Contents
The Children Who Need Help Now!
The Purpose
The Site for the Project
The Facility
Our Partners
The Children
The Funding and Business Model
The Leadership and Operating Team
The Schedule
How to Help
Children Who Need Help Now!
In Phnom Penh only, there are 12,500 reported street children who are left their own devices each day to find food and shelter. Without wealthy or connected parents, Cambodian children have no access to education. Unfortunately one third of the Cambodian population lives on less than one dollar per day, and most families have no other choice than sending their child to beg or to do hard labor. Some work as cleaners or trash gatherers and the unlucky ones, particularly if they are beautiful, are sent to the bar district. It is frequent to see many of these children in the streets of Cambodia’s main cities or resorts, carrying bags of recycled plastic, begging and selling books or knicknacks. Some find refuge or relief to their misery by sniffing glue or taking “yabba” -- a devastating drug widely available for one dollar.
With no health care, access to education or any proper way out of poverty, how can such children emerge and build the future of their country, let alone have a family and take care of it?
Cambodia was victim of dramatic genocide. It lost much of its population, skills and culture many years ago and it is now struggling to emerge in a structured, scalable way. At this time, with the current rates of population growth, Cambodia will not have enough rice to feed its people in just 20 years.
The first victims will be the children.
The Purpose
The Global Roots children shelter will be created progressively to ensure that we learn lessons from each phase before we commence a new one. We will conduct risk-analysis at every step of the way to assure viability of the end product.
Phase 1: The nursery -- 15 to 20 children, 3 nurses
- Will allow older children to attend school
- Will allow parents to work without worries
- Will provide some basic, early education
- Will provide basic medical screening
- Will provide nutrition: two meals per day.
Phase 2: Vocational Training Center
The children can learn the professional and social skills they will need to become successful, self-reliant adults. The center will provide 3 to 6 month courses taught by local and foreign professionals. The center will provide lodging and free tuition for children who cannot pay and/or live too far away to return home each night.
During this phase, critical infrastructure such as a fish farm, pig farm, vegetable fields, mango trees and such will be put in place. The products from of these will be consumed by the children and the staff, therefore reducing the dependence on costly outside supplies.
Phase 3: Safe Haven
We will have a refuge for children who have been subject to exploitation and whose families are unwilling or unable to properly care for them. These children will have access to a vocational center and trained volunteers/professionals who will administer medical and psychiatric treatment (if necessary). Most importantly, our safe haven will allow these children to grow and develop in a nurturing environment, where they can feel safe and loved. All volunteers will be carefully screened and monitored at every step of the way.
The Site for the Project
Three locations are available to build the children’s shelter.
- Soy Thai is a Cambodian orphanage manager who owns suitable land 30 kms north of Sihanoukville, 210 kilometers south of Phnom Penh, 30 kilometer inland from the main road by dirt road. There are no acquisition costs as this land is owned by the potential director of this shelter house.
- Plantation land. This land is located 40 kms north of Sihanoukville, 200 kilometers south of Phnom Penh, 1 kilometer inland from the main road by dirt road, and is an ideal location for such project, but might require some negotiation and a purchase (~$10,000).
- Ream, in the borders of the national park. This land is bordering the sea and is a suitable place for building and running the children shelter. The proximity tom the sea makes it attractive to visitors.
All lands are surrounded by sugar cane, oil palm, mango, pineapple, corn, rice and many other plantations. The rate of population growth will require significant investments in attracting workers to farm the land. We believe that bringing back the people to farming and gathering is an efficient way to get them out of the poverty, delinquency, malnutrition and overall misery.
The Facility
The initial plans for a children home have been drawn by an Italian architect, a volunteer on our last mission to Cambodia. The facility is composed of dormitories, a large kitchen, classrooms, a nursery, a clinic and storage rooms. In addition to the main building, 4 bungalows will cater to visitors, donors and passing tourists. These wooden structures will have western standards with shower, windows, mosquito nets and western bathrooms, but they will retain local color by being built using the materials surrounding the plantations.
The main building will host children and staff. It is made of:
- 2 dormitories (one for boys and one for girls)
- 2 classrooms (30 children each)
- 1 library
- 2 offices
- bathrooms
- showers
- store room
- dispensary
- kitchen
- courtyard
- play room
Surrounding the main building are 4 visitor rooms with basic structures but with upgraded but still basic comfort.
The facility includes the necessary infrastructure for vocational training, initially farming but extendable to cooking, mechanics and more.
On site:
- Pig farm
- Fish farm
- Mango plantation
- Rice fields
- Vegetables
- Chickens and ducks
Our Partners
Mlop Tapang
“M'Lop Tapang was created in 2003 with the goal of giving street children access to the learning tools, resources, and opportunities they needed to build a better future. We offer regular meals, shelter, medical care, education, counseling, and protection from all types of abuse. Additionally, we work to increase awareness in the community about issues affecting street children.” http://www.mloptapang.org/
This organization, well established in Sihanoukville (1h south of our planned side) will partner to:
- Provide qualified staff and volunteers
- Route children in need of sheltering which is not available in Sihanoukville
- Receive children for particular trainings or concealing not available on site.
Youth Star
“Youth Star Cambodia is a dynamic Cambodian NGO that provides Cambodian university graduates an opportunity to gain experience and develop their civic leadership skills by working as volunteer interns in underserved rural areas. Recognized by an independent agency as one of only seven Cambodian NGOs to be awarded a Good Practice Certificate, Youth Star Cambodia benefits these young interns and the communities they serve.
Youth Star Cambodia interns work in from nine to 18 months in the following areas:
? Keeping kids in school and engaging them in community activities ? Increasing food security and introducing modern farming technology ? Improving local hygiene and health practices ? Strengthening local business skills and expanding options for earning income ? Strengthening the skills of young people to participate in local development activities.”. http://www.youthstarcambodia.org/
Youth star sponsors Cambodian volunteers to stay in provinces, remote villages, rural areas to educate local communities. Our partnership would allow volunteers and interns to stay on site and educate children.
The shelter home will host up to 50 children.
Schooling: The villages around the plantations have basic schooling; some schools are government funded and are well run. Many villages are too remote to access government schools, so local schools are common but often underfunded. Few children attend school given they have to take care of the young ones or take care of the farm while parents are at work. Plantations employ most of the workforce above 16, sometimes up to 65. Children stay home, caring for the babies and feeding the farm animals. It is frequent to find empty schools, school tables taken out and used in homes.
Troubled children: Increasingly children in cities are targets for drug abuse (glue, yabba), labor exploitation and sex abuse. The children become so traumatized that this work eventually becomes their reality. Breaking the circle requires taking full charge of their education, nutrition, moral support and counseling and re-insertion into family life. Such a program can only take place in a remote area, where the chances of relapses are reduced by the isolation of the site.
The Funding and Business Model
Initial funding required to build the facility
Running cost
Yearly projection
Note: it is assumed that the production of fruits, vegetables, meats and fish will be consumed by the children and staff, or donated to villagers. It is however an option to fund salaries and site maintenance by selling a portion of the produce.
The Leadership and Operating Team
The Children’s home will be run by a local Cambodian couple. The couple will be in charge of overlooking the different services under their leadership:
- catering
- schooling
- medical needs
- nursing
- building relationship with local government representatives and local NGOs
- focal point of contact for all inquiries
- maintain the budget
- be accountable for the safety and success of the children
The Cambodian couple has experience running an orphanage and is willing to start as soon as funding is available. The husband was director in an orphanage, the wife was an assistant. Each have lost their parents and well aware of the challenges of being alone. The couple have one small child.
Management of the project will be done by a senior Global Roots volunteer. The local management of the project will be done by a trusted Global Roots Cambodian volunteer.
The Schedule
The building project would need to be funded for at least 2 years based on the estimate above. Construction of the main building, bungalows and the setup of the farmlands would be following a schedule estimated as:
- Main facility build out: 3 month
- Farmland setup: 2 month
- Administrative setup: 3 month
- Leadership selection and training: 4 month
How to Help
The project needs initial funding as well as recuring funds to continue operations. Although the goal is to create a shelter which can support itself on the long run, there are costs which exceeds the avbility of the operation to self-fund, and we rely on your generosity to cover these costs.
|
Our Projects
