why Cambodia

Childhood poverty

One of the most challenging places on earth for children. Extreme, grinding poverty forces them to grow up in dangerous environments. Parents struggle to cover the costs of sending their children to school. These children call garbage-filled, unsafe aluminum tin huts their homes. Education is often minimal or nonexistent, and living conditions are unsafe and insecure. Many children suffer from mental health disorders.

Within very poor families, decisions about which child will attend school and which will stay at home, helping their parents with work or looking after younger children, are sometimes made at random. Parents struggle to cover the costs of sending their children to school. Frequently, it is parents who discourage their children from attending school. These children call garbage-filled, unsafe aluminum tin huts their homes. In Cambodia, these are the places in which children grow up.

A recent, large-scale study conducted by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport (MoEYS) in Cambodia cite poverty and the need to earn a living as the primary reasons for children low completion rate in Primary School ans Lower Secondary Education non-attendance. Poverty often drives young people to agricultural work and low-wage labour, as unskilled workers, and remains a significant reason for low attendance in school.

The World Bank found that in Cambodia, almost 60% of young people who do not attend lower Secondary and upper secondary cite poverty and the need to earn a living as the primary reasons for their non-attendance.

Childhood poverty

One of the most challenging places on earth for children. Extreme, grinding poverty forces them to grow up in dangerous environments. Parents struggle to cover the costs of sending their children to school. These children call garbage-filled, unsafe aluminum tin huts their homes. Education is often minimal or nonexistent, and living conditions are unsafe and insecure. Many children suffer from mental health disorders.

Within very poor families, decisions about which child will attend school and which will stay at home, helping their parents with work or looking after younger children, are sometimes made at random. Parents struggle to cover the costs of sending their children to school. Frequently, it is parents who discourage their children from attending school. These children call garbage-filled, unsafe aluminum tin huts their homes. In Cambodia, these are the places in which children grow up.

A recent, large-scale study conducted by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport (MoEYS) in Cambodia cite poverty and the need to earn a living as the primary reasons for children low completion rate in Primary School ans Lower Secondary Education non-attendance. Poverty often drives young people to agricultural work and low-wage labour, as unskilled workers, and remains a significant reason for low attendance in school.

The World Bank found that in Cambodia, almost 60% of young people who do not attend lower Secondary and upper secondary cite poverty and the need to earn a living as the primary reasons for their non-attendance.

“	Garbage and unsafe aluminum tin huts, which they call them home is the place children grow up.

Hunger

According to data from the World Bank, in Cambodia, 13.8% of children under the age of five are underweight and 22% are stunted.

The situation is even more dire in remote and rural farming communities, where one in two children under five has experienced chronic malnutrition and stunting, according to the United Nation World Food Organisation . Over 60% of children aged 12 to 23.9 months and up to 80% of children aged 6 to 8 months do not receive the minimum acceptable daily diet.

“At the Reaching Out Project, we believe that eradicating hunger is a crucial step towards building a better future for children. Hunger limits children’s development, making it difficult to achieve other Sustainable Development Goals such as education, mental health, and gender equality.”

Hunger

According to data from the World Bank, in Cambodia, 13.8% of children under the age of five are underweight and 22% are stunted.

The situation is even more dire in remote and rural farming communities, where one in two children under five has experienced chronic malnutrition and stunting, according to the United Nation World Food Organisation . Over 60% of children aged 12 to 23.9 months and up to 80% of children aged 6 to 8 months do not receive the minimum acceptable daily diet.

“At the Reaching Out Project, we believe that eradicating hunger is a crucial step towards building a better future for children. Hunger limits children’s development, making it difficult to achieve other Sustainable Development Goals such as education, mental health, and gender equality.”

Hunger

According to data from the World Bank, in Cambodia, 13.8% of children under the age of five are underweight and 22% are stunted.

The situation is even more dire in remote and rural farming communities, where one in two children under five has experienced chronic malnutrition and stunting, according to the United Nation World Food Organisation . Over 60% of children aged 12 to 23.9 months and up to 80% of children aged 6 to 8 months do not receive the minimum acceptable daily diet.

“At the Reaching Out Project, we believe that eradicating hunger is a crucial step towards building a better future for children. Hunger limits children’s development, making it difficult to achieve other Sustainable Development Goals such as education, mental health, and gender equality.”

“	Malnutrition remains as significant challenge in Cambodia, affecting both physical, mental health and over all development.

Mental Health and Care

Being a child in this country is challenging, and the prospects are uncertain.

UNICEF has issued a warning that Cambodia is facing a mental health crisis. In 2022, at least 873 people, most of whom were young individuals between the ages of 15 and 19, died by suicide based to Cambodian National Police reports. Based to Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, 85% of secondary school students reported experiencing at least one mental health issue . 40% of children and adolescents in the country are battling mental health issues, as revealed by the latest mental health report from the Cambodia National Council for Children (CNCC).Dr Quach Mengly, a renowned health expert, states that mental health disorders affect 70% of the overall population who are dealing with depression, stress, suicidal tendencies and anxiety.

Mental Health and Care

Being a child in this country is challenging, and the prospects are uncertain.

UNICEF has issued a warning that Cambodia is facing a mental health crisis. In 2022, at least 873 people, most of whom were young individuals between the ages of 15 and 19, died by suicide based to Cambodian National Police reports. Based to Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, 85% of secondary school students reported experiencing at least one mental health issue . 40% of children and adolescents in the country are battling mental health issues, as revealed by the latest mental health report from the Cambodia National Council for Children (CNCC).Dr Quach Mengly, a renowned health expert, states that mental health disorders affect 70% of the overall population who are dealing with depression, stress, suicidal tendencies and anxiety.

Mental Health and Care

Being a child in this country is challenging, and the prospects are uncertain.

UNICEF has issued a warning that Cambodia is facing a mental health crisis. In 2022, at least 873 people, most of whom were young individuals between the ages of 15 and 19, died by suicide based to Cambodian National Police reports. Based to Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, 85% of secondary school students reported experiencing at least one mental health issue . 40% of children and adolescents in the country are battling mental health issues, as revealed by the latest mental health report from the Cambodia National Council for Children (CNCC).Dr Quach Mengly, a renowned health expert, states that mental health disorders affect 70% of the overall population who are dealing with depression, stress, suicidal tendencies and anxiety.

“	Mental disorders are significant public health challenges, mostly affect vulnerable children as in Cambodia.

Lack of transportation

Significant factor contributing to children dropping out of school. Secondary schools are often located far away, in some cases between five and 30 kilometers away (like the schools in the mountainous jungle areas that we support). Children without bicycles are unable to attend school due to the extreme Cambodian weather conditions, leading them to eventually drop out of school permanently.

It is not surprising then that around two-thirds of children, , main on rural areas, drop out of school prematurely. This invariably leads to forced low-wage labour, low skills, and a cycle of permanent poverty with dreadful living conditions and health disorders. A child that does not grow up in a friendly environment could turn to violence or become a victim of violence by others, resulting in a vulnerable child with limited physical and mental health.

Lack of transportation

Significant factor contributing to children dropping out of school. Secondary schools are often located far away, in some cases between five and 30 kilometers away (like the schools in the mountainous jungle areas that we support). Children without bicycles are unable to attend school due to the extreme Cambodian weather conditions, leading them to eventually drop out of school permanently.

It is not surprising then that around two-thirds of children, , main on rural areas, drop out of school prematurely. This invariably leads to forced low-wage labour, low skills, and a cycle of permanent poverty with dreadful living conditions and health disorders. A child that does not grow up in a friendly environment could turn to violence or become a victim of violence by others, resulting in a vulnerable child with limited physical and mental health.

Lack of transportation

Significant factor contributing to children dropping out of school. Secondary schools are often located far away, in some cases between five and 30 kilometers away (like the schools in the mountainous jungle areas that we support). Children without bicycles are unable to attend school due to the extreme Cambodian weather conditions, leading them to eventually drop out of school permanently.

It is not surprising then that around two-thirds of children, , main on rural areas, drop out of school prematurely. This invariably leads to forced low-wage labour, low skills, and a cycle of permanent poverty with dreadful living conditions and health disorders. A child that does not grow up in a friendly environment could turn to violence or become a victim of violence by others, resulting in a vulnerable child with limited physical and mental health.

“	A child in school means a better life for a family.

Terrible water quality, limited sanitation, and dirty water in ponds that are used for drinking, washing and sanitation needs. The World Bank found in 2022, less than a third of Cambodians had access to a safely managed water supply, and just over a third used safely managed sanitation.

Approximately 75 percent of Cambodians living in rural areas where the lack of clean water is particularly prominent because of non-existent infrastructure.

Dirty water, diseases

Terrible water quality, limited sanitation, and dirty water in ponds that are used for drinking, washing and sanitation needs. The World Bank found in 2022, less than a third of Cambodians had access to a safely managed water supply, and just over a third used safely managed sanitation.

Approximately 75 percent of Cambodians living in rural areas where the lack of clean water is particularly prominent because of non-existent infrastructure.

Dirty water, diseases

Terrible water quality, limited sanitation, and dirty water in ponds that are used for drinking, washing and sanitation needs. The World Bank found in 2022, less than a third of Cambodians had access to a safely managed water supply, and just over a third used safely managed sanitation.

Approximately 75 percent of Cambodians living in rural areas where the lack of clean water is particularly prominent because of non-existent infrastructure.

“	Βy helping children in rural areas having access to clean water and sanitation we protect their health and life.

Cambodia Genocide – A Lost Generation

Cambodians suffered immensely during the civil war and later in the 1970s as a result of the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. During the Khmer Rouge revolution, millions of people were driven out of the cities, families were split up, and parents were separated from their children. Millions were relocated to the countryside and villages to work camps in which they were forced to work in rice fields, often starving to death.

All educated people anyone who could read and anyone who could remotely be described as “intellectual,” which included anyone wearing spectacles or who could speak a foreign language were exterminated. Anyone who appeared to have a basic education, was an artist, a teacher, an engineer, a lawyer, was interrogated, brutally tortured, and executed in these camps. When the Khmer Rouge were overthrown, it was reported that this genocide cost Cambodia over two million lives. However, unofficial estimates suggest a much higher number, perhaps as high as almost a quarter or half of Cambodia’s population at that time. With almost the entire country destroyed and a generation lost, Cambodians were left with limited or almost no education. All educated people had been killed, families were destroyed, and society had no values or pillars with which to get back on its feet. An entire generation of children during or in the years following the regime missed out on school.

The lack of education and poverty made survival the only priority, and hence the cycle of poverty has remained unbroken. Children are raised by grandmothers and grandfathers, and this generational gap continues to cost the country even today.

Cambodia Genocide –
A Lost Generation

Cambodians suffered immensely during the civil war and later in the 1970s as a result of the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. During the Khmer Rouge revolution, millions of people were driven out of the cities, families were split up, and parents were separated from their children. Millions were relocated to the countryside and villages to work camps in which they were forced to work in rice fields, often starving to death.

All educated people anyone who could read and anyone who could remotely be described as “intellectual,” which included anyone wearing spectacles or who could speak a foreign language were exterminated. Anyone who appeared to have a basic education, was an artist, a teacher, an engineer, a lawyer, was interrogated, brutally tortured, and executed in these camps. When the Khmer Rouge were overthrown, it was reported that this genocide cost Cambodia over two million lives. However, unofficial estimates suggest a much higher number, perhaps as high as almost a quarter or half of Cambodia’s population at that time. With almost the entire country destroyed and a generation lost, Cambodians were left with limited or almost no education. All educated people had been killed, families were destroyed, and society had no values or pillars with which to get back on its feet. An entire generation of children during or in the years following the regime missed out on school.

The lack of education and poverty made survival the only priority, and hence the cycle of poverty has remained unbroken. Children are raised by grandmothers and grandfathers, and this generational gap continues to cost the country even today.

Cambodia Genocide – A Lost Generation

Cambodians suffered immensely during the civil war and later in the 1970s as a result of the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. During the Khmer Rouge revolution, millions of people were driven out of the cities, families were split up, and parents were separated from their children. Millions were relocated to the countryside and villages to work camps in which they were forced to work in rice fields, often starving to death.

All educated people anyone who could read and anyone who could remotely be described as “intellectual,” which included anyone wearing spectacles or who could speak a foreign language were exterminated. Anyone who appeared to have a basic education, was an artist, a teacher, an engineer, a lawyer, was interrogated, brutally tortured, and executed in these camps. When the Khmer Rouge were overthrown, it was reported that this genocide cost Cambodia over two million lives. However, unofficial estimates suggest a much higher number, perhaps as high as almost a quarter or half of Cambodia’s population at that time. With almost the entire country destroyed and a generation lost, Cambodians were left with limited or almost no education. All educated people had been killed, families were destroyed, and society had no values or pillars with which to get back on its feet. An entire generation of children during or in the years following the regime missed out on school.

The lack of education and poverty made survival the only priority, and hence the cycle of poverty has remained unbroken. Children are raised by grandmothers and grandfathers, and this generational gap continues to cost the country even today.

“	In a country that has lost at least one generation to a civil war and genocide, families struggle to find their pace and often fall into poverty.

Limited seasonal jobs &
1-dollar begging

In poor provinces and districts, farming, and fishing are the main occupations and sources of income, if and when they do have work. Sometimes, parents or at least the father can only find work for five or six days per month. Seasonal jobs, unsafe drinking water, living in tin or wooden huts make it impossible for families to afford to send their children to school. Instead, they have no choice but to have them help provide money for the family. As a result, they end up begging outside the temples for $1 per day to support their families or scavenging in landfills.

Through the integration of children’s needs, we have a chance to break the cycle of poverty for this young generation and lead them towards a path of sustainable growth.

Limited seasonal jobs & 1-dollar begging

In poor provinces and districts, farming, and fishing are the main occupations and sources of income, if and when they do have work. Sometimes, parents or at least the father can only find work for five or six days per month. Seasonal jobs, unsafe drinking water, living in tin or wooden huts make it impossible for families to afford to send their children to school. Instead, they have no choice but to have them help provide money for the family. As a result, they end up begging outside the temples for $1 per day to support their families or scavenging in landfills.

Through the integration of children’s needs, we have a chance to break the cycle of poverty for this young generation and lead them towards a path of sustainable growth.

Limited seasonal jobs & 1-dollar begging

In poor provinces and districts, farming, and fishing are the main occupations and sources of income, if and when they do have work. Sometimes, parents or at least the father can only find work for five or six days per month. Seasonal jobs, unsafe drinking water, living in tin or wooden huts make it impossible for families to afford to send their children to school. Instead, they have no choice but to have them help provide money for the family. As a result, they end up begging outside the temples for $1 per day to support their families or scavenging in landfills.

Through the integration of children’s needs, we have a chance to break the cycle of poverty for this young generation and lead them towards a path of sustainable growth.

“	The circle of Poverty breaks only through education and we must take all actions needed to support families encouraging children attend school daily.