Charities Organization in Cambodia (Update1)

As some of you had read about my pass experiences. I have been involved with some Organizations, both local and international in Cambodia.

Among of my experiences, NGOs (Non Government non profit Organization) is the best experience that I really like, and inspires me to keep doing the right thing and keep helping other people.

Some of my friends in ChildSafe, having farewell drinks

There are more than one thousand NGOs in Cambodia. A lot of them located in Phnom Penh the capital city of Cambodia. Many NGOs started because they wanted to help to develop the country. Some NGOs working with women, many of them working with children, a few of them working to help to promote the local products…etc.... Every NGOs had its own reasons and stories, they not just came to Cambodia to started a organization or they want to do it because it’s fun things to do. Many of them took a lot of times did researched before started one Organization. Also some of NGOs was taken over from local people project, Orphanage, or Church…etc.. And there are many reasons and commitments to start a Charity Organization in Cambodia, for example:

ChildSafe and FI team in Model day, the smallest person is me!

The Happy School started by a group of Australian, who came to visit Cambodia as tourist. The Australians came to visit Cambodia as tourists like many other tourists in 2002. When Australians group visited around Phnom Penh, they encountered the Cambodia Government Non formal Education School, in a poor district called Phsar Derm Dvove, teaches by Mr Men Soven the old retired teacher. The first time that Australians Group met Mr Men Soven, he was teaching 46 students, the youngest student approximately 6 years old, and the oldest student approximately 40 years old, so the overage age is 23 years old.
The first school that Mr: Men Soven teaches, is not really a school, it’s doesn’t look like school, because there are no building or learning material, it’s just the land that cover of plastic roof, all the student sitting on the ground together to learned from one teacher. Sound a little bit hard that all the students different ages, have to sit together learning from just a teacher.

Happy School Student lining to get their month learning materials

Because it’s a poor non formal educational school, had not enough resources, and the pities, there force Australians Group takes an action, to help to short out some issues try to make the old school look more professional. The first thing that they did is started rent the building around local area created the school, hired more teachers, bought more learning materials for the students, created a library and created some policies for teaching system with the teachers and the students, manage and arrange everything more like school. After the hard work everyone was very happy with the result from what they had done, and then they decided to call the school: Happy School!

Happy School Student sitting in their class.

After finished with the Happy School in Cambodia, Australians Group have to go back to their country, and they started a Charity Organization in Australia, called Australians for Cambodians Education (ACE), registered with Australian Government in 2004. Since then ACE is keeping raising money to supporting Happy School with, rent, utilities, staffs wages (teachers, manager, guards) student learning materials, etc… and many other administration...
Australian Group had referred the management in the school to local people to run, the school is still under the control of Cambodia Government Non formal Educational, but its funding and managing by ACE.

I making announcement to students.

However the Government only keeps on eyes about what Happy School doing, they never provide any learning materials to the school as it should be. ACE keep involving by hired a manager to run the school and to report to them. And ACE based in Australia with their community keep supporting technical whenever the Happy School staffs needed. It’s never perfect because everyone learning how to run an organization, but they tried very hard, as everyone in organization is volunteered, and they all have to works to survives and funding for Happy School too.

That’s how the ACE started.

Happy School small class students.

Back to the article, most of NGOs in Cambodia started by foreigners, then referred to local people, or registered their NGOs with Cambodia Government as International Organization and they keep working in the NGO with local people. From what I see, many NGOs in Cambodia tried very hard to do a good job, to run a good Organization, and to make the different for people who needed, but it’s not easy to run a good organization, they have to have a lot of outfits, plus Cambodia having a high number of corruptions, so it’s take a long time to see the result of what they have done and they have to improve their result every step they had, also they needed an cooperative people in their team to make it better.

Many Organization in Cambodia are very corrupts, also many of them have done a great job by helping to reduce many difficulties for poor local people, such as: street people, street children, poor children that can’t afforded to pay for government school, help to encourage women to knows and to use their rights, encourage people to support their local products to help to improving incomes of local people, provided an vocational training skills to youths that dropped school, so that they can find job to earn some incomes for their future, provided some good medical care to poor people, youth and children, provided drugs elimination programs, teach local people how to help each other, society reintegration program…etc…

Receiving donation from Australia Post office. 2006

Even thought, there are many organizations that doing many different things to help the people in Cambodia, it’s still many issues that you always can see on the street, it’s seem not much different, and the worst things is that the more NGOs is the more problems in the country, people starting depend on NGOs.

More and more foreigners came to Cambodia to start new NGOs, everyone want to own their own NGOs so that they can do their way to help, in the same time also many organizations trying to take advantages of the country and other good NGOs names, by started some project and tell everyone or traveler that they helping children and poor people in Cambodia, then make people and traveler gives money to their organization, but they take the money put in there pocket.

As a Cambodian who supporting the charities in my country such as many other countries, I would like to say: I really grateful and appreciates, people who came to help my country, especially the people who had started the NGOs in Cambodia, I think they are amazing people who born to help others and they all is real heroes, they are very special that could started such a wonderful project and put their commitment tries to make the different, for other people even not their nationalities. Beside that I also request, if you really want to help, children or other people that you have in mind in my country, you can always support them without started a new NGO, instead of going to Cambodia started a new Organization, better try to cooperate with other NGOs that already exited to do a better job.

Receiving donation check from Sharni, Post office to Happy school program.

Bobilee ACE president and I eating oysters, my favorite food!

Please keep in mind Charity is to help, everyone should not think that they own this organization or that organization, everyone should have rights to involve helping with charity, doesn’t matter where you are or who you are, and if you want to support organization or other NGOs all around the world, you should first do the research before you give your money to them.

Organization needed the support from all kinds of people to reach their goal and make the different!!

The end, I wish all he good organizations success with every project you had, and I also wish the bad organization can do a better job.

Thanks

ACE team having dinner in Australia 2006