Friends House in Phnom Penh

Best Friends in Cambodia

Case Study

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Background

Srey-Touch lives at Save the Children Australia's Friends House for Street Children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She is the youngest of fifty street children living there, and although she spends most of her time with other infants, she has many 'big brothers and sisters'. She enjoys three healthy meals and two showers a day, clean clothes and medical care. She plays daily at Friends pre-school and now has a better chance at life through the special care of Friends staff.

Srey-Touch has had little good fortune in her life. Born the seventh child of a poor rural family, her father left the family and her mother decided to sell her to a wealthy woman who claimed she wanted a daughter. Her mother had believed that the money would help feed the other children and that Srey-Touch would have a better life but, soon after, the woman was found trying to sell Srey-Touch for profit. - Srey-Touch was sent to Friends.

Friends aims to return children to their families or integrate them into the community, as long as it is clear that the children will be safe. Sometimes the children are separated from their families because of war or other misfortunes, and their families are searching for them. Perhaps Srey-Touch's mother might have been searching for her. Friends found her mother, but she said she was still unable to care for her daughter. Friends did not force the issue - back at the house, Srey-Touch was settling in well.

Friends works to alleviate poverty, improve the livelihood of street children and street families, assist Cambodia in providing services for its street children and raise awareness of children's rights. There are over 10,000 street children in Phnom Penh - the result of rapid urbanisation, growing poverty, family and community breakdown after decades of war and unrest, and the government's inability to meet all of the children's needs. Without support, the children face lives of begging, odd jobs, stealing, involvement in organised crime, or financial or sexual exploitation. Friends offers new hope for 500 children aged four to seventeen.

Up to eighty children can live at Friends House. Most stay briefly; some stay longer; some remain in the general area. It would be impossible to house all the children who want to stay, although Friends aims to help as many as it can. Many children arrive with lice or skin sores. Their clothes are often dirty or threadbare. The children learn to wash and repair their clothes, or are given new clothing - but not too new, or else they might sell it, have it stolen, or it might cause divisions if the children return home.

The house now has separate dormitories for boys and girls which have resulted in an increase in girls staying at the shelter. The children sleep on mats, sometimes outside the house during the hottest months; otherwise the mats go on bunk beds which they have made.

The children participate in Khmer family or community festivals, to help them experience a sense of belonging, and are encouraged to play sport and go on organised outings. Apart from the obvious pleasures of these experiences, Friends believes that keeping the children active and cared for will discourage them from involvement in harmful activities.

The children are responsible for their own house meetings. The topics are usually practical; the washing and care of clothes; cleaning of dormitories; saving soap and electricity; choosing times for meals, sleeping, studying and watching television; house rules; respect of personal belongings; issues of hygiene. There are similar meetings between the staff and all children, and although the children receive support and encouragement through daily contact with the staff, there is also individual and small group counselling for those who have been on the streets a long time and who are hardened by the experiences of exploitation and crime.

Beyond the house, over 150 children have been reintegrated with their families, but still receive help from Friends. Another one hundred street children are served by outreach programs, and receive food, medical care and other support without coming to the house. The house children, and approximately 250 others, attend the school and training centre where, along with traditional Khmer arts, they learn life and vocational knowledge and skills.

The school can only offer limited tuition per child, so it focuses on Khmer, maths (basic accounting and using a calculator), general knowledge, (history and geography), science (focusing on hygiene, illnesses, especially HIV, and reproduction) and basic English.

Because farming will be the main activity for most Cambodians well into the future, Friends hopes to one day purchase some land for training in agriculture. In the meantime, the training centre is open to all street children, working children, children in difficult situations and their families. It offers eight vocational courses:

Sewing: Boys and girls learn how to draw and cut patterns for different garments, and how to use different sewing machines for work in factories and at home. They are encouraged to sell their garments to learn about marketing and how to manage income, plus Friends recovers some of its training costs. Some children train in selected factories which do not exploit them.

Carpentry: The centre mainly produces furniture, such as book cases, wardrobes, chairs and beds, although the big stories have been the building of a house, sheds and toilets. The many orders for the cheap and good quality items sometimes pressure the classes to only make items that sell well; even so, the children are learning valuable personal and workplace skills.

Mechanics: The course consists of basic repairs to bicycles, tyres, cars and electric goods, as well as management of a workshop near the centre. Sometimes there is a shortage of engines and tools, so people associated with the centre try to bring items for practice and repair.

Mat weaving: Younger children learn how to buy, dye and weave straw by hand as a possible supplement to other work in the future, rather than as the main income. This is because mechanisation and competition from nearby countries has made mat craft less profitable.

Traditional scarf weaving: Khmer scarves require skilled work on large looms. Because there are few looms, only older students learn the craft. The scarves are sold at markets mostly to retailers, some with overseas contacts, but bring only limited returns per hour of work.

Hospitality: Both boys and girls learn how to shop, to understand the cost and quality of goods, to cook and serve Khmer and western dishes, and to use western products and methods when cleaning, laundering and shoe-shining. The children are then able to offer domestic services locally.

Hairdressing: Boys take this course which involves learning how to wash, cut and colour hair, and give neck massages. The boys practise on each other and their friends.

Pre-school training: Older children learn the skills of being good carers and pre-school teachers, while providing education and recreation for the infants at the house - such as Srey-Touch. The pre-schoolers play as well as learn how to write basic letters and numbers.

All courses rebuild the children's self-esteem and awareness of their rights to help them avoid exploitation by adults they come into contact with. Friends also encourages the children to participate in community events which promote children's rights. Friends is active in a network of non-government organisations working for Cambodian street children, with plans for more training programs, seminars and a media campaign in the near future.

Save the Children Australia, which supports Friends House for Street Children, receives funding assistance from the Australian Government aid program.