BACK IN TIME

The birth and growth of the Children Home One

The Peaceful Children Homes was a name selected by the children, following the Khmer Rouge period

The Peaceful Children’s Home I in Sre Ampil, Kandal province, some 27 km from Phnom Penh was started in 1994. Since then it has been the home for 246 children, who have not only enjoyed the loving care, but also have the opportunity to access higher education. Of these 246 children, 42 have graduated from universities and 10 children are attending universities both in Cambodia and Thailand.

The KF’s Children Home I in Sre Ampil, Kandal province was established and inaugurated in 1994 with 25 orphans, following the initiative of the founding members and their discussion with representatives from international organizations. It was financed by grants from the salaries of Samdech Son Sann and Mr. Son Soubert, for over a year. After a year of operation, the number of children increased to 120.

With sponsorship in 1996 from “Agir pour le Cambodge”, a French NGO, and the World Food Program at a later stage, the numbers of children being cared for expanded steadily, to a capacity of over 200 children. The strong educational support given by the Foundation started to pay off, and the first children started to qualify for university entry.

Children Home II

The Children’s Home II in Battambang province was established the following year in 1995 and is currently sheltering 60 children. It was important to provide a home for the returnees from the Thai borders’ Sites camps, who were given money in cash (a choice made to accelerate the return process) by the transitional authorities to purchase pieces of land later on. Unfortunately a majority of those ended up without a land. As a matter of fact, we got 2 families living there since 1993 that decided later on to move to Home 1. The Children Home’s II has been the Home for 157 children. The purpose of this home was to address serious issues at that time as Battambang was at a turning point for child trafficking.

The first people we helped were poor students from the country side who could not afford to have accommodation in town to pursue their higher education: there were 20 of them. Later on some of the students helped take care of the children with water supply and other needs. Furthermore some of these trafficked children going to Thailand were caught by the police and sent back to Cambodia, and were received by UNICEF, which entrusted the responsibility to IOM to relocate them in different reception centres, such as ours. Of these 157 children, there are 9 children who have graduated from universities in Cambodia and Thailand and 6 other children who are attending universities in Cambodia and Thailand.

The building of Home 2, at O’Dambang, near Battambang was started in 1995, thanks to a donation from Reverend Yo ISHIKAWA, President of the Arigato Ai-no-kai, JAPAN.

The Children Home 2, previously named Peaceful Children Home II, is located in O’Dambang II, nearby Battambang city. At the start, it aimed to provide a good quality shelter for poor students coming from remote villages to study in town, some 20 of them since 1996, when the building was not completed yet. It was only around 1997 that the homes started to welcome orphans and street children. Issues of children addicted to glue sniffing, street beggar at Poi Pet check point and children who were victim of child trafficking, sold to Thailand for begging, rounded up by the Thai police and sent back to Cambodia, where IOM, which received them, asked us the KF help to give shelter and home to some of them.