We have been working with New Future for Children (NFC) since 2007. NFC is a children's centre in Phnom Penh that realised early on that their live-in children faced unique challenges in coping with the transition to life outside the centre. It is through the work done together with NFC that we have developed and fine-tuned our pioneering loan-scholarships, and developed the package of support that we offer to disadvantaged young people.
At NFC, we have:
At NFC, we have:
- Funded over twenty young people through university, studying everything from nursing to architecture to engineering.
- Helped a young chef kick-start her career by starting her own restaurant within the centre, catering for volunteers. She has now gone on to work at one of Cambodia's most prestigious restaurants.
- Kept a tailor in the loop with his customers by providing a mobile phone, giving him the push he needed to start his own business.
- Let a young girl smooth out the creases in her life and get into work with a pair of hair straighteners.
- Enabled a group of three boys to show their artistic sides through a gallery project. Two are now working as professional artists.
- Provided guidance counselling for 50 children, helping them set aims and plan how to reach them.
- Funded a weekend leadership and initiative development workshop for 15 young people.
- Arranged visits to local universities for prospective students.
- Given training workshops on subjects from financial literacy to budgeting to choosing a university to the oldest children.
- Arranged work experience placements for the young people at NFC, helping them make informed decisions about their futures.
The Countryside Education Project (CSEP) was set up by Chork Ratana, one of the first beneficiaries of Golden Futures support. It focuses on supporting the young people living in and around Kor village, in Prey Veng province, in breaking the cycle of poverty which they and their families are trapped in. Young people in this village are often taken out of school so they can work in sweatshops, often earning just a few dollars each day. At the age of 30, they are sacked and return to the fields to live as subsistence farmers.
Ratana's project is all about education, and so really caught our imaginations at Golden Futures. We sent a team of volunteers in 2017 to support with workshops, and provided advice and support to Stitching Dom-Ray in their project to provide university scholarships. We're hoping to offer more support to the CSEP next year.
Ratana's project is all about education, and so really caught our imaginations at Golden Futures. We sent a team of volunteers in 2017 to support with workshops, and provided advice and support to Stitching Dom-Ray in their project to provide university scholarships. We're hoping to offer more support to the CSEP next year.
One of the problems we discovered in our work at NFC is that there is a lack of comprehensive information on the university courses that are available in Phnom Penh. Where information is available, it is incomplete, and very rarely in both English and Khmer. This makes it very difficult for disadvantaged young people to find the information they need to make informed choices, and to communicate this to sponsors.
To address this problem, we have developed and published the Phnom Penh University Guide. This free document has information on 30 different Phnom Penh universities, including costs and the courses offered.
To address this problem, we have developed and published the Phnom Penh University Guide. This free document has information on 30 different Phnom Penh universities, including costs and the courses offered.
| university_guide2016-17.pdf |
The Advanced Centre for Empowerment (ACE) run a number of projects in Phnom Penh, using innovative models to provide support to a wide range of different communities. The key project we have been supporting is the "Dormitory and Leadership Training Centre", or DLTC, which provides accommodation and support for young people from the provinces to come to Phnom Penh to study at university. In their free time, these young people are expected to contribute back to the program by volunteering at one of ACE's other projects, such as the schools they run located in slum communities in and around Phnom Penh.
The Sombok Chab slum in the centre of Phnom Penh, viewed from the school ACE has opened there.
This combination of support and enabling young people to build their skills and give back to the community was one of the inspirations behind the development of our model. We have been able to support ACE by providing funding for the tuition fees of their dormitory residents when they are not able to cover the fees themselves. This is generally for one year and helps ensure that a family crisis or the loss of a job, or the difficulties in finding one on moving to the city, doesn't interrupt their education.
This combination of support and enabling young people to build their skills and give back to the community was one of the inspirations behind the development of our model. We have been able to support ACE by providing funding for the tuition fees of their dormitory residents when they are not able to cover the fees themselves. This is generally for one year and helps ensure that a family crisis or the loss of a job, or the difficulties in finding one on moving to the city, doesn't interrupt their education.
