World Bank. Despite huge economic loses and death toll, few funds are spent on addressing poor sanitation and hygiene. On overage, only 0.002% of the state expenditure has been used for sanitation programs at national level. Although, the figure is expected to rise to over 0.01% in 2008amounting to nearly US$180,000-this is still inadequate for Cambodia to scale up sanitation coverage to meet the CMDGs. More than 10.7 million Cambodians do not have sanitary and private toilets. According to the Commune Database (2004) of the Kampong Speu province, 90% of households this province do not have a sanitary toilet and 34% of households not having access to a safe source of drinking water at or within 150 meters, of their house. Compared to the national level, a higher percentage of households in this province did not have a sanitary toilet. The percentage of households not having access to safe drinking water in this province was the same as the national average. More needs to be done to promote sanitation and to further improve access to safe drinking water in this province, to reduce the risks of child death, and to reduce existing levels of child morbidity and malnutrition.
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Sanitation
SSF uses social media Facebook to link isolated villages with Friends overseas to solve water and sanitation crisis. On March 22, Three villages in Kampong Speu province that connected with friends in Singapore and Malaysia via Facebook yesterday received one of the provinces largest deliveries of water and sanitation facilities, the director of Sao Sary Foundation said. Mr. Vichetr Uon said four friends from Singapore and Malaysia arrived on Saturday 19th March to assist village residents install 168 sanitary latrines, adding to the scores of ceramic water filters distributed and wells installed with the assistance of Facebook friends from around the world. Facebook put us in the villages, Mrs. Connie
Coordinator. Children are getting sick, some
Cheah, from Johore Baru Malaysia, said. After we became friends I started asking how we could help and what they needed most. We used social media and text messaging to raise awareness and funds in Malaysia and Singapore. Kraing Ampil commune chief Kong Chhom said, We were very surprised that came to help install the latrines. They knew a lot about the villages and spent a lot of time talking to residents. They were really eager to help, even digging the pits. SSF is using Facebook and other social media to provide people around the world with a more immediate understanding of the immense development challenges rural Cambodians face, especially those in isolated villages, Mr. Uon said. Youths from the villages connect with Facebook friends through SSFs Learning Center near Chbar Morn city. Lack of access to safe water and sanitary latrines is a major barrier to development in rural Cambodia, said Mr. Bora Im, SSF Livelihoods
are dying, and they are missing school. There is also a loss of productivity among parents due to illness, and some are going into debt pay for medical expenses, Mr. Im said. He pointed to a World Bank report that warned that at the rate Cambodia was going it would take 150 years for universal sanitation coverage in rural areas, which have been largely bypassed by the countrys economic growth and under served by Phnom Penh-based NGOs.1More than 6,000 Cambodians, primarily children, die every year as a result of lack of access to sanitary latrines, the report notes.
household income in the three villages is less than $25 per month, he said. Because we are a small NGO that works within rural communities we have more personal relationships with residents, so this allows us to create the sort of personal bonds with people around the world that can lead to effective and sustainable solutions based on personal understanding, he said. For us, social media puts the power of personal connections into development. It keeps the focus on people not data, Mr. Uon said.
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Economic impacts of sanitation in Cambodia, World Bank Water and Sanitation Program, Mrs. Cheah said, We started with photos, vid- 2008. eos and chats, and then arrived in person. We The three villages are ThlokDounsok and Kdol also worked with SSF to make sure all the la- in KraingAmpil commune, and Rokha Thom viltrines were locally produced so that it would lage in Rokha Thom commune. boost the economy and provide employment. Mr. Im said SSF had been training village residents on how to install and maintain the latrines, as well as maintain the wells. Some residents had also received training on how to construct ceramic water storage containers, which can be sold in the area rather than imported from Phnom Penh, he said. The cost was about $40 per latrine, which is cheaper than the price most private sector companies sell at because the latrines had been bought in bulk, Mr. Im said. The average
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Investigation
While in Pchea Bhat village in early February 2011 SSF came across our first case of a girl who had gone missing in Malaysia. Her name is Sopheap (not her real name) and she was between 13 and 16 years old. Her birth certificate was altered to raise her age to 18 by a village leader. It was later altered again to raise her age to 21, the legal age to work as a domestic helper in Malaysia. Sopheap left for Malaysia on May 29, 2010. She had not been heard from since. Her parents asked SSF to help locate her. As word spread from village to village that SSF was assisting Sopheaps family, we began receiving complaints from other families. Within 4 months SSF had accumulated 19 cases and began cooperating with SISHA, Tenagenita and anti-Human Trafficking Police in Phnom Penh. Nine cases involve missing girls and women. Through our assistance, 7 families re-established contact with them. One case involved a missing 18-year-old male. He was repatriated to Cambodia in May 2011. He returned with mental health problems. The manager of the factory that had employed him had sold him drugs, likely methamphetamines. He later escaped from the factory and decided walk back to Cambodia. Two cases involved women who returned from Malaysia without any salary, one of whom had been tortured. Seven additional cases involved recruits who had escaped from training centers in Phnom Penh, including one under age girl. All had been recruited in one village in Kampong Speu. When they wanted to visit their homes for Khmer New Year, the company took their land certificates as a guarantee of their return. The women did not return. Some hid in mountains or near the Thai border. SSF, SISHA and police are assisting in these cases, which are still in progress. The recruiting companies in the above cases had used recruitment techniques ranging from radio advertisements, to flyers, and appeals by local authorities and brokers. Recruitment processes were often characterized by a high level of deception and misinformation. Generally, the recruiters identified and selected the poorest families in the village, made payments to the families and took the recruits within an
hour of arriving. Once the girls and women are in the training centers communication with families was either monitored or severed. One 33-year-old woman who returned from Malaysia in March 2011 was working for a Chinese family in Malaysia where she was abused. The employer returned the woman to the employment agency in Malaysia where she was punished by the Khmer staff new documentary on safe migration is based, in part, on six cases SSF has investigated. The film maker conducted interviews with the families and migrant workers at our office. Without SSFs assistance, these cases would never have come to light. Now, our investigations have reconnected families and are serving as the model for a national campaign to ensure safer migration for Cambodians seeking work in foreign countries through licensed recruiting firms. [Our investigative and advocacy partners include: Provincial and National Anti trafficking Police, Adhoc (Kampong Speu office); Asia Foundation (Phnom Penh); In-
ternational Organization of Migration; SiSHA (Phnom Penh); and Tenaganita (Malaysia).] We have investigated more than 30 cases of rape, trafficking and child endangerment so far this year, explains Child Protection officer Ms. Chan LitaEng. We work through provincial networks and local governments. This allows us to be more effective than we would be if we worked alone, and it also ensures that local officials and residents become more aware of the need to protect children, and more accountable. What we are finding is that in villages people dont know how to report crimes, or who to report them to. There is also a lack of trust, so we have to work carefully on each case, not just to solve it but to show people that there are agencies and mechanisms that can assist them. Were building from the ground up. Every case we investigate encourages victims and their families to see that protection is possible.
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Missing boy is backed home
Givorn is still alive or died. They knocked SSFs door while some other couldnt trace. SSF is Growing up in a poor community in Cambodia, working with its partners in Cambodia includGivorn, 21, is only a child with in his family. ing anti-trafficking police and partners in MaHis is a former army force. He resigned several laysia. Finally, we could address where he is. He years ago due to he is trouble with HIV and his was sent to a hospital as he has mental health wife is also. problems as well as addicting to the amphetamine. Medical bills require Givorn to take care so he asked his grandfather finding a job for him. The Givorn was returned to Cambodia with a panumber of recruiting firms in Cambodia has tient condition and all the hopes are gone to more than doubled since Indonesia placed a hopeless. The family needs to take care of him temporary freeze in 2009 on sending new do- than he does. He recently lives with his family mestic helpers to Malaysia. The firms have used under controls and sends to hospital regularly recruitment techniques ranging from radio ad- healling his diseases and addiction. vertisements, to flyers, and appeals by local authorities and brokers. Through the hearing, Rescue another girl Givorn was very much interest as those firms are pledged high salary than his expectation and he did believe it will help him covering the medical bills made by his parents. His grandfather contacted to recruiting companies based in Phnom Penh on behalf of Givorn due to he wanted to know the fact. It was unlucky to him because companies that grandfather contacted didnt accept male worker in Malaysia. The last company said it didnt accept male worker but given him an opportunity if he agreed to pay a bribe. As Givorn family needs money urgently therefore, the grandfather agreed to sell asset for US$100 to get a job for Givorn. He finally got a job at an electronic factory as promised. He and his family in Cambodia are so happy with. But the happiness turned into nightmare after the grandfather received a call from a union worker informing Givorn was ran away from working place since several months ago. Grandfather and Givorns parents were lost of all hopes but they wanted to know whether
agency under which she would be sent off to Malaysia for employment with the promise of a well-paid job as a maid. The broker for the recruitment agency allegedly convinced her to use her older sisters identification to sign the contract and obtain a passport which would allow her to bypass restrictions on underage employment. In exchange for signing the contract, Ata and her family were promised money. A few days later the recruitment agency brought Ata to a training center in Phnom Penh where promises of a brighter future began to fade. Shortly after the start of her training, Ata and her mother negotiated for her to return home for the Khmer New Year holiday. In exchange for this permission Atas mother had to hand over the familys land certificate as collateral guarantee for her return. Families in rural Cambodian cannot afford to lose their land, which makes land certificates the perfect coercion tool. Following her arrival, Ata was contacted by her older sister who is currently working as maid in Malaysia. Alarmed at the thought of her sister suffering the same fate, she strongly advised her not to go ahead with her plans. She explained the abusive conditions and the lack of protection in Malaysia. Ata took this advice and decided not to go back to the training center. When Ata did not return, the recruitment agency threatened to claim her familys land. Atas family contacted the Sao Sary Foundation, who later contacted SISHA for help. SISHA took the matter to the police who interviewed both the mother and the daughter. In the light of their investigation, the police annulled Atas work contract with the recruitment agency since she was a minor. They also retrieved the land certificate to prevent the company from laying claims and are currently investigating the broker who recruited Ata in the first place. Ata was taken to an after-care facility managed by the Sao Sary Foundation close to her home in the Kampong Speu province for short-term care. She is enjoyed learning Khmer literacy, numeracy, English and tailoring skills. Ata was the second case investigated by SISHA where an underage girl was saved in extremis from child labor in Malaysia. Cases like Atas is becoming increasingly common in Cambodia. This problem requires concrete actions. Recruitment agencies, and all other actors in this abusive process, need to be held accountable for their actions.
In Khmer New year time, SISHA was received a call from the Sao Sary Foundation who had come into contact with a distraught 16-year-old girl named Ata (given name) and her worried mother. A recruitment agency was about to take their land away from them because Ata refused to go to Malaysia where she would most likely experience abusive working conditions. Ata had signed a contract with a recruitment
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1102-0102 TROPER LAUNNA-NERDLIHC ROF EMIT TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011
Advocacy
At SSF we take an integrated approach to awareness raising, linking children and parents to village leaders, commune, district, provincial and national officials, and international organizations, as well as individuals around the globe. We believe these links of understanding strengthen the values and bonds that create safe communities and foster freedom. Everyone benefits. On November 20, 2010, we held our 3rd annual World Day for the Prevention of Abuse and Violence Against Children. About 150 people participated, including staff, volunteers, students, parents, officials from Kraing Ampil and Rokha Thom communes, and a visiting team from Groundwork Opportunities. Strengthening community links are especially vital in Cambodia because genocide and civil conflict (which was fuelled and prolonged by international political disputes) all but destroyed social infrastructure, and left a legacy of mistrust, bewilderment, isolation, vulnerability, poverty and fear. We spent the day talking and listening to each other. Three people who had been trafficked explained how it had been happened and what happened after. A continuous stream of questions and answers focused on strategies to
prevent trafficking. After hearing how people had been deceived by traffickers, young people became alert to the deceitful and manipulative tactics traffickers use. They also made personal connections with village leaders and SSF staff who they could turn to for advice and support. People who had been trafficked benefitted as well.They became teachers instead of vic-
tims. Officials at the commune level, who work closely with communities, deepened their connections with SSF staff and those who support our work, reinforcing the network that is necessary to prevent abuse and exploitation. Light was shed on the murky web of trafficking, and the social bonds necessary to prevent it were strengthened.
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www.ssf.org.kh
Reintegration
SSF is continuing to reintegrate victims of trafficking or exploitation into society, as well as those who have disabilities. This work requires enhancing our professional abilities as well as changing mindsets.
her from learning some English and expressing herself through art.
When she first arrived at SSF she was confined to a bed. After several months of intensive work she started to sit up and began trying to Our work with Socheat has been inspiring. She communicate. Last year, she began walking, was placed at our Protection Center in 2008. with assistance from other children. Her father had died of Aids and her mother, We work in collaboration with the Kampong who is HIV positive, was unable to continue to Speu provincial department for physiotherapy care for her. Socheats movements are restrict- to ensure she has as high a quality of life as ed by Cerebral Palsy, but this did not prevent possible. A special wheel chair was designed and built to allow her to move more freely.
Services for people with mental or physical disabilities are scarce in Cambodia. Most assistance has focused on landmine victims. There is also some help for those with hearing or vision disabilities. Far more needs to be done. SSF lacks the staff and funding to expand its services, but we do assist where we can and the results inspire us to continue. Socheat takes immense pride in her drawings, producing several a week. She has found a home where she can finally communicate.
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Our Partners
So far the Sao Sary Foundation has been the grateful recipient of contributions from many generous individuals, funding partners, groups, and businesses. We thank all who honor our work through their cash, labor and in-kind contributions. Please patronize them and salute your friends and neighbors who support Sao Sary Foundation. We would not be able to provide support to any of its programs, community, children, or families it was not due to their kindnesses and generosities.
Notice: All individual donors are going to list on our website www.ssf.org.kh. We are sorry for inconvenience due to limit pages in this annual report.
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www.ssf.org.kh
We Need your Help: Get Involved!
We Need your Help: Get Involved!

We need you to help stop child abuse before it starts. Empower children and their families by making a difference now. Donate: You have the power to fight against poverty and injustice today. Donate today to SSF. Work with us: We need talented people with various skills in countries around the world. Volunteer with us. We value your time and enthusiasm. Got a bright idea? Share it. Or drop us an email to let us know how were doing. Go social: We are present on many social networks. Add SSF to your friends, watch our videos, and be the first to hear about our actions and events. Become an Ambassador: Spread the word about SSFs programs and become an ambassador for SSF. Fundraise: There are many great ways for you to support SSF around the world and to have fun while doing it.
Sao Sary Foundation
#181, Peanicha Kam Village, Rokha Thom Commune, Chbar Morn City, Kampong Speu Province, CAMBODIA Mobile: (855) 12 471 106 Phone/Fax: (855) 25 98 7196 E-mail: info@ssf.org.kh Skype: sao.sary.foundation www.ssf.org.kh
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TIME FOR CHILDREN
Annual Report 2010-2011

www.ssf.org.kh

Time For Children-Annual Report 2010-2011

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TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

About Sao Sary Foundation

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

Cambodias Progress on its MIllernium Development Goals

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

Kampong Speu Province

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

Water and Sanitation

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

I want to help other Cambodian children lean English.

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

Abandoned child is setting an example

CHUM VAN FAMILy

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

Coordinator. Children are getting sick, some

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

Missing boy is backed home

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

We Need your Help: Get Involved!

We Need your Help: Get Involved!

Sao Sary Foundation

TIME FOR CHILDREN-ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

TIME FOR CHILDREN

Annual Report 2010-2011

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