‘My husband died leaving me with six children, so I moved to Phnom Penh in search of work. It was very difficult and I didn’t have enough money to send my kids to school here in the city. I remarried, but my eldest son would often fight with his stepfather, so he ran away. I was very worried when he was living on the streets and using drugs, so I was happy when Mith Samlanh staff helped him with his addiction and offered him a place on their training program.

Outreach workers from the center came to visit me to talk about why my children were not in school. When I explained that we were poor and they saw our tiny house, they asked if I would like to be part of the Home Based Production program. They taught me sewing skills and trained me to make bags; now I have a regular income each week.

My younger children went to the Education Center at Mith Samlanh to catch up on the lessons that they had missed. Two of them are now back in regular school and the youngest are still studying at Mith Samlanh. My daughter is always telling me about what she does in the art class at Club Friends and says that she wants to be an artist when she grows up. It is good to see my children are happy and that they are learning things so that they can have a better future. I am very grateful that I do not have to worry about money so much any more.’

This highly effective training program is designed to provide a significant English-language learning experience to bright non-elite 14- to 18- year-old students. Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, it also has the goal of encouraging critical thinking and open-mindedness, and improving performance in regular school classes. Launched in 2004, the Access Program is worldwide.

The program in Lao PDR is a collaboration between the US Department of State and Vientiane College. The participants are engaged to learn English three times a week and also go on field trips, have sporting activities, arts and crafts and receive study/careers advice while bonding with each other and former graduates.

We are very happy that three youth (who have worked closely with Peuan Mit)  applied for this program and were granted microscholarships and accepted into the program after the selection and interview process, and that other youth were identified from our community outreach.

Our photographs show the U.S. Ambassador to Laos, Karen Stewart, with the student intake.

First they saw a presentation of Friends work and and followed that by participating in a discussion of some of the issues we had highlighted in that presentation. Then followed a lesson from our Home Based Production trainers in how to make beads from recycled materials. In effect this is actually better described as  ‘upcycling’, as you get a quality product from materials that would otherwise be regarded as rubbish. These beads actually do build futures, as these are the first thing that our Home Based Producers learn how to make, and they can very quickly generate income from this, income that is used to support their family into education.

We had asked the Levis team to bring scrap materials with them to make the beads, and of course being Levis, they brought along denim scraps!

Over the course of a morning (and after a lot of practice!) these were upcycled into amazing necklaces, bracelets and earrings, which really got our Home Based Team very excited about the potential for our new product range!

Also very exciting was a generous $1000 donation from the Levis team, just before they left to have lunch at Romdeng training restaurant.

Our thanks to the Levi Strauss & Co. team for a great morning with our HBP & communications teams!

In the coming weeks we will go into more detail about the achievements for 2012 (and those future plans), but for the time being please enjoy a few pictures from the week (so far…).

Along with her friends Emma Kofman, and Hannah Kelson, Jessica recently organized a neighborhood bake sale to raise funds to support our activities, and raised an amazing $435 on the day (thanks to Jessica’s mom for the pictures)!

Let’s hear from Jessica about her efforts -

‘When I was in 4th grade, I first had the idea to do a bake sale for FI. It was a great way to support an amazing cause, and I included many friends in the process who were also very excited about what we were doing. This year, I thought having another bake sale would be very fun, and I wanted to do as much as I could for FI. The work that they are doing in Cambodia and around the world is very beneficial to so many people, and I loved the thought that we could change even just one person’s life with the money raised. I worked with two friends, and we baked nonstop the night before and morning of. We set up on a popular LA street, and spent about 4 hours selling baked goods and trying to inform people about Friends International. By the end of the day we raised 435$, and sold almost all that we baked. It was a great experience, and I look forward to other opportunities to support FI in the future.’

From us all at Friends, a huge ‘thank you’ to Jessica and her friends, and indeed to all of you who support us in the work we do. Our teams and, most importantly, the children and young people we work with, are so grateful for that support!

(If you would like to organize an event or activity to raise funds to support our work, please click here for more information)

The proud graduates!

‘On Friday last week, Mith Samlanh held a graduation ceremony for its students at Club Friends. The students who successfully graduated came from the many different Mith Samlanh vocational training classes – skills, life skills and non-formal education. There were 45 vocational training students, 20 life skills and 20 non-formal education students certificated. The ceremony made everyone feel very happy, with teachers, case managers, and students sharing big smiles together during the event. Mr. Gneng, Training Center Manager of Mith Samlanh said that every year Mith Samlanh always certificated its graduate students. It was an important part of their journey into employment The certificates for vocational training skills, and life skills were approved by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSVY) and the non-formal education certificates were approved by the non-formal education department of Phnom Penh.

One graduate student from the Motor Repairing Class said that he was in a state of nervous anticipation about the graduation ceremony. He had performed well in class for this year. “Last year, I could not perform well in the class so I did not receive my certificate, but this year, I try hard to achieve it,” he said. “I hope that the other students or my classmates, who not yet receive the certificate, please keep trying more, so you will be successful.” He added that today he has opened his own business, a motor repairing shop, using the experience and knowledge gained from his class at Mith Samlanh. “I love Mith Samlanh like my own parents, for now I have good future,” he said. “In the future, I hope I can expand my business and make it bigger.” ‘

Teams Together!

On the first day Peuan Peuan took their visitors to the Bann Meta Juvenile Detention Center to meet the beneficiaries and see the kind of work that the Peuan Peuan teams undertake in this center and others like it in the city. It was also time for the M’Lop Tapang team to experience the night life of downtown Bangkok – no, not clubbing, but outreach work on the busy Sukhumvit Road!

Discussing the schedule for the visit.

Peuan Peuan Country Program Director Vuthaya Charoenpol meets the M’Lop Tapang team.

Day 2 is for learning and exchanging experiences on ChildSafe. This visit allows both teams a great opportunity to learn more about available referral services and support that can be linked up, so that we can protect children together… more effectively, more efficiently, and of course across a much wider geographic area !

(from left) Patricia Finn, (Sundance Institute), Bill Drayton (founder, Ashoka) and Amlan Ganguly, (founder, Prayasam)

The event was the premiere of the movie “The Revolutionary Optimist”  and it was followed by a conversation with the host,  Bill Drayton. Bill is the founder and current chair of ‘Ashoka: Innovators for the Public’, a world renowned nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and fostering social entrepreneurs worldwide. He was named by US News & World Report as one of America’s 25 Best Leaders in 2005 and he is also the man responsible for the rise of the phrase “social entrepreneur”,  a concept first found in print in 1972.

Event moderator Patricia Finn from The Sundance Institute singled out Friends-International in her remarks, praising our work as a successful example of social entrepreneurship in action, and following a short talk about our social business to the audience from Iris, Mr. Drayton also offered Friends the opportunity to benefit from his sage advice and practical help  on fundraising, particularly on his home turf of NYC.

Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka, addresses NYC audience.

All in all, a great result for Friends-International in The Big Apple!

‘In October 2012 Kaliyan Mith Siem Reap were contacted by Angkor Children’s Hospital (AHC)  regarding Baby V*, a 3 month old boy who had been abandoned at the hospital some weeks  earlier.

Baby V had some health issues, and had been left at the hospital by a couple from the North of Cambodia who said he had been abandoned by his mother.

A large number of babies are  abandoned at the hospital in Siem Reap, with parents seeing it as a “safe” place to abandon children. Parents of children with ongoing health issues often fear that they will be unable to financially meet the needs of their children and anonymously leave their babies at the hospital.

The social work team based at AHC undertake family tracing for all abandoned babies, however, as AHC treats over 500 children per day and the hospital environment presents a high infection risk to babies it is neither possible or safe for babies to remain there for the extended periods that may be required whilst long-term solutions are found.

In 2012 Kaliyan Mith (the Friends program in Siem Reap) developed and implemented a Short Term Foster Care Project specifically to meet the needs of these infants. Short Term Fostering provides the babies with the one-to-one care and attention that they need for healthy development, and ensures that the children are safe and well cared for whilst the social workers from AHC and KM undertake family  tracing and  assessment and work to return the children to either their direct or extended family.

Kaliyan Mith’s Short Term Foster Care Project launched in 2012 in Siem Reap

Before having children placed with them KM’s foster carers undergo an assessment, and background character checks are carried  out with neighbors and local authorities. Whilst children are placed with foster carers regular follow up visits are made by KM social workers, and the foster carers are able to call the KM 24 hour Hotline if they have any problems. A program of regular trainings and workshops is planned for all foster carers in 2013.

Foster families receive ongoing support from the Kaliyan Mith teams.

The social work team at AHC visited Baby V’s mother in Odar Meancheay, but were unable to return Baby V to his mother as she did not wish to look after the child. The mother was found to be quite unstable, have no fixed address, and to be moving between Thailand and various parts of Cambodia. She was also HIV+.

After Baby V left the hospital he was placed with a KM Short Term Foster Carer, and the KM Family Reintegration Team took on responsibility for working to find a permanent care solution for Baby V.

The KM team again visited the mother, but she could not be persuaded to visit her baby and maintained that she was not able to care for the child. Local authorities in Odar Meancheay informed KM staff that the mother had had a previous child die, and, they felt that the lack of money, house and general instability of the mother’s lifestyle made reintegration very unlikely.

KM staff gathered background information on Baby V’s extended family, and a blood test was arranged for Baby V at AHC.

The blood test indicated that Baby V was HIV+, and, whilst still continuing to provide good care for the child, this diagnosis clearly frightened the foster carer, so a  training  session on “Caring for Children with HIV” was arranged by the medical team at AHC. Following this training  the foster carer was both reassured and more confident about meeting Baby  V’s needs.

KM social work staff next visited the child’s maternal Grandparents in Kampong Thom. However, reintegrating the child to the Grandparents was found to be not possible primarily due to the Grandparents being  old and unwilling to look after a child with health needs.

Baby V had now been in Foster Care for almost 3 months. He was now receiving appropriate medication via AHC and his health was much improved.

KM staff visited an aunt of Baby V, who was initially very keen to accept and care for the child, but changed her mind on learning of his health issues. The aunt feared the discrimination both Baby V and her own family would experience  as a result of his HIV status.

An uncle of Baby V was next visited. He and his family lived in Phnom Penh. They were keen to accept and care for the boy, but again were anxious about the implications of caring for a child with HIV. Following the visit by KM, a follow up visit was carried out by social workers specializing in working with people living with HIV and people affected by HIV based at Mith Samlanh (Friends International, Phnom Penh). Following discussions with the Mith Samlanh team, the family were clearer about the practicalities of caring for a child with HIV, and, reassured by the offer of ongoing follow up support by the team at MS, and were happy to accept Baby V to live with them.

AHC in Siem Reap arranged for the transfer of responsibility of Baby V’s medication and  medical care to Komar Cheat  Hosiptal in Phnom Penh, and in early January 2013, the child moved to begin his life with his Uncle’s family in Phnom Penh, where both Baby V and his family will receive ongoing specialist advice and support from the Mith Samlanh team.’

*In line with our child protection policy the child’s name has been changed to ensure privacy and pictures displayed here are not linked to the content of this story.