Our programmes to support the families of children in care :

Our programmes to support the families of children in care

Each year, PSE's (Pour un Sourire d'Enfant) social team looks after more than 3,000 families. Different programmes have been established to help them improve their quality of life and autonomy.

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.

Sokunthea, a social worker, takes stock of a family's situation
Sokunthea, a social worker, takes stock of a family's situation
A social worker investigates the situation of three little girls
A social worker investigates the situation of three little girls
A social worker assesses the situation with a mother and her son
A social worker assesses the situation with a mother and her son

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.

A little girl receives rice to make up for lost earnings

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...

Group of children in one of our community service centres
Our children's parents on cooking courses

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. 

A seamstress in the PSE sewing workshop at work

Throughout sponsorship you can guarantee a complete support for the children over the long-term

The work of PSE is essential: it allows children to grow and develop in the best possible environment to complete their schooling and provides hope they can live dignified lives.

The children are supported until they definitively escape poverty. On average, they stay in PSE programmes for 10 years. This is why PSE has set up the sponsorship system: a guarantee that we can take care of the children until they finish their schooling, until they find a job that will allow them to live with dignity.

We cannot leave children behind!

Learn more about sponsorship