Since NFO changed ownership and transitioned into a community focused organisation, we have seen the benefits of repatriating children into community care. Nine of the children continue to live with the former orphanage manager as they did not have a safe family environment to return to. Thirty of the rest of the children have returned to their villages to live with their extended families. NFO made this possible by implementing a monthly care package for the children.
Their families receive a monthly allowance of rice, toiletries and laundry detergent to ease the financial burden of looking after an extra child. This allows the children to continue with their studies, rather than going out to work to help support their families. NFO also operates a drop-in study centre in Takeo town which is used by the former orphanage children. This is a safe space where they can get a hot meal; help with homework and extra tuition when needed. It is also a social environment where they can reconnect with each other and their former care givers. Many of the young people are hoping to attend university in the coming years so it is important that their studies are maintained.
All of the children are from poor rural areas and the sponsorship packages provide rice, toiletries, school supplies and medical care, easing the cost of each child’s care on their family. This means they can continue to stay in school and will not be forced into working at a young age. Through their education they can find better paid jobs and improve the standard of living for the whole family.
Samol has recently joined the NFO team as NFO's newly appointed education coordinator. Samol’s responsibilities include teaching at Prey Run (Little Po) on a part-time basis, teacher training for all our rural school teachers, monthly reporting of each rural school, and general administration tasks within the office of the organisation. All of the costs of running NFO's rural schools program are still funded by CamKids.
A not so recent addition to the team is Dara, who is a part-time member of NFO's staff, and currently works with Social Services in Takeo. Dara is employed as a social worker, and spends most of his time working alongside Bunseng visiting the children out in their villages.
Please consider making a donation to help us to help these children with their education and increase their future life chances.
If you are in the UK, you can text CAMK13 £10 to 70070 to make a £10 donation (or change to £5, £3 etc). Even a small donation of a few pounds from all of our supporters will make a huge difference. Remember, we do not have any overheads, so 100% of your donation goes to helping the children.
Alternatively, go to www.bit.ly/singdonate or www.bit.ly/regdonate to make a single or regular credit or debit card donation in £, $ and A$ or www.bit.ly/cccpaypal to pay in any currency through PayPal (all cards accepted).
Thank you
The CamKids Trustees
