After DT closed the center in Phnom Penh, children that were under 18 years old were referred to the new project in Neak Loeung (Prey Veng Province). The disability project currently has 16 children in the Small Group Homes (SGH), living weith different kinds of physical and/or intellectual disabilities such as Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Amputation. These children are provided with a family-like environment to live, basic-life needs (food, hygiene), a child-friendly environment, and access to play and everything they need to develop to their full potential.
On an adjacent compound, there is another project called Day Care Center (DCC), which is a place for rehabilitation that supports children with disabilities to learn, acquire new skills, and develop physical and intellectual competences. In the DCC, there are three spaces dedicated to improve the development of the children: the education room, a sensory room, and a physical therapy room. The education room is a space for children with disabilities to learn by tutoring, playing, and doing activities that can contribute to their development. The sensory room is for sensory stimulation and the children take turns to get different stimulations such as low-volume music to stimulate hearing, objects with different textures to stimulate touch, lights to stimulate vision, and so forth. In the Physical Therapy room, the children receive specialized rehabilitation services that help them improve their physical skills and become more independent.
Besides the SGH and the DCC, Damnok Toek also has the Outreach Project that is being implemented by Social Workers in Neak Loeung. They go to nearby communities to search for children with disabilities that need rehabilitation so they can be offered the opportunity to receive rehabilitation and education services at the Day Care Center. Children from the community do the same activities as the children in the SGH and are then offered the opportunity to acquire new skills and develop to their full potential.
All the projects above are being well developed by Damnok Toek Team in Neak Leoung, which has allowed many children with physical and intellectual disabilities to improve their skills, acquire different abilities, and become more independent than they were before. Children have achieved outcomes they never thought they would be able to achieve and we currently have many successful stories like a child with a learning disability that was successfully integrated into public school and a child with cerebral palsy that is now learning how to walk.
In conclusion, Damnok Toek has been working so hard to meet its vision as well as developing the project to grow further. The disability project, Neak Loeung is committed to help reach more children with disabilities and improve their quality of life. Damnok Toek has prepared a training on the topic of disability that will be held from the 30th of November until the 3rd of December in Neak Loeung. For further information about the training, please stay tuned to our Facebook page or the Damnok Toek website.
Find us on field work
Learn more about how DT’s poipet work to assist vulnerable children
2017 Damnok Toek was awarded by Child 10 Organization in Sweden
2018 Damnok Toek was awarded by Prix Caritas.
Read More about Prix Caritas
Prix Caritas goes to Cambodia
The Prix Caritas 2018 was presented in Lucerne to the Cambodian doctor Sovannarith Sam. Yves Serra, CEO and President of Georg Fischer, paid tribute to the award winner’s commitment. He has been actively engaged in promoting child protection and children’s rights in Cambodia for decades. At the core of his efforts are disadvantaged children who have become victims of enslavement, human trafficking and prostitution.
Yves Serra, CEO of Georg Fischer, Sovannarith Sam and Hugo Fasel, director of Caritas Switzerland. Photo: Priska Ketterer
Sovannarith Sam is the executive director of the child protection organisation ‘Damnok Toek’. It takes care of around 3,500 marginalised children each year in the cities of Phnom Penh, Poipet and Neak Loeung. In Poipet, on the border with Thailand, Sovannarith Sam runs various drop-in centres in which approximately 750 children, who live and work on the street, find refuge. They keep themselves and their families afloat – by carrying heavy loads, collecting waste, as beggars or, in the worst case, as child prostitutes. In the drop-in centres, the children can recover from the strains of their work. They are given a hot meal and can have a shower.
‘Damnok Toek’ also offers these children a basic education. Wherever possible, they are prepared for admission to a mainstream state school. In cooperation with public authorities and private business, the aid organisation also enables the boys and girls to gain a vocational qualification and helps them to get apprenticeships, work placements or jobs.
Yves Serra, CEO and President of Georg Fischer as well as President of the ‘Clean Water’ Foundation, praised the award winner’s commitment as pioneering: ‘Sovannarith Sam is always guided by a threefold perspective. By giving children and young people a roof over their head in the drop-in centres, he is providing life-saving protection. But he doesn’t stop at that. Through education and training, he endeavours to reintegrate the children into society and to give them a future. And lastly, by raising awareness, he wants to prevent children from being deprived of rights and protection.’
Human beings with an inviolable dignity
According to Yves Serra, the commitment of the Cambodian doctor is shaped by his conviction that first and foremost, children are human beings with an inviolable dignity and with fundamental rights. The award of the Prix Caritas 2018 is intended to encourage him to continue his commitment to child protection and children’s rights.
The Prix Caritas is awarded each year to persons who distinguish themselves by their great professional expertise and humanity, as well as their long-term and innovative engagement. The prize money of CHF 10,000 goes to one of the award winner’s projects.
Their smiling is our commitment in mission to assist them.
Neak Loeung
The center for Children with Disabilities
After DT closed the center in Phnom Penh, children that were under 18 years old were referred to the new project in Neak Loeung (Prey Veng Province). The disability project currently has 16 children in the Small Group Homes (SGH), living weith different kinds of physical and/or intellectual disabilities such as Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Amputation. These children are provided with a family-like environment to live, basic-life needs (food, hygiene), a child-friendly environment, and access to play and everything they need to develop to their full potential.
On an adjacent compound, there is another project called Day Care Center (DCC), which is a place for rehabilitation that supports children with disabilities to learn, acquire new skills, and develop physical and intellectual competences. In the DCC, there are three spaces dedicated to improve the development of the children: the education room, a sensory room, and a physical therapy room. The education room is a space for children with disabilities to learn by tutoring, playing, and doing activities that can contribute to their development. The sensory room is for sensory stimulation and the children take turns to get different stimulations such as low-volume music to stimulate hearing, objects with different textures to stimulate touch, lights to stimulate vision, and so forth. In the Physical Therapy room, the children receive specialized rehabilitation services that help them improve their physical skills and become more independent.
Besides the SGH and the DCC, Damnok Toek also has the Outreach Project that is being implemented by Social Workers in Neak Loeung. They go to nearby communities to search for children with disabilities that need rehabilitation so they can be offered the opportunity to receive rehabilitation and education services at the Day Care Center. Children from the community do the same activities as the children in the SGH and are then offered the opportunity to acquire new skills and develop to their full potential.
In conclusion, Damnok Toek has been working so hard to meet its vision as well as developing the project to grow further. The disability project, Neak Loeung is committed to help reach more children with disabilities and improve their quality of life. Damnok Toek has prepared a training on the topic of disability that will be held from the 30th of November until the 3rd of December in Neak Loeung. For further information about the training, please stay tuned to our Facebook page or the Damnok Toek website.
Find us on field work
Learn more about how DT’s poipet work to assist vulnerable children
2017 Damnok Toek was awarded by Child 10 Organization in Sweden
2018 Damnok Toek was awarded by Prix Caritas.
Read More about Prix Caritas
Prix Caritas goes to Cambodia
The Prix Caritas 2018 was presented in Lucerne to the Cambodian doctor Sovannarith Sam. Yves Serra, CEO and President of Georg Fischer, paid tribute to the award winner’s commitment. He has been actively engaged in promoting child protection and children’s rights in Cambodia for decades. At the core of his efforts are disadvantaged children who have become victims of enslavement, human trafficking and prostitution.
Sovannarith Sam is the executive director of the child protection organisation ‘Damnok Toek’. It takes care of around 3,500 marginalised children each year in the cities of Phnom Penh, Poipet and Neak Loeung. In Poipet, on the border with Thailand, Sovannarith Sam runs various drop-in centres in which approximately 750 children, who live and work on the street, find refuge. They keep themselves and their families afloat – by carrying heavy loads, collecting waste, as beggars or, in the worst case, as child prostitutes. In the drop-in centres, the children can recover from the strains of their work. They are given a hot meal and can have a shower.
‘Damnok Toek’ also offers these children a basic education. Wherever possible, they are prepared for admission to a mainstream state school. In cooperation with public authorities and private business, the aid organisation also enables the boys and girls to gain a vocational qualification and helps them to get apprenticeships, work placements or jobs.
Yves Serra, CEO and President of Georg Fischer as well as President of the ‘Clean Water’ Foundation, praised the award winner’s commitment as pioneering: ‘Sovannarith Sam is always guided by a threefold perspective. By giving children and young people a roof over their head in the drop-in centres, he is providing life-saving protection. But he doesn’t stop at that. Through education and training, he endeavours to reintegrate the children into society and to give them a future. And lastly, by raising awareness, he wants to prevent children from being deprived of rights and protection.’
Human beings with an inviolable dignity
According to Yves Serra, the commitment of the Cambodian doctor is shaped by his conviction that first and foremost, children are human beings with an inviolable dignity and with fundamental rights. The award of the Prix Caritas 2018 is intended to encourage him to continue his commitment to child protection and children’s rights.
The Prix Caritas is awarded each year to persons who distinguish themselves by their great professional expertise and humanity, as well as their long-term and innovative engagement. The prize money of CHF 10,000 goes to one of the award winner’s projects.
Their smiling is our commitment in mission to assist them.