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Small regular monthly donations were solicited by Geraldine and a circle of friends, from individuals, to feed one child. This was how it all started.
The name, Sunrise Children’s Villages, was determined by the children in 2000 as they felt it better represented their new life and conjured up visions of a new dawn and a fresh beginning.
Children come to Sunrise Children Villages in a myriad of ways: parents or other family members have been killed or maimed by land-mines or died of hunger or disease. When these children are rendered homeless, the villagers sometimes make every effort to care for them, but more often than not, they are taken into homes and used as slave-labour in return for food and a place to sleep until their plight is brought to the attention of Sunrise.
To comply with Cambodian Government regulations, Sunrise investigates claims of abuse or neglect and once the village leaders have produced background details on the children and given official notice that they wish the children to be cared for by Sunrise, these papers are lodged with the Ministry of Social Affairs, and then Sunrise is permitted to take the children from the village and become their "guardians" until they are 18 years old.
In each case the staff at Sunrise goes to the villages to assess the situation on the ground to ensure that the need is real. If it is not too traumatic for the children, photos of the living conditions are taken to compare later with life at Sunrise.
Highland Children's Education Project - Managed by CARE Australia
PROJECT COMPLETED
The primary objective of the Highland Children’s Education Project (HCEP) was to address the needs of disadvantaged ethnic minority groups through the establishment of community schools targeting girls and boys who have never enrolled, or who have dropped out of the formal system.
The project established schools in six remote ethnic minority communities with teaching undertaken by locally recruited and trained indigenous community teachers, through a bilingual model of education.
This broader program is on-going and encompasses a number of individual projects including the Highland Community Education Program supported by Computershare.
The needs of disadvantaged indigenous ethnic minority groups are addressed through supporting the establishment of bilingual community based schools that target girls and boys who have never enrolled, or who have dropped out of the formal education system. Contribute to the achievement of basic education for all through relevant and quality options, with a focus on girls and marginalized groups, in partnership with communities, government and non-government organizations, such as civil society groups. In the five highland provinces of North East Cambodia there are 10 ethnic groups (ethnic minorities) made up of over 100,000 indigenous people. Most of them live in remote villages with very little, if any, access to health and educational services or commercial activities. In the Ratanakiri Province specifically, these groups make up more than half the population.
The balance consists of Lao, Vietnamese and Chinese (15%) and Khmer (30%) with proportions rapidly changing due to the implementation of the Triangle Development Plan (the Royal Government of Cambodia’s economic development strategy). This strategy actively encourages the Khmer to migrate and develop resources in ethnic minority areas. The cultures and languages of the 10 ethnic groups are distinct from mainstream Khmer. |