Our programmes to support the families of children in care
For 25 years, the social team has been at the centre of the action
The social team, made up of some thirty social workers, identifies and manages the problems of families, working closely with the local authorities.
They meet families where they live, conduct a social survey in order to give priority to the poorest (income level, possible indebtedness, state of health, housing, etc.) and to the most urgent cases (absence of parents, abuse, school drop-out). Each social worker assesses the situation at least twice a year with each of the families in their care.
The social team regularly intervenes in support of emergency situations (flooding, fire, illness...).
PSE takes care of all the children in the same sibling group. This facilitates the schooling of girls.
Emergency situations encountered every day by our social workers
Protection against domestic violence
The social team is regularly confronted with situations of violence within the families cared for by Pour un Sourire d'Enfant. It seeks the best possible solutions for the children: by, for example, taking charge of the children, or by financially supporting mothers who wish to separate from their husbands.
Relocation or reconstruction action
Living in small houses made of sheet metal and wood in flood-prone and fire-prone areas, our families regularly have problems with their living conditions. Therefore, the social team provides emergency financial support to the families so that they can, for example, repair a roof that is at risk of collapse.
One-off financial support
The social team can also decide to provide emergency financial support in particularly risky situations. For example, when a student wants to stop school to work in place of a sick parent, PSE provides financial support for a few months so that the youngster can continue their education.
Rice distribution
The families are so poor that many of them need to be compensated for the loss of income they suffer by letting their children come to study, instead of earning a few riels by working.
We give this compensation in the form of rice, distributed on a monthly basis. All beneficiary families are designated by our social team.
Our community centres
In and around Phnom Penh and in the Sihanoukville region, our 7 centres, originally called "paillotes", are established in the heart of the neighbourhoods and villages. They allow us to accompany the children and their families in their living environment.
The youngest children, from 3 to 6 years old, are welcomed by our daycare staff. They benefit from early learning and their mothers can go to work.
An after-school care service (before or after school, normal school attendance is for half-days in Cambodia) offers games, reading activities, sports and tutoring to the children.
Meetings with parents are organised on the themes of education and society: the role of parents, hygiene, children's and women's rights...
Short vocational training courses
These courses enable the parents of our children to increase their income and thus limit child labour and school drop-out.
The courses last from 3 to 6 months and include training in cooking, home-based jobs (cleaning, baking, barista) and beauty and beauty care.
The training courses are followed by job search assistance and support for integration, or assistance in setting up a self-employment businesses.
Some forty adults selected by our social team are currently following this programme. Most of them are women.
Young adults between the ages of 14-17 and 30 years old who have dropped out of school can also attend these training courses.
The sewing workshop
The workshop employs about 30 women whose children are supported by PSE: this guarantees them a "fair" salary (above the average for the sector) and good working conditions.
It is also a training place where the emphasis is on learning various skills: in the future, these mothers will be able to open their own small workshops if they wish.
They produce the children's uniforms as well as the handicrafts sold in the PSE shops in Phnom Penh and during events organised in France by volunteers.
The aim is to improve their income so that their children can go to school and follow a normal education.
The workshop also allows more than 40 PSE students to have a small job during the weekends to help their families.
Sponsoring a child to provide an education
The work carried out by Pour un Sourire d'Enfant is indispensable: it allow children to realise their dream of going to school and to regain hope for a better future.
Learning takes time, the children taken care of by the association remain in our programmes for 10 years on average. That is why we have set up the sponsorship system: it enables us to take care of the children until they finish their schooling, until they find a job that will allow them to escape extreme poverty for good.
We cannot leave children by the wayside. Help us defend the right to education for all by sponsorship a child!