Giving vulnerable children in Cambodia access to education

Follow my life in Cambodia on my blog: http://battambangirregular.blogspot.com/

I have been working as a volunteer in Cambodia for 8 months now. I have come accross many organizations and projects and I have had to experience a lot of disillusionment with the charity world.

There are so many NGOs in Cambodia, but there is also so much illspend money, corruption, work done without passion or simply not-well implemented projects.

I was all the more amazed when I came across Children's Future International (CFI) . By chance, I met Jenny and Andrew, the founders and directors in Battambang. At that time, the center was not even opened, but their enthusiasm caught me and so did the children, to whom I soon after started teaching guitar.

CFI's philosophy can be summoned up in the old quote "Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and he'll eat for his lifetime", albeit with a little extension, 'cause before the man can learn how to fish, he will need clothes, breakfast and a fishing rod.

Many children in Cambodia never attend public school or drop out, because they have to work and earn money for their families - far too often, children are even sold off to trafficking companies by their own parents, who cannot support them or have amassed debts by gambling and drinking. In order to allow these children to go to school, CFI makes sure their basic needs are being met, by giving rice, school materials, school uniforms and basic healthcare.

CFI then works to get children back into public school, providing Khmer literacy, math and English courses to catch up on the curriculum. Further, once children are studying, they get to enjoy CFI's informal education programs: Advanced English, Football, Arts, Music and Critical thinking.

As sad as it is, some children cannot stay with their families, be it because of alcoholism, abuse, neglect or the threat of being trafficked. For these children, CFI provides a safe and loving home environment at the Children's Center (directly adjectant to the school) and, for older girls at the Girls' Home in Battambang City, from where they have access to higher education facilites that would otherwise be unaccessible for them.

For several months now, I have been teaching English and Guitar, while taking on a variety of administrative jobs around the center. Through all that time, the children have been simply wonderful. There is a sponsorship program running, both for children supported in the villages and those living at with CFI and I think it is a great way to get personally involved with a wonderful young human being, helping him or her to stay safe and get the education he or she deserves.

However, what keeps the whole organization going, are the amazing people working here. The staff members are just great. They are totally enthusiastic about their work and really love the children - the most important criterium for working with children anywhere!

It is not hard to raise money for children. Everyone loves children and feels compelled to assist them in escaping the misery the coincidence of their place of birth might have plunged them into. But if it was not for the commitment of the staff, there would be no-one to care for and teach these children and if it was not for the center with it's facilities, there would be no place the children could come to when they are in trouble, no place to play, no place to learn, no place to live.

Let me therefore make an unconventional appeal to you:

Donate for the food and clothing of CFI's staff, for the gasoline they need to come to work, for the printing paper in our office, the electricity we need to keep the lights on, the water the children use to shower, the rent we pay for center, girls' home and garden - all these "boring" things that somehow need to be in place if CFI is to continue those great programs.