What social workers do (and why they are crucial to Cambodia’s future)

If you’re reading this you will have seen our short film about social work in Cambodia. You’ll have met 6 extraordinary social workers on the This Life Cambodia team, and learnt about how they console children who witness violence, help families who are struggling with poverty, maintain family links when a parent is imprisoned, help youths who have had few opportunities gain jobworthy skills and much, much more.

 

We wanted to share this video today – on International Social Worker Day – because there are so many misunderstandings about social work. This is especially true in Cambodia, where social work is a very new discipline – with the first university courses beginning just 9 years ago.

 

Hopefully you will now see how social workers are crucial to helping the most vulnerable in society. They help Cambodian families recover from trauma or tragedy and support communities as they face challenges including poverty, drugs, crime and poor education. They work with Government departments and community leaders on improving the services offered to people in difficulty and ensuring the rights of the vulnerable are respected. They are the glue which will help to build a better, stronger, happier Cambodia in the years to come.

 

But the truth is that there simply aren’t enough of them yet, due to the newness of the discipline, limited training opportunities and scarce funding. We need more social workers across the whole country, including TLC. We hope our video might inspire a few Cambodians to pursue this tough but incredibly rewarding and important career. We also hope it will inspire a few of you to consider supporting a social worker by donating on a monthly basis to us.

 

$10 can pay a junior social worker for a day, who can provide lifeline support to hundreds of individuals and families across a year.

 

$20 a month will pay for a senior case worker for a day, an experienced hand able to solve some of the most difficult problems in Cambodian society.

 

 

A social worker does so many things, and no two days are the same. They need a wide range of skills to do their jobs, many of which would be jobs on their own. In one month a social worker might be a financial accountant, a teacher, a counselor, a trainer, a campaigner, a researcher or even a detective. But whatever they do, they are working to build a better future.

 

If you are a social worker anywhere in the world we’d love to hear from you about your job. What surprising things have you done? You can share them on our Facebook page or by emailing them to contact@thislifecambodia.org. We will publish a few of the best.

 

And don’t forget, if you want to support social workers in their quest to build a better future for Cambodia, just $10 can make a huge difference. Donate Now.