WHAT WE DO
Light of Hope Cambodia is a property located 3 hours out from Phnom Penh. The project aims to provide a secure environment for children, providing them with all they need for strong physical and emotional health. Here children live in residential care with a ‘mum and dad’ and around 12 other ‘brothers or sisters’ in the one home. Each home operates as a family unit, together the family perform daily chores, cook and eat together and worship together. The children are safe, secure and happy in the centre. When they grow up and leave they often call Light of Hope their home and return there to work, caring for the next generation of children in their ‘family’. Each of the children who live within Light of Hope have come from vulnerable situations. These might range from being orphaned, being deserted, enduring domestic violence or parents unable to care for them due to neglect or mental illness. These children have endured hardships that no child should have to encounter in their young years. Light of Hope works to provide a pathway to a brighter future for each of these young lives.
Child
well-being
Light of Hope staff identify at-risk, destitute children and work hard to ensure they have security, nurture and improved health and well-being. Our house parents, along with our dedicated teachers, chaplain and social worker, create a safe and loving place for vulnerable children to heal, grow and flourish.
STRENGTHENING VULNERABLE FAMILIES
Vulnerable families in the community are identified and strengthened to increase their ability to care for and provide for their children. Families are supported to send their children to school through fee assistance, resources, and help with transport. Mothers can be assisted in finding suitable work locally, which allows them to also care for their children. Outreach programs such as health training and nutrition training are run in the community.
The LOH youth, who have experienced what it is to be hungry and hopeless, want to share the blessings they now enjoy with others. During difficult times such as COVID they deliver food parcels to their needy neighbours.
QUALITY K-12 EDUCATION
Light of Hope School provides quality Christian education, from three-year-old kindergarten all the way to grade 12. Some 500 students attend the school daily from neighbouring villages. Local families are largely poor agricultural farmers but pay a minimal monthly fee for their children to attend LOH School. They sacrifice to send their children to the school, as they understand education provides a pathway out of the poverty in which they live. The school has an outstanding reputation in the local community and has a staff of devoted Khmer teachers.
All children have the right to learn, whatever circumstance they are born into. However, in Cambodia many girls and boys are falling behind, particularly those who live in poor rural areas. Reasons can include:
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extreme poverty where they are required to work with family
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experiencing poor quality teaching
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a lack of resources and facilities
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attending school irregularly
This eventually leads to many students dropping out altogether. At Light of Hope’s School we are working hard to combat all these issues in the community, providing an education which enables children to reach their potential and achieve their career goals.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING & TERTIARY SCHOLARSHIPS
Light of Hope works to provide a pathway to a brighter future for each of the young lives in our care. When our children have completed study in Year 12 they are given the option to apply for a scholarship and study in university or vocational training.
We currently have around twenty students studying to be doctors, teachers, engineers, electrical engineers, accountants, IT specialists, translators and more. These students value their education and know what a privilege it really is and how it will change their futures.
SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION
A well developed and constantly expanding agricultural program provides a range of healthy fruit and vegetables for the children in the centre. With around 60% of local community children under 7 years suffering third-degree malnutrition, this range of produce is vital in improving their physical health.
We now grow a wide variety of vegetables, as well as cassava, corn, peanuts, soy beans, mung beans, mushrooms, and rice. A large orchard of fruit trees has also been established. Poultry provide eggs, the pond is full of fish, and cows provide manure and cut the grass, before being sold for profit. Water across the property is now entirely operated by environmentally responsible solar power, ensuring the security of this precious resource.
Through the agricultural program, the children are assured of nutritious meals. The excess produce is sold at the markets, thus building the long-term sustainability of the project, or it is shared with needy families in the community.
