According to the United Nations Development Program, a third of Cambodians still live below the national poverty line – as little as $0.61 per day. For families living in poverty, resorting to begging or child labour is often the only option to bring in just a small income. Here at Anjali House we strive to reduce this cycle of poverty.

Anjali House (http://anjali-house.com/), situated in Siem Reap and established in 2006 is a house of offerings for local children in need. Anjali House is a sustainable and locally run organization. Our Director is Khmer, as are all our teachers and key staff. Following the devastation and hardships of the last 50 years, we hope this process will empower our Khmer staff and offer them the chance to broaden their skills, by managing not only healthcare and education, but also fund-raising, communication and social work.

1. Basic Care:

A great number of children across the country are malnourished and do not have access to clean drinking water. Anjali House is dedicated to improving and maintaining the physical health and development of our kids by providing food and water.

Many of the health problems affecting Cambodian children are associated with poor diet and unclean drinking water. Every day we ensure the children receive two nutritious meals, consisting of vegetables, meat and rice. We also provide unlimited filtered water for the children to drink.

We also understand the pressures felt by the families of Anjali kids as many of them struggle to make ends meet. These pressures have been compounded by the recent increase in the price of rice, which is the staple energy source for most Cambodians. To encourage families to allow children to attend, and to help replace income lost because the children are no longer working, we provide 3 kg of rice to each of the families we work with. This basic economic incentive is a crucial element of our working with Anjali House families.

Personal hygiene:

Due to the lack of clean water and the constraints of poverty, prior to the establishment of Anjali House many of our children had never used soap nor brushed their teeth. Now every day the children bathe in clean running water with soap and shampoo, brush their teeth and clean their clothes. We supplement these resources with on-going education about the importance of personal hygiene in preventing illness.

2. Education:

Subsidised Public Schooling

Anjali House first registers our children at local public schools, providing them with school uniforms and all the necessary books, stationery and equipment for their studies. Every school year we employ two mothers from our families to tailor school uniforms and we provide 2 uniforms per child per school year, plus bags and shoes when necessary. Anjali also pays for remedial and extra classes for the children and any fees incurred for school. Twice a year we make a donation of school and teaching materials to the 2 schools which the children attend. This assists the school, the teachers and reduces the need for teachers to charge students ‘extra

fees’. School attendance and performance is monitored through our social workers. School support is vital to ensure Anjali children have the opportunity to attend school regularly without any pressure to earn.

English Program

Anjali runs six English classes every day and students are divided according to their level of competency. Advanced students also receive supplementary English classes at Future Bright International School. The English program is designed to equip our students with the skills to communicate and to obtain jobs where a foreign language is a requirement. This is led by our Khmer staff and supported by volunteers to assist with grammar and pronunciation. We believe it is essential to have Khmer teachers running our English program assisted by English speaking volunteers. This gives the children positive adult role models in their daily life.

3. Family Support

At Anjali we understand that to assist and nurture the children who attend the centre we must also try to address some of the systemic problems that affect their parents and families by providing advice, opportunities and emergency access to finance if necessary.

Social Services

Our social workers visit every family on a monthly basis, to discuss the children’s school progress, attendance and performance as well as family issues and developments. When families are experiencing difficulties through factors such as under-employment, health and family disputes, they assist in dispute resolution, employment issues and identifying subsidised health providers.

Anjali also provides emergency medical care for family members when local medical facilities cannot provide adequate treatment. For children over 15, siblings and parents we access treatment through a private clinic based in Siem Reap.

We have dealt with alcohol withdrawal, domestic violence, cancer, parental death, traffic accidents and abuse. The social services provide vital access to information that would otherwise not be available or fully understood by parents. Illiteracy, lack of education and deep-rooted traditional beliefs can, without advice and education, exacerbate problems.

Food Support Program

Our families are from the lowest income sector in the villages in which we work . One of the main reasons children are forced to work is to ensure food security for the family. Many parents are under-employed or unable to work. Even with one working parent, there are normally many dependents including young children and older relatives. Each week Anjali House provides 3 kg of rice each of the families we work with. This support is crucial and also helps maintain attendance levels by compensating for the income lost because their children are no longer working.

4. Young adult Program:

The Young Adult Program provides our young adults with the tools, skills and knowledge to make sound decisions about their future, and be role models for other young people. The students learn from a specially designed curriculum at Anjali House, which involves English language skills, computer skills, life skills and career orientation classes. English language and computer skills are becoming increasingly important as Cambodia continues its development in the global economy. The career orientation classes encourage our students to think about the future, explore possible career options and understand the world of work. During life skill classes, important concepts such as friendship, personal conflicts and respect are discussed, which help the young adults develop into good citizens. The interactive and student-focussed lessons also help to develop the students’ logical reasoning and broaden their world-view (both in terms of local and wider community), valuable skills for them to possess in all areas of their lives. In addition to the classes, the students participate in special monthly workshops and field trips.

In the past few years, this program has assisted our students to find skilled careers, or higher education that matched their skills and interests. We are very proud of this program and already have one student completing vocational training as an electrician, six students working part-time in local restaurants and hotels and two students who have received job offers from places where they used to volunteer.

Support options include:

1. Sponsoring a child on a monthly basis2. Make a donation for example:

•$15 pays for one school uniform

•$30 pays for hygiene products for all our kids for one month

•$80 feeds all our students for one day

•$100 pays for us to train our young adult students to teach extra classes to other Anjali kids

•$130 pays for one week of skilful parenting workshops delivered to the local community

•$250 pays for rice given to over 80 families for one month

3. Volunteering:

Volunteers are integral members of the Anjali team. We value the contribution of each volunteer who visits Anjali House, and we are grateful that each volunteer brings along a different set of skills and a different personality. The kids benefit from this diversity.

Anjali House is a Cambodian NGO, and all but one of our employees is Khmer. It is our goal to make our project sustainable by empowering our Khmer staff. The volunteers that are of greatest value to the project are people who have skills, ideas or experience that they are willing to impart to the Khmer staff so the ball keeps rolling long after they depart.

While the time a volunteer stays varies greatly, we have a 1-month minimum volunteering period. This is in order to maximise the benefits for the children and your own experience.

Anything less and you are gone before you get to know them. In addition, to that , we ask each volunteer to make a USD $250 contribution to support the running costs of the volunteer program.

The school is not a 'tourist attraction' and therefore we only allow visits from people seriously interested in our work, and who would genuinely like to support. On arrival, all visitors are asked to read and acknowledge our Child Protection Policy and register their visit in our visitor book. By signing the book, the visitor agrees to abide by the rules stated in the Child Protection Policy.

Volunteer responsibilities include:

Assisting a Khmer teacher in English classes Planning and running daily workshop activities with a Khmer translator (art and

craft, games and activities and reading) Supervising the kids, monitoring their safety and administering basic first aid where

required Acting as role models for our students by dressing and behaving appropriately

(shoulders and knees must be covered) We ask the volunteers to work as a team, support each other and ensure the

workload is spread evenly.

Outcomes and benefits:

1. As a result of the Anjali program, all our children have the opportunity to attend public school, are registered at a local hospital, and have regular health check-ups. Their progress is closely monitored by our dedicated social worker. Additionally, we have a comprehensive education program, which includes a fully operational computer lab delivering our interactive E-Learning lessons, as well as a unique and ever-evolving creative arts program.

2. At the Anjali Center, we give all our students breakfast and lunch, making sure they receive enough calories to sustain them throughout the day. We also provide their families with a monthly rice allowance, easing the daily budget.

3. Anjali’s education program is vital in creating a bright and hopeful future for our students and their families. Every day we give on site classes in English, Living Values, General Studies, Creative Arts, Computers and Sports. We also support students’ public school studies, paying for their extra classes, as well as providing school uniforms, books, bags and stationery.