Homes Organization
The children organize themselves into committees in order to let them learn how to participate in the management of the Homes, with the persons in charge and also to take responsibility of their acts and their adult life. The committees are: Reception, Education, General Security, Reconciliation and investigation, and Sanctions Committee.
Every Sunday, they would hold a meeting and during the meeting the persons in charge of the Khmer Foundation listen to the report of the children.
As the aim is to provide a very complete and balanced education curriculum and to accompany the children through all key phases of their personal development, the KF is currently running three education targeted projects and a set of parallel activities are being developed.
The educative projects are:
- Children Care Center” Children Home I”, located in Sré Ampil Village, Kandal province.
- Children Care Centre “Children Home II”, located in O’Dambang Commune, Battambang province.
- A scholarship program for Cambodian students to study in Cambodia or abroad (in Thailand).
We offer free access to primary education at the Pagoda school at Sre Ampil Commune, Kandal province and Teacher training school in Battambang province, and secondary education at the public schools. Due to the absence of parental authority and love in Cambodia’s orphaned and vulnerable children, the quality of primary education is of particular importance because they generally have a lack of proper education, exposed to violent behavior, and generally have a lack of discipline.
Those who passed their grade 9 exams, marking the end of the lower secondary education level, can continue their studies until the Baccalaureate. If they wish not to continue in the formal education system, they have as an alternative, to attend the vocational training schools. Those who successfully obtained the Baccalaureate are encouraged for higher education, either in Cambodia or abroad. Those who have better grade 12 examination results will be sent to Thailand for higher education, practically C grade. It will depend also on the availability of the scholarships being granted. If there are more scholarships than needed, then the grade D or E students are also entitled to go to Thailand. The reason we sent more students to Thailand is that Thailand has better curriculum and there is no impunity for the cheating and low performance at that time. Secondly, it is the cultural exchange program for both countries, thanks to Dr. Krase Chaanavongse, a former Thai Foreign Minister, who shares his higher education Muang Phon Technical college and the Asian Scholars College with our students with the support of Prof. Keiichi and Mrs. Meg Minamikawa, as well as Prof Dean Kirti Bunchua at the Assumption University, who offered tuition free, or scholarships
Besides the intellectual formation, The KF strongly believes in the importance of a provision of spiritual and moral education, cultural and sport training to the children. Lessons for classical and traditional/cultural dances, songs, classical and traditional music etc. are dispensed to them at the weekends. Every evening, children will practice meditation before having dinner in order for them to have a peaceful mind and it is also the time to review all the activities during the day to see what should be improved or corrected. The KF want to place a strong focus on preserving the Khmer traditional culture, while providing strong moral and ethics within the non-formal children education
The Children non-educative projects are:
Completed projects:
1/ Solar System project for Home 1 and 2
Green energy has been implemented since early 2000 and the homes have solar home systems to replace the generator. Since the solar home systems have been installed, it has saved KF least $2,000 per month. The project was supported by Nestlé, and implemented by Mr. Arjen Luxwolda, in partnership with Utrecht University. The solar home system supports the whole Home, providing mainly electricity for lighting and clean water pumping.
The Same Same but Different Foundation and Kindness in Action, both Canadian NGOs, initiated by Stone Hocker family and friends, have worked together to construct a multi-purpose building at Home 2 in Battambang. The two-floor structure includes classrooms on the main floor and lodging on the upper floor. The project aims to provide affordable accommodation for visiting volunteer groups and individuals, and for medical teams and international professional dentists volunteers to help the orphans and the local communities. The building can also provide space for educational programs to be delivered.
2/ Water Reservoir project
The digging up of two water reservoirs (big pond) were approved by the Japanese Embassy, and helped us to have enough water for the rice-cultivation, as a complement to the water pump. This enabled KF to double the agriculture production, twice a year in the cultivation and production of rice.
At Sré Ampil, with the water reservoir funded by World Conference of Religion and Peace (WCRP/Japan), we could proceed to the cultivation of rice, cucumbers and other vegetables. A possibility to increase productivity and sell the products to neighboring markets should be considered, when capacities would allow.
In Battambang province, another water irrigation system was built, funded by WCRP/Japan as well. It enabled KF to proceed to the cultivation of rice transplantation on the 28 hectares of land that produces about 40 tons of rice every year. This rice is then used as a base for the children’s nutrition needs.
3/ Bio Gasifier project
At Sré Ampil, the problem is the scarcity of the firewood for the kitchen for the preparation of the children’s food. As firewood became increasingly expensive, rare, and had a negative impact on the environment, we installed a bio gas system. The special installation captures gas emanation from animal manures and conduce the produced gas to the kitchen. The financing was funded partially with the KF budget, and partially with the help of an individual donor from Netherlands.
Projects at implementation stage:
1/ Rice production:
At O’Dambang II, besides the banana trees, lemon and lemon grass plantations, we emphasize on the rice plantation on a land of 60 hectares at Kamping Pouy. About 40% (about 28 hectares) of the land is being utilized for the benefit of the KF. The rest is bushes and many unwanted trees.
The average yield per year is about 40 tons and the need per year for Home II is 25 tons. The remaining rice will be sold to get cash to reinvest for the following year. This would only be enough for Home II. The need for the 2 Homes is about 50 tons of paddy rice per year.
2/ Fish Breeding
Fish breeding project started in November 2012, and is being implemented at Home 2. This project is funded by a Singaporean individual donor, Ms. Bee Ngoh and her friends. All the revenue will partially be used to support extra nutrition for the children and the remaining will be used for the reinvestment. The second fish breeding project will start its implementation at Home 1 as soon as we identify the person in charge. We are planning to send two KF staffs to attend a three-day workshop in PPH on how to breed and raise fish successfully.
3/ Chicken farm
The chicken raising and training facility was built in 2011, initially funded by the German Embassy in order to train the orphans and underprivileged children who could not catch up at school and low income villagers about how to manage a sustainable income generating project, to achieve more self-reliance. The status today is of 3500 chickens, from 1000 chicken in 2011. Hence this is a very successful project so far.