Child Protection Program
The goal of this support program is first accomplished by funding at-risk children to stay in school or
How SSF provides for children in the Child Protection Program:
Health – The objective is to improve and maintain the overall physical and mental health of sponsored children within the first 12 months of sponsorship. Health assessments are conducted immediately when a child has been selected for the project. Additionally, every three months children and their families are provided with insecticide tablets. Monthly medical follow ups are also conducted, along with a biannual full medical checkup.
Education – SSF aims to provide access to basic education to all sponsored children of school age by enrolling them in public school as well as providing bicycles for transportation to and from school if necessary, schoolbooks and stationery, uniforms, school fees, daily pocket money and food for lunch. In addition, non-formal education for English and computer literacy are supplemented into the children’s curriculum to ensure sponsored children who study at a secondary school acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful after finishing school.
Social Welfare – Sponsorship from SSF helps to provide extracurricular activities for children in order to build their social knowledge and skills with regards to: health awareness, social morals, human rights, human trafficking, labor laws, economic planning (Action Plan and Budget), handmade crafts (artificial flowers, bead necklaces, bracelets, tooth sticks, chopsticks, and paintings), vocational training skills (such as sewing, haircutting and dressing, micro business management, social work, weaving, and agriculture [vegetable gardening, animal rearing, organic fertilizing and composting, and organic pesticide use]).
For more information on how you can help support the Social Welfare services provided by our Child Protection program, please view picture of some of our handicrafts at: http://www.ssfcambodia.org/craft.php. All of our products are handmade by women household heads and children as a part of our after school program in life-skills training session.
Shelter–We provide a basic shelter to all sponsored children. SSF does not maintain a separate shelter for orphans and other vulnerable children, rather they all live, work, and study together. All children stay in their homes or a guardian’s home within their own village or community if possible. If this is not possible, orphaned or at-risk children, along with children who have no relatives or a suitable foster guardian, come to live at an SSF shelter:
• Boys: SSF coordinates with Buddhist temples within the community to care for at-risk boys. SSF provides technical assistance in the forms of child development and financial support for these children at the temple. Currently, SSF has 10 orphans at the Champatep temple.
“Several Cambodian girls who agreed to be interviewed said they engage in sex work despite its dangers because they cannot afford to quit. Clients take me to guesthouses. I get U.S. $10 per night. They gang-rape me and beat me," another girl, 17, said. Source: AFP
• Girls: SSF hopes to establish a safe house for girls due to the increased number of sponsored children, especially girls who study at secondary and high schools; however this shelter is contingent upon the appropriate donations.
Income Generation – SSF encourages supported children and their guardians to build their own future with poverty-breaking credit and small business development programs. These steps toward financial independence allow SSF to help more families while allowing families to not be reliant on outside aid to survive.
As a part of income generation, supported children have had some success making handmade crafts such as artificial flowers and beaded necklaces. This past year, the flowers were sold in Cambodia and we established a partnership with the organization Global Playgrounds in the United States to sell these as well. To further our efforts to create an income, SSF trained interested children to create bead necklaces that are now being sold through the organizations Global Colors and the World Wish Campaign. Furthermore, SSF children also received training as to how to raise poultry to generate a sustainable income.
"I am unhappy with myself, but I pity my mother. No girl wants to do this horrible work," the 15-year-old, who asked not to be named, said in an interview as she looked for business near the Suriya Supermarket. Source: AFP