Mekong Kampuchea's Kids project

Summary of background of the situation/problem to be addressed:

Background

BSDA currently works in 6 districts in Kampong Cham province. While many activities are in place, it has not been possible to support the most vulnerable groups sufficiently. The objective of this project is to help the OVC (orphan and vulnerable children) living in the communes of Ampil, Sambo Meas, Bangkok commune in Kampong Siem and Kampong Cham district, Kampong Cham province Cambodia. There are many NGO’s working in this area, like BLI (Buddhist Leadership Initiative) program of UNICEF, and Save the Children Australia. These organizations have worked with OVCs, but only to supply food and resources. They do not focus on education or on providing life skills for children so they can eventually earn an income for themselves. They similarly do not focus on promoting children’s confidence and self-worth. In addition, most of these NGOs focus on rural areas and on towns, and tend to neglect the communes in the area in between. Thus, the Mekong Kampuchea Kids project fills an obvious need in the area.

Problem Statement

Children who become orphans have to rely on support from the community, which leaves them vulnerable and often without the possibility of an education, whether formal or informal. In some cases, they are stigmatised, and lose confidence in their ability to succeed in life. BSDA has worked in the target area for four years in informal education programmes for street children, adults/teenagers in computer studies, foreign languages, dancing and musical training. BSDA found that there are many OVC affected by HIV/AIDS that they have worked with. The students come from different areas; some of them are street children; and some from target communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Among OVC 70% have stopped attending school because of their family situation. BSDA has reached some of these children through informal education, but our help is not enough to support OVC in need. BSDA has worked as a volunteer organization. The project was implemented without funding from a major donor, but through small private donations. This makes it very difficult to continue and develop future implementation. So far, in this project more than 415 adults/teenagers and 280 street children/orphans and poorest of the poor children have been helped.

Key Factors

• The Role of Buddhism: In this Buddhist country, culture and religion are important and guide daily life. The communities are more likely to accept the advice of monks and will believe the teachings of the BSDA staff as it is an organisation established by monks.
• Local Business Support: The project needs to secure the cooperation of employers in Kampong Cham town in order for success to be assured. Staff must complete market research on tourist interest and the viability of the regular income for participants in the restaurant.
• The local context: Many children in this area are orphans living in already poor communities. Some of the villagers in the target area don’t own lands to live on to grow plants or vegetables, many are jobless, and there are often many children in one family. The majority of eople in these communities have never been to school. They cannot afford for their children to go to school because they need them to work to get money for food. The men usually try to find work as workmen along the Mekong River. The women work at home and some of them find work cleaning homes of rich families. The children go to collect cans and plastic in the street, to sell for money. Community members are all in poor health because the living standards in the community are at an extremely low level with poor sanitation and bad hygiene.
• Vulnerability of girls: Girls are particularly vulnerable. After they grow up the situation of their family and low education means many of them end up as sex-workers, regardless of the threat of HIV/AIDS. The children’s lives have been changed by the HIV/AIDS issue completely because many have inherited HIV from their parent and, being orphan children with HIV, they face discrimination and stigma. No one cares for them and the quality of their life and equal rights are lost, which leads to a negative life prospect.

Project Description:

Component 1: Life skills for orphan and vulnerable children (OVC): There are 5 kind of life skills that project will be provided to OVC such as:

1. Computer and English language: It is very important component that all the children have the English class. Two German volunteers from Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED) will be English teacher. There are two places of English classes every day. The first class is in the center will be conducted every morning and afternoon. And second class is based in community that will be conducted every evening. We call the class that “English mobile school”. The English class will be touch within primary English, secondary English and high English class to the children. The total of adult/teenager is 415 and 40 children more is OVC, so all most of them are 455 children. For the computer class, project will provide 10 children for every 3 months. So total are 40 children for one year. The courses of computer are including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power Point, Microsoft Access Level I&II and Microsoft Adobe Photoshop. In the both of skill, health education will be done as health awareness raising.
2. Sewing training: The sewing class is second skills that project will be provided to children who don’t have a chance to go to school. The requirements of the children that will be selected are orphan and vulnerable children, 15 to 25 years old and stopped the school. The time class is started from 7-11 AM and 2-5 PM every day. The group of sewing class will be provided into 2 groups. The first groups are 15 children will take 6 months and second group are 15 children that will take 6 months too. So total are 30 children per a year. Participants in the sewing training will be asked to make clothes for the OVC scholarship.
3. Culinary class: It is the third skills that project will provide the children. The culinary skill is not just for daily home need but it is for professional skill of the future of the children. The culinary class will be conducted at Smile Restaurant. They just not learn how to cook but they learn how to practice at the restaurant. The courses of culinary classes are Khmer and foreign food. There are 2 groups of the culinary classes. The first group is 10 children and will take 6 months and second group 10 children and will take 6 months. So the totals of children are 20 within culinary class per one year. At the end of class, project will organize the examination and dedicate the certificate to the classes who complete the class successful. The OVC who finish their training will have an opportunity to seek employment with help from a project’s officer. This officer will mediate with hotels, restaurants, companies, tailors and NGOs to give these students a specific job, using the skills they have learned during this project.
4. Traditional dancing class: It is very important thing to provide the traditional dancing class to the children. Creative expression in community is restricted by a history that weighs heavy on the present. Within over halt the population now fewer than 18, encouraging it’s revival among children is vital. An expressive art is something children can be touch, changed and healed by; but those who need it most are the children without access to basic education. On a regular basis there will be a performance by the OVC dancers. Occasionally OVC performers will perform outside the Art Center, according to requests from organizations or individuals. The total of children is 34.
5. Art of weaving class: The last skill of the five life skills is scarf weaving class. The class will be provided in the new vocational training center. The requirements of the children that will be selected are orphan and vulnerable children that they already stopped to go school. Our help in this project is not permanent; we have a set amount of time to work with this project, and realise we need to address issues of sustainability. There are 2 groups of art of weaving class. The first group is 5 children and second group is 10 children. Each of group will take 6 months for one class. The total is 15 children.

Component 2: Scholarships for OVC: This component of the project is intended to integrate the OVC into the public education system. Many problems, already mentioned have a negative impact on the education of OVC. Most community members don’t think of their family or children’s future. They think of only one thing- how to get enough money to buy food to support their life for just one day. Not going to school makes OVC vulnerable as they do not learn valuable knowledge and skills, forcing them into a future of continuing poverty. Officially public schools in the whole of Cambodia are free of charge, but families need to pay for uniforms, books, papers, pens and exam fees. OVC already have to cope with losing their parent through HIV/AIDS. Some of them live with their grandparents or relatives. These families find it impossible to support them with such basics as daily food supplies, clothes and health services and most certainly can not pay for the luxury of an education: study materials, transportation to school and school uniforms. Certainly for girls, the situation is worse. When families have to choose, they tend to prefer sending boys to school. There is also the possibility of sending the boys to live and study at the local pagoda. The BSDA has seen how provision of scholarships (pens, pencils, ruler, eraser, books, bag, uniform, educational fees, and in some cases supply of a bicycle and/or food supplies) can help to solve some of their problems. It will be the aim of the project to distribute scholarships only to the poorest of the poor OVC. There are 80 children will be provided the scholarship. Before scholarships will be distributed, BSDA’s officers responsible for this project will identify those OVC, particularly girls, in need of the scholarship support. The programme will provide scholarship support in both primary and secondary school. Students will be given the opportunity to repeat once, but if this is due to poor attendance the scholarship will be revoked.

Component 3: Produce food security and livelihood for residential children: There are three choices of food security and livelihood that project will create for children to approach such as:

1. Chicken rising: The project will provide and support children to make the chicken raising within shed, chicken variety, conservation, feeding, vaccine disease control and treatment, etc.
2. Vegetable cultivation: The project will provide and support children within land preparation, cropping, conservation, especially using organic methods like organic fertilizer, and organic pest control. On the other hand, home garden is important for their daily food, so idea; vegetable variety, guard, and basket. In this component of the project vegetables will be grown in a vegetable garden on the premises. If the vegetable garden in the center is successful, it will be extended into the whole target community. For this the money accrued by the self help group can be used. Any extra vegetable production will be sold to the market. Any income received will go towards supporting OVC living at the center.
3. Fish rising: The project will provide and support children within choosing place of pond, dig pond, keep green in water, percentage of shed cover on pond, leave fish into pond, conservation, and feeding as well as tent for pond, fish variety, and labor for digging pond.

Component 4: Infrastructure for vocational training and residential center: This component is very important now for the project, because the vocational center in the Wat Nokor temple is just temporary building. Wat Nokor is the old temple one, government don’t allow a new building near by. Government will don’t allow us to stand for ever. They will tell us to move all the constructions like, Art Performance Stage, Sewing training center and culinary training center from this temple to other place. So how can we do when the government tells us to do like that?

It is very good points that project will have to buy the land that will be belonging to BSDA and build new constructer. The project will build a new building for vocational training and residential children. In the ground floor will be used for art of weaving class and first floor will be used for residential children. The building will constructed by cement. At the first year, project will respond to support 10 children to stay at residential center. The food, health care, study material and their daily needs will be supported by project.

Anyway for old constructions like sewing training, culinary training and art performance dancing center, project will move from Wat Nokor temple to new land when government tell us to move them but in the temporary, we still keep them to stand there as long as possible.

Objectives and scope:

The aim is to help OVC integrate back into the mainstream of Cambodian society and become functioning, participating members in the community and support them within sustainability of life. To getting the goal of the project, BSDA has set up four main objectives such as:

1. To provide the life skill to disadvantage orphan and vulnerable children (OVC)
2. To integrate and support orphan and vulnerable children to go to school within provision of scholarship
3. To make the career, food security and livelihood for orphan and vulnerable children
4. To assist the orphan and vulnerable children within infrastructure for vocational training and residential center

Target group:

The targets group of project 300 are OVC and street children and 415 are adult/teenager. So the total of target group 715 OVC and Adult/teenager are beneficiaries, by providing them with life skill, scholarship, food security, and livelihood and income generation opportunities residential program.

Beneficiaries have not been consulted in a formal way. In informal contacts with BSDA they have shared their problems and concerns with the monks and staff working in BSDA. BSDA staffs have a strong understanding of the issues and problems facing OVC, especially those who have participated in the MKK project in previous years. Their main concerns are with getting an education, life skill, scholarship, food security and residential programme.

BSDA will be chiefly responsible for the project implementation; however, the children and their community have to participate actively to make the program a success. Regular attendance is necessary. This is the only way the children and their family and community as well as youth are participating in the implementation.

Implications on women

The project in general aims to support OVC, but realises from the start that girls suffer more than their male counterparts. While there is partly a solution for them, the situation for them is more difficult in the Cambodian context.

For OVC the target number is 80% out of a total, indicating near gender parity.

Staff for the project will be selected on personal qualities. When women have equal skills, the project will ensure gender balance. In the life skills program many trainers will be women. As BSDA is an organisation working with monks are male. Where new staff is recruited, gender balance is considered important.

Implications on the environment

In a very small way the project will work to improve the conditions of the land by promoting a sustainable way of growing vegetables, not exhausting but enriching the land.

Currently there is an excessive population pressure on the new land: due to land sales of the poorest of the poor, there is in-migration of the destitute from the districts of target area to the provincial capital, including the disadvantage group of women. The project does not directly address the issues of migration, but hopes to help displaced and often stigmatised girl to get the life skill, scholarship and find food security, livelihood and contribute to society.

Gender- the project will assist female OVC and the target group who boys and girls equally; and help destitute children whose parent have left them or divorced them

Social environment- the current proposal is aimed at improving the social environment in a positive way. By targeting our work in the community at it youngest and most vulnerable members, we hope to increase the confidence and capacity on life skill, education and food security and livelihood of the future generation thereby contributing to the general standard of living in the region as a whole.

Poverty reductions

All beneficiaries are (very) poor or at serious risk of becoming so. The project has four main components addressing poverty and illiteracy reduction, food security and livelihood. OVC who is heritage of poor families are provided with education, life skill, as a first step in breaking the cycle of poverty. Community and family who is member of family have the opportunity to participate in the life skill, food security livelihoods component. In learning a skill, having work immersion activities and constant feedback and support they are prepared for a future with the perspective of earning their own income.

Cultural dimensions

Buddhism is the main religion in Cambodia. According to the Buddhist religion people respect monks (and therefore the BSDA), listen and accept their advice. They also turn to the monks when they do not have enough food and when they are worried. Counselling, blessing and advice are sought. When money is available, the monk’s blessing is still considered to bring good luck for a project. The BSDA staffs have been trained in culturally appropriate ways of helping OVC in area and it will be easy to implement this in the target areas. Links with resource persons in the community are short and many people are happy to contribute, voluntarily/financially to a project run by monks.

The local knowledge comes from the community facilitators. Even those there are ethnic or other minorities in the target areas, BSDA will work as adapt the project into their culture.

Sustainability :

The community facilitators will serve as resource persons in the community. After four years their leadership can help the community to continue living harmoniously together. Without new funds it is hard to train new community facilitators in the same communities or in new target areas.

The education, life skill, residential building, chicken raising, vegetable garden and fish rising of project can be used to continue parts of this component after phase out of donor funding.

As to scholarship there is no sustainability for the project (but hopefully their gained knowledge).

Project management and Monitoring:

Based on the indicators, project personnel have developed a framework that summarizes the data collection tools necessary to acquire information for a given indicator, who should do the data collection (e.g., project staff, community facilitators etc.), when the data collection should occur. The following matrix demonstrates how this process will unfold. Overall support for the implementation of this project will be provided by BSDA, which has long experiences in project implementation. A Project Manager and number of support staffs will be coordinated to manage this project, with direct support from BSDA Executive Director. Progress report will be carried out by assigned staff and submitting to the donor. There are five staffs will work in the project, one is project officer and other 4 staff are field facilitators.