The Temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia

SSF Child Abuse Prevention Week Long Training 11/11-11/22/2009

The 2009 Participants With Their Trainers

November saw my return back to the motherland of Vietnam after 24 years since I immigrated in 1985, the union with my mother’s side of the family, the blacklisting of VOICE out of Cambodia with 24 hours notice, a 2.5 weeklong training on the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the Sary Sao Foundation (SSF) shelter for abandon children in Kampong Speu, Cambodia, the looming cancellation of SSF’s Children Protection program due to lack of funding, and a meeting with the Executive Director and Country Director of VOICE to discuss strategy in Phnom Penh. I also discovered that there is a remarkable, talented, and very passionate group of young expats (mid-late 20’s) working in all different areas of development in Siem Reap.

The Training and Activities

Dancing Party at Sao Sary Foundation During CRC Training Week

Know If Any Emergency Grants or Loans for International Non-profits?

The organization that I am currently doing short-term development work here in Cambodia needs urgent help in finding an emergency loan (US$5000) to cover the next three months of overhead operational costs to keep their shelter and Child Protection Program in operation in Kampong Speu province so they can buy time to find long-term funding. If you know of any organizations or foundations that give such emergency loans (i.e. one-time grants that have short/no waiting periods and/or not attached to any partnership agreements) for small amounts, please email them at: ssfcambodia@gmail.com or reply to this email. A letter from the founder/director, a local Cambodian man, can be found below. Additionally, their website is: http://ssfcambodia.org/

Thank you.

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#181, Group 5, Peanicha Kam village, Rokha Thom commune, 

Chbar Morn district, Kampong Speu province, Kingdom of Cambodia

Mobile: (855) 12 471 106

Greetings from Sao Sary Foundation:

We hope that this inquiry finds you well. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for our foundation. Sao Sary Foundation is facing an immediate crisis – due to lack of timely funding we may have to terminate our Child Protection Program which currently assists 50 children in care ranging from room and board, medical care, education, and vocational skills training. Our program affords them the opportunity to be children and not have to worry about the burdens of finding work to support their families. Such desperation makes them vulnerable to being trafficked.

SSF aims to alleviate child poverty in Cambodia’s poorest communities, while preventing all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse against children, especially commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labor and child marriage. We do this through a proactive approach in protecting children from any form of violence, exploitation and abuse. Rather than waiting until it’s too late, SSF strives to identify at risk children and provide sustainable assistance to both the children and their families. It is our mission to achieve lasting improvements for children living in poverty in Cambodia's poorest communities, through a process that unites people across cultures and adds meaning and value to their lives.

Sao Sary Foundation is immediately seeking funds of US$5,000 by December 1, 2009 to continue operations for our Child Protection Program for a period of three months while we continue efforts to acquire long-term funding. Any immediate assistance that can be provided to the Sao Sary Foundation would be greatly appreciated than could be described. If you or anyone you know are aware of any emergency grants (i.e. one-time grants that have short/no waiting periods and/or not attached to any partnership agreements), please email us at: ssfcambodia@gmail.com. Additionally, personal donations can be made at: http://ssfcambodia.org/index.php?page=donate.

Thank you for your time and consideration of the plight of these children.

  

With warmest regard,

Sao Sary Foundation

SSF Celebrates November 19 World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse With Training

World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse – 19 November, “Child Participation in Preventing Abuse and Violence against Children”

Abuse against women and girls is on the rise in Cambodia, according to a government report released in November of 2008. Nearly one fourth of all females in Cambodia have suffered from domestic violence. Moreover, young girls have increasingly become targets of sexual assault, according to the most recent Cambodian Gender Assessment Survey, also released in 2008. The report, released by the Ministry of Women's Affairs, said the growing use of drugs and alcohol by men was leading to malicious behavior against female Cambodians. The report also said that more than half of all women felt domestic violence was justified in some cases in what it called “a mentality of passive acceptance” that has prevented efforts to end the problem. As a result, SSF believes that increased education and stop hunger are the most important factors in changing the attitudes that allow attacks on women and children to go unreported.

Although in the last decade, great progress has been made around the world to inform people about the realities of child abuse, last year SSF was one of only five organizations in all of Cambodia took the opportunity to recognize the worldwide Child Abuse Prevention day on November 19th. While the other groups focused primarily on writing to politicians, SSF has approached it on a community level, where understanding of what constitutes as child abuse is at a minimum. Although nearly everyone recognizes that violence against children is wrong, many parents and children do not understand the emotional harm inflicted on children through other forms of abuse that are not as easily recognized.

In a pretest conducted before the all day educational session, SSF concluded that 95 per cent of the participating children did not know or understand the meaning of words and terms, “child, child rights, child responsibilities, domestic violence, and abuse”, whilst the other 5 per cent were unsure of their meanings. When asked about domestic violence, most participants could only give us answers relating to physical violence or abuse such as hitting and beating etc. Their concept of different forms of abuse such as emotional harassment and child neglect was minimal. Throughout the day, the 45 participating children met in small groups in an attempt to define and better understand important concepts and criteria of child abuse. At the same time, equal focus was placed on informing the children of their rights and responsibilities as children in a family.


SSF believes that every child has the right to live without fear of their parents or guardians, and that every child has the right to earn an education. These are both ideas that are not currently prevalent in Cambodia, especially in rural areas that suffer from a general lack of education. Violence can have severe implications for children’s development. In the most severe cases, it can lead to death or injury, however it can also affect children’s health, their ability to learn, and even their willingness to go to school at all.

Violence destroys children’s self-confidence and can undermine their ability to be good parents in the future, a major factor contributing to the perpetuation of domestic violence all over the world. By seeking to increase awareness about the realities of child abuse and domestic violence, SSF hopes that the 45 children and adults who participated this past year in Child Abuse Prevention day will serve as role models for the rest of the community, while SSF plans to expand upon last year’s success this coming November. In the words of Licado Spokesman, Vann Sophat, “What a child needs to do,” he says, “is go to school and gain knowledge to become a well-educated citizen for the country in the future.”’

Participated children were took the photo with 19 November logo provided.

Looking Ahead

VOICE is not giving up without a fight; they are very dedicated to their work in Cambodia. The team evacuated to Bangkok on November 10 and the executive director flew there shortly after from their headquarters in Orange County, CA. VOICE is a registered non-profit in the States, thus, they are seeking assistance from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh. I just spoke to the director and learned that the team obtained temporary visas in order to meet with the Embassy and local ministries in country. However, she wasn’t optimistic about VOICE being able to continue operations and stated that it was going to be “a long road ahead”.

For being a relatively new international organization founded in Australia in 2007 (refugee placements began in the Philippines in 2007, trafficking efforts in Cambodia began in 2008), VOICE is very active and dedicated. The work they do is superior in the achievements in that the amount they have managed to accomplish in such a short time. My disappointment wouldn’t be in the lost of a job position but in lost of the experience in working with such a dedicated organization and the lost of an opportunity to work with such a unique displaced Vietnamese population. The trafficking program in Cambodia is essentially their only program; the refugee placement program in the Philippines is near completion. Thus, if they cannot continue their work in Cambodia, they will no doubt continue their mission in assisting disadvantage Vietnamese population elsewhere rather be that Burma or Laos. But this would mean starting from the beginning. 

As for me, in the meantime, I am on track in terms of where I want to be and when. I came to Southeast Asia for four reasons: 1) to gain field experience with local grassroots organizations; 2) learn how international development is affecting local communities, and 3) broaden my Vietnamese vocabulary, and 4) get in touch with my roots. I was not schedule to start my potential position with VOICE in Siem Reap until Feb so their setback has not delayed my plans per se.

For the pass week, I have been at the Sao Sary Foundation shelter for abandon Cambodian children assisting them in their Child Abuse Prevention training week in light of the UN Child Rights Convention (CRC) international Child Abuse Prevention day on Nov 19. Being in Cambodia has taught me a lot about how tightly development and politics are intertwine. The director, a local Cambodian man, has been explaining to me the politics between the government and non-profits, local non-profits partnerships in Cambodia, and how corruption makes “making a difference” even for a local difficult at every turn citing personal examples. He highlights the fact that his father-in-law is good friends with someone high-up in the ruling party as reason for SSF’s ability to overcome past political difficulties.

I will be in Cambodia until the end of the month. After, I will cross the land border into Thailand and head to Chang Mai to assist COSA's new shelter, opened mid-October for sexually exploited, abused and at-risk Thai and Burmese girls (the shelter is 2 hours south of the Myanmar-Thailand border) through the month of Dec. After, I will head cross the Thailand-Laos land border crossing where I will take a mini “vacation” for two weeks in Laos. No development work while in Laos. I will cross Laos (via bus) to Hanoi, Vietnam where I have a 3 week commitment with the Peace Village at their Hope Centers in mid-Jan to beginning of Feb. TET (Lunar New Year) will be spent in Binh Duong, South Vietnam with my mother’s relatives  whom I’ve only met again 24 years after I immigrated to the States. I am the first in my immediate family to return to Vietnam since we fled the country after the war. By Mar, I will return to Saigon to look for temporary housing from March-July. Housing there is surprising affordable; $250-300 for a furnished apartment with a weekly maid and wireless.  I’m in the process of applying for an internship with the Little Rose Shelter in Saigon, a shelter started in conjunction with Harvard University for trafficked Vietnamese girls in South Vietnam. I guess you can call it my “backup” plan. Additionally, by then, I should know where I will be in the fall for graduate school.

Vietnam feels familiar in that old pair of shoes kind of way. It pinches your toes, and the color and style are louder than you remembered making you wonder how your taste has diverged so much. But they are familiar and molded to your soles and eventually it comes back to you, short and sporadic at first but then quick and flowing later, the memory, the comfort, and the love.         

Development and Politics Intertwine Tightly in Cambodia

Being in Cambodia has taught me a lot about how tightly development and politics intertwine. The other day, I met a local woman who cultivates cucumbers to sell in order to earn a living. Recently, within a course of a night, all of her cucumbers were stolen, thus, her earnings. She reported the incident to the police along with her suspicion the culprit’s identity. The accused admitted to the crime but then, in turn, filed a claim for defamation of character asking for US$400 in restitution. Although the accused admitted to the crime, they were never charged. Now the police are pursuing her to pay the restitution. She had come to SSF to ask for legal assistance.

Yesterday, I make a visit to the Kraing Rohong community, one of the communities that SSF has assisted. Here, SSF built a well and educated the villagers in substantial development through agriculture. This field experience is far more informative than anything I could of gain just sitting in an economic development course. 


Kraing Rohong Community 

Article from the Phnom Penh Post: Sex Work Lures Unemployed

Sex work lures unemployed

MONDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2009 15:03 MOM KUNTHEAR

Photo by: Tracey Shelton

Girls wait for customers in front of a karaoke parlour in Phnom Penh. The UNIAP has expressed concern that laid-off garment workers will be drawn into sex work to help suport their families.

BETWEEN 15 and 20 percent of former garment workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the global economic crisis have joined the capital’s entertainment sector, sparking concerns that many have embraced sex work as a last-ditch means of supporting their families, a UN official said Sunday. Lim Tith, the national project coordinator for the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP), said he had arrived at the figure by combining new data with the results of a July survey that found that “declining working conditions” were forcing an increasing number of Cambodian women into the sex trade.


According to statistics from the Ministry of Labour, more than 30,000 garment workers lost their jobs in the first three quarters of 2009, meaning that, if Lim Tith’s estimate is accurate, at least 4,500 women have entered the entertainment sector this year alone. The jobs of a further 30,000 garment workers have been suspended. Lim Tith said many of the women view the “entertainment sector” – which includes karaoke bars, massage parlours and brothels – as their only option. “I think that they don’t want to, but they have no choice but to work in those places because of pressure to support their families,” he said. The UNIAP survey found that the most commonly cited reason for entering the sex trade was “difficult family circumstances”, followed by relatively higher earnings and better conditions than those they encountered in factories.


More training needed: NGOs
Several NGOs said they hoped the new estimate would prompt the government to ramp up efforts to provide vocational training to former garment workers who had lost their jobs. "The government is aware of the problem. That’s one thing. The second thing is to act,” said Pung Chhiv Kek, founder of the rights group Licadho. “We would expect that when these poor garment workers lose their jobs because of the crisis, the government would have a proactive programme to train them and to help them find work.” Mey Sovannara, communications coordinator for the HIV/AIDS NGO Khana, echoed this point, saying: “The government has to focus on vocational training centres to provide training to the women for skills other than serving, like weaving, so they can run their own shop.”


Hor Malin, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, said the government had been trying to assist these women and would continue to do so. “We have never been careless with them when they don’t have work to do, even though we cannot help all of them,” she said. “We’ve tried very hard to train them in new skills in order to find a solution for them.” She added, though, that the ministry also hopes some of the former garment workers would leave the capital. “Of course, I cannot prevent them from working in the entertainment sector, but according to our ministry’s strategy, we want them to stop and go back to their homeland to do farming or feed the animals,” she said. “It’s better than working in a karaoke parlour or as a beer promoter.” This suggestion, however, was dismissed by Pung Chhiv Kek as unrealistic. “They can’t go back to their villages because they have to get money for their families,” she said.

VOICE Forced to Shut Down Humanitarian Programs in Cambodia

I received some very disheartening news Tuesday night when I meet with one of the board members of VOICE (Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment) in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. This is the organization that I had received the job offer to join as the managing director of a shelter for trafficked Vietnamese girls living in Cambodia; to begin in Feb. 24hrs prior to meeting with her, VOICE Cambodia was given 24 hours notice by the Cambodian government to evacuate the country and not return. The government accused VOICE of being "terrorists". The team is currently in Thailand. They had to immediately abandon their work in Cambodia. A summary is of official press release is provided below.  

For the past year, VOICE has been working with displaced Vietnamese population in Siem Reap, Cambodia. After the fall of Saigon, this population had fled to Cambodia for solace. However, this population were not recognized as refugees thus they never received resident or citizen status. They and their decedents cannot vote, own property, attend public school, or work. The Vietnamese population in Cambodia are stuck here. Parents selling their children into prostitution and/or slavery is few ways they can earn a living and survive.  

VOICE believes that the recent accusation and forced evacuation out of country has deeper political ties:  
1) Their previous work with displaced Vietnamese population in the Philippines upsets the Vietnamese government. Vietnam and Cambodia has close political ties.  
2) The infamous tension between the Cambodian government and non-profits operating in Cambodia. VOICE did not make any efforts to introduce themselves nor did they politically or financially supported the the ruling party. Therefore, the government probably thought that VOICE had something to hide and/or were talking bad ills about the government.  

It doesn't look like VOICE will be allowed, if they will ever be allowed, to returned to their unfinished work in Cambodia. I had been looking forward to joining this incredibly dedicated team and to work with such a unique population that could of easily been my fate. I came to Southeast Asia to gain first hand knowledge of the grassroots efforts that affect the local people here that I wouldn't receive studying economic and development theory in a classroom, I'm sure getting a front row seat.  
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VOICE FORCED TO SHUT DOWN HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMS IN CAMBODIA  

On Tuesday, November 10th 2009, authorities in Cambodia ordered the humanitarian organization VOICE (Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment) to terminate all operations in Siem Reap, Cambodia. VOICE’s expatriate staff and volunteers, dedicated to providing social services to women and children who are victims of the commercial sex industry, were ordered to leave Cambodia within 24 hours or face detention. The grounds on VOICE’s dismissal were that VOICE was operating illegally and creating “illegal troupes” to counter Cambodia’s neighboring country by providing vocational training to marginalized trafficked women. “VOICE strongly denies these accusations,” says Maxwell Vo, President of VOICE. “This is a devastating setback for the women and children in Cambodia who depend upon the work of VOICE both for the immediate relief to their situation and also for the long term hopes of a brighter future”. VOICE Cambodia had a permit to operate in Siem Reap and urges the Cambodian Government to revoke its decision in order to enable VOICE to continue to deliver their social and development programs.  

VOICE Cambodia has been in operation since July 2008 with the purpose of providing a number of projects, including vocational training programs to vulnerable women, providing safe and sustainable employment; playgroup/ community center; and partnership in a shelter for underaged girls who have been rescued from brothels.

Short-Development Work with Sao Sary Foundation in Kampong Speu, Cambodia

www.ssfcambodia.org

Sao Sary Foundation: Vision, Mission, and Goals

Our Vision

SSF believes in a proactive approach to protect children from any form of violence, exploitation, abuse and discrimination. Rather than waiting until it’s too late, SSF strives to identify at risk children and provide sustainable assistance to both the children and their families.

Our Mission

SSF works to achieve lasting improvements for children living in poverty in Cambodia's poorest communities, through a process that unites people across cultures and adds meaning and value to their lives by:

• Enabling deprived children, their families and their communities to meet their basic needs and to increase their ability to participate in and benefit from their societies.

• Inspiring deprived children, their families and their communities to socially and economically empower themselves to be agents of change in their own lives and for a more equitable world.

• Preventing and responding to violence, exploitation and abuse against children- including commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labour and harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation/cutting and child marriage.

SSF & Millinium Development Goals

• Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Goal 2: Achieve universal nine-year basic education
• Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
• Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
• Goal 5: Improve maternal health
• Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
• Goal 8: Forge A Global Partnership For Development

Arrived, Travelled, Applied to Graduate Schools, Back in Asia

I write to you jet lagged and sleepy from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I arrived the day before yesterday. This is the first time I've been back to Vietnam since I immigrated to the States in 1985. Busier than I remember, the city has grown 10x the size I left it swelling to 10 million. Let me back track a few months. I returned to the States in July and proceeded to travel stateside for 2.5 months visiting friends and family in Philadelphia, PA; NYC, NY; Orange County, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Puerto Penasco, Mexico; Omaha, NE; Sioux City, IA; Chicago, IL; St. Louis, MO; Las Vegas, Montezuma and Ghost Ranch, NM; Miami and West Palm Beach, FL and roadtrip from Miami-DC stopping by Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC; and the Outer Banks, NC. I was feed, spoiled, showed off, and decorated in new American apparel. I return to DC in mid-Sept pre-occupied and focused on applications to graduate schools for a Masters in International Relations with concentration in Development and/or Southeast Asia. The latter took longer than I expected and I didn't end up heading back to Asia for another 1.5 months.

I'm currently back in Asia, specifically Southeast Asia to do short-term international development projects with grassroots organizations in the area. I had emailed out a cold-cover letters to hand-picked organizations detailing my background and skills set in development especially in the area of vulnerable women and children. I highlighted my recent Peace Corps experience in Mongolia, my application to MA IR programs in Development with focus in SE Asia, and expressed the desire to witness first-hand the development issues that are affecting the local people in the region rather than just learn the economic theories behind development while in school. I asked if I could volunteer my time to their organization for a short period of 30 days (pre-determined by most visas). Let me just note that this request turned out more difficult to fulfill then I had thought. Piggybacking on ecotourism, the notion of paid volunteerism has grown popular. International to grassroots organizations are profiting on the fad to charge, on the average $1000/week for “volunteer” work. Needless to say, coming from a recent Peace Corps salary, I was not the ideal target. However, I was not about to be falter. My remedy to this situation was to harp on my networking skills. This paid off; I received direct recommendations to grassroots organizations that people I knew either volunteered at, knew someone who did, or knew the person in the organization. I can’t tell you how much this saved my plans.

I am in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam until next week when I will travel to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to assist the Sao Sary Foundation (SSF) with their Child Abuse Prevention training week in celebration of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) from November 13-19. I will be assisting with their Child Protection Program as well as assist in grant writing for the 2010 fiscal year. I will be volunteering with them Nov-11-Dec 23. Details: Sao Sary Foundation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Child Protection Program
http://ssfcambodia.org/index.php?page=child-protection-program

Dec 7-Jan 4, I will be in Chang Mai, Thailand assisting the Children's Organization of Southeast Asia (COSA) with their recently built Bann Yuu Suk shelter for sexually exploited, abused and at-risk girls. There, I will be assisting them with implementing vocational and Life Skills training. They also want me to counsel the girls and assist
with mental health training programs for the shelter as well as the community in Chang Mai. Details: COSA in Chang Mai, Thailand http://www.cosasia.org/shelter2009.htm

Additionally, I am currently considering a position at VOICE in Siem Reap, Cambodia at their new shelter for trafficking Vietnamese girls into Cambodia to begin Jan 2010. Additional information can be found at: http://www.vietnamvoice.org/Cambodia.html. It’s a fantastic opportunity this early in my development career. However, there are a few issues that I have to mull over before I can accept the position:

1) safety in terms of the subject matter and country location;

2) the pay is local standards not expat; and 


3) I will have to defer from graduate school for a year (VOICE feels that 8 mos commitment is not enough time to start a shelter and build the relationships ties that it would take to make it successful). I will be looking at a 1.5 year commitment until July 2011.

Any thoughts and/or advice?