Communities

GOAL: Work alongside communities to identify their challenges and co-design solutions to develop the structures and services they need.

Our Communities section shares many of the same objectives and principles as our Children and Families section, but approaches them in a different way. While most of the programs in Children and Families take a case management approach, starting out within families and then creating a ripple effect more widely in society, the programs within the Communities section begin at a community-wide level. They are born out of our Community Driven Dialogue, our in-depth discussions with community members, and then enacted through projects that seek to utilise existing community structures to have an impact across whole villages, communes and districts.

Key issues that have come up again and again in our Community Driven Dialogue are poor educational opportunities and violence against women and children. Our Communities section tackles these problems head on. This Life In Schools works within struggling secondary schools for three years, reducing drop out rates and improving the teaching and educational environment by involving the school, especially through the Government mandated but often neglected School Support Committees. In our This Life Without Violence program, we take a multi-faceted approach, that involves using women’s meetings and support groups to share valuable information on the law, while also educating local authorities including the police and commune leaders in how to implement the law and support women and children facing violence.

The programs are:

This Life Cambodia also has an Internship Program for young Cambodians from disadvantaged backgrounds. It assists them to begin their university education in a supportive environment where they also receive hands-on experience related to their studies. It is administered under the Shared Services section.

Cambodian Internships